Chapter 03 · The right plant for the season you have
Choosing Varieties
Habit, days to maturity, and whether the seed will come true — those three decisions shape the year.
Zone 6: transplant Mid- to late April. Harvest June – October.
Catalogs sell a dream. Your frost-free stretch sells a constraint. Pick variety the way you pick a coat: for the weather, then for taste.
Determinate or indeterminate
- Determinate (bush)
- Grows to a set height, sets a concentrated crop, then mostly stops. Easier in cages and short seasons. The sauce tomato’s usual habit. Little or no sucker pruning.
- Indeterminate (vining)
- Grows until frost. Fruit ripens in waves all season. Needs a tall stake or trellis and regular tying. Most cherries and famous heirlooms are this type.
Fruit types
Cherries and grapes ripen first and keep setting in weather that stalls large fruit. Slicers are the sandwiches. Beefsteaks are the show, and they want a long, even season. Paste tomatoes (Roma, San Marzano, Amish Paste) have dense flesh and few seeds — they are also the easiest fruits from which to save seed, because there is less gel to ferment.
Hybrids and heirlooms
An F1 hybrid (Early Girl, Sun Gold, Celebrity) is a cross. Vigor and disease resistance are the point. Saved seed from an F1 will not match the parent. An heirloom or other open-pollinated variety breeds true if it was not crossed in the garden. Tomatoes mostly self-pollinate, so isolation is easy: a few feet, or a blossom bag if you are a seed purist.
For zone 6: Full range: Sungold, Brandywine, Cherokee Purple, San Marzano, Roma, and a patio type for pots. Include one early and one late.
| Variety | Type | Days | Habit |
|---|---|---|---|
Sun Gold The cherry almost everyone should grow. Sets in cool weather and heat. Hybrid, so save fruit, not seed. Cherry · Indeterminate | Cherry | 57–65 | Indeterminate |
Early Girl Reliable first ripe fruit. Plant it beside a slower heirloom so you eat tomatoes in June and September. Slicer · Indeterminate | Slicer | 50–62 | Indeterminate |
Celebrity Disease package and a bush habit. Good for cages, short seasons, and gardeners who do not want to prune. Slicer · Determinate | Slicer | 70–75 | Determinate |
Roma / San Marzano Dense flesh, few seeds, the sauce tomato. San Marzano wants a longer, warmer season than Roma. Paste · Determinate | Paste | 75–85 | Determinate |
Brandywine The flavor people mean when they say heirloom. Needs a long, even season and a strong stake. Beefsteak · Indeterminate | Beefsteak | 80–90 | Indeterminate |
Cherokee Purple Dusky rose flesh, rich and smoky. Crack-prone if water swings. Save seed — it is open-pollinated. Heirloom slicer · Indeterminate | Heirloom slicer | 80–85 | Indeterminate |