Tomato Varieties:
How to Understand the Way They are Classified

Some experts estimate there are up to 25,000 tomato varieties to choose from. That can be overwhelming, even for the most enthusiastic home gardener.

So many tomatoes – so little garden space!

Here’s the dirt: there are at least 3 different (and simple) ways to classify tomato varieties so you know which ones are best for your garden. (If you want to know which varieties are most popular in the home garden, click here.)

Classification #1: Heirloom or Hybrid

This classification centers on a tomato’s genetic line.

Hybrid tomatoes, on the other hand, are a cross between two different varieties. Hybrids are cultivated both commercially and in the home garden.

As you get to know varieties, you'll soon recognize which tomatoes are heirlooms and which are hybrids. Hybrid seedlings are often identified as "hybrid" on their identification tags in nurseries and garden centers. (Learn more about heirlooms and hybrids here.)

Classification #2: Determinate or indeterminate

This classification centers on the length of time a tomato produces fruit during season.

A determinate tomato plant produces fruit for a couple of weeks and then production fades out. That’s because it eventually forms a flower cluster at the terminal growing point, which causes it to stop growing in height.

An indeterminate tomato plant produces fruit throughout the season, often until frost. It never sets terminal flower clusters, but only lateral ones, and continues indefinitely to grow taller.

Classification #3: Shape

This classification centers on a tomato’s shape.

Looks count – even for tomatoes! Whether a tomato is a hybrid or an heirloom, or determinate or indeterminate, it is also classified according to its shape.

There are four broad shape classifications for tomatoes:

• Globe tomatoes: the most heavily commercially-cultivated fruit
  
• Beefsteak tomatoes: the biggest fruit
  
• Paste tomatoes: thick-walled fruit, used to make sauces
  
• Cherry tomatoes: smallest fruit
  

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