Scott Eckert
Harvey County Extension Agent, Horticulture
There are thousands of varieties of tomatoes out there to try. I am asked the question of what is the best tomato for our area. The answer is what ever grows best and tastes best for you! Standard slicers have some disease resistance. Determinate tomatoes produce most of their fruit early in the season and less later. They also have shorter, more manageable vines. Indeterminate tomatoes produce large vines and bear fruit through the season except when hot, summer temperatures prevent pollination and fruit formation. Here is a list of possibilities for you to find and try! (Just wait until May after the chance frost has passed!)
Roma: Little Napoli (H; determinate, compact)
Plum Crimson (H; determinate)
Plum Dandy (H; indeterminate)
Pony Express (H; nematode resistant)
Margherita VF (H; determinate)
Roma VF (heirloom, semi-determinate)
Super Marzano VF (H; indeterminate)
Grape/Cherry Type
Esterina (H; yellow, indeterminate)
Juliet (H; indeterminate)
Mountain Belle (H; determinate)
Sun Gold (H; yellow, indeterminate)
Suncherry (H; indeterminate)
SunSugar (H: yellow, indeterminate, excellent flavor, prone to cracking)
Supersweet 100 (H; indeterminate)
Tumbling Tom (H; determinate)
Sweet Olive (H; determinate)
Standard Slicers
Amelia (H; some disease resistance)
Beefy Boy (H; short internode indeterminate)
Big Beef (H; large fruit, productive, indeterminate)
Carolina Gold (H; yellow, determinate)
Celebrity (H; highly disease resistant, vigorous determinate plant, large fruit)
Chef ’s Choice (H; large fruit, indeterminate)
Florida 47 (H; determinate)
Florida 91 (H; heat tolerance, determinate)
Jetsetter (H; indeterminate)
Jet Star (H; an older indeterminate variety, very good yield, very good crack resistance. This was the top recommended variety for years. Some disease resistance.)
Mountain Fresh Plus (H; determinate)
Mountain Gold (yellow, determinate)
Mountain Spring (H; crack resistant, determinate)
Primo Red (H; early, productive, strongly determinate)
Scarlet Red (H, determinate)
Sun Leaper (H) and Sunmaster (H; heat set types that continue setting fruit at higher temperatures than standard varieties.)
Heirloom Slicers (indeterminate)
Amanda Orange (orange, very large fruit, highly fluted)
Black Krim (dark, red-purple, fruit, higher yield than most heirlooms)
Cherokee Purple (pink-purple fruit)
Mortgage Lifter (red fruit, fluted)
This is by no means the entire list of actual tomato varieties there are in the world! So as you can see there are many varieties to choose from.
