Chart of Tomatoes
Here is a list of the various types of tomatoes I’ve tried growing in Texas along with how each tomato performed. For a general overview and when to plant read Tomatoes in Texas.
Pests
Tomatoes are bothered by spider mites, leaf hoppers, tomato horn worms and a few other nasty bugs, but most are readily controlled by neem oil. If you don’t want to buy neem oil, try insecticidal soap–two to three tablespoons of liquid hand-washing soap (such as Dial) per gallon of water. Do NOT use laundry soap or dishwashing soap. Use a very mild hand or body soap. Spray during cool parts of the day. If you’re spraying daily, rinse the plants with plain water every few days.
For horn worms, there’s a specific spray that affects only the worms–Green Light 27316 1-Pint Organic BT Worm Killer. It works because the bateria cultures in the spray are eaten by the worm and then the worm stops eating. Check at any gardening store for this product.
| Name | Taste | Size | Cracking | Yield |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Merced—Very heat tolerant, produced in 90+ degrees. (Houston) | Average | Medium | None | High |
| Celebrity—good all around tomato. Does okay with the heat, but won’t produce above 92. The plant can live through the summer and start producing again when it cools down. In hot weather will crack deep around stem. | Very good –Favorite large tomato. | Large to very large | Cracks when hot and often the shoulders stay green. | Medium to high |
| Grape—these have such good taste! “Tami G” — not wilt, heat or insect resistant. Produced some tomatoes before it succumbed to thripes. Requires babying and spider mites love it. Be prepared to spray weekly with soap and/or neem oil. Plant VERY early (January). | Excellent | small | None | High |
| Roma—does well and is disease resistant. Excellent salsa tomato. Did better than any other tomato in the heat in both Houston and Hill Country. | Good for Roma. | Medium to large | None | Very high |
| Viva Italia, Roma. This is another of those romas that is supposed to have a really good taste. It did okay, but was also slow in the Texas heat. It did better in the cooler fall weather. Nothing wrong with the tomatoes, but I’m used to a high yield in spring when I freeze a bunch. All in all, I bet this one does better up north and I’ll be looking for a roma variety that produces better in the heat. I certainly don’t think the taste was so much better than other romas to baby the plants. I think all romas I’ve grown have had fairly good resistance to spider mites. | Average | Med | None | Decent |
| Olpaka Roma Type. This tomato did okay, better in the fall than in the spring. In the spring it was slow to get going, slow to put on fruit. The fruits were decent, although I think I liked the plain roma better. This is supposed to be packed full of flavor. I think it suffered from the heat. It produced tons in the fall–some odd shaped, some small to medium with a few large ones throw in. I’d bet this one is best for up north. | Good, maybe a tad mushy | Medium | bell-shaped, none | Slow to grow, but decent yields. |
| Health Kick – Newly developed Roma with higher levels of lycopene (antioxidant). Resistant to most diseases. Very pretty and firm. Sauce/salsa tomato. | Good for Roma | Large | None | Medium to high |
| Brandywine—vigorous plant; early tomatoes were better than late ones, huge plant, but did not produce in heat. Same results when grown in NM. | Average to good. Slightly mushy. | Very large | Yes | Extremely low |
| Early girl Excellent taste, but no production above 90 degrees. Have seen it produce again in fall, but isn’t as good and plant is weak in the fall. Not as disease/bug resitant as other types. | Very good | Small to medium | Some when hot | Medium |
| Opener - This is an very nice looking early tomato. It produced tons of tomatoes. The taste was probably not as good as early girl, but the plant was much healthier–handled both heat and cold better than early girl, had larger tomatoes and more of them. The taste is not as good as Celebrity either, but it’s a much earlier tomato and an impressive one to give away. It did produce again in the fall, but not enough that I would keep it going again through the summer. It was decently bug/disease resistant. I’ll grow this one again for its early, large size and good yields. | Very good | Med-large | Some when hot | Very good |
| Husky Good early tomato. | Very Good | Medium | Less splitting than Early Girl. | Good |
| Rose Heirloom Not a lot of blossoms or yield, but the fruit was good. | Good | Very large | Some | Low yield |
| Ruby Cluster Large cherry tomato—I’m not a big lover of cherry tomatoes. My favorites are the grape tomato and Juliet. This tomato was kind of boring and bland. | Average | Large for cherry | None | High |
| Yellow -I like yellow tomatoes but the plants I’ve tried haven’t been particularly good at resisting insects. Most have died of wilt or spider mites after producing none or a low yield. From seeds, I had a very low ratio of seeds that germinated-the plants were also weak. | Good Flavor | Medium to small | Split in heat | Low |
| Beefsteak sprawling plant, fruits just a tad mushy in Texas. I’ve had these grown in NM and up north and they are excellent varieties in cooler climates | Average to good | Large | Some when hot | medium |
| Johnny’s 361 Beefsteak medium to large beefsteak with average taste. Beefsteaks apparently aren’t my favorite and/or don’t do that well here in the heat. | Average to good | Medium to large | Some when hot | Medium |
| JS 2000 Seemed to get a slow start growing, but is supposed to be an early tomato plant. Didn’t produce many—too hot. |
Okay | Medium | Average production, but I started the plant late | Low |
| Juliet A large grape tomato that does much better than the smaller varieties. It did well when planted in the spring and again when planted in the fall. I’d recommend it over other varieties of grape tomatoes. The taste is almost as good, yield is better and plant does better against insects. Did very well in the heat, probably better than any other tomato I’ve grown. |
Very Good | Large for a cherry type tomato. | Some now and again, but only on overripe tomatoes | High, high yields. |
| Homestead I found the fruit a bit on the mushy side, although the taste was good. Prefer Celebrity. | Okay | Medium | Lots of cracking | Low to medium yield |
| Red Grape New try for 2007. This tomato produced well and early. The taste is similar to Juliet–in other words, a grape tomato that isn’t quite as sweet as I was hoping for. However, it seems to have good disease resistance, and heat tolerance (we’re in the nineties so far). Since it doesn’t seem overly unique, I’ll probably stick with the Juliet, although it did produce and ripen faster than Juliets–likely because it is a smaller grape. | Good | Small | Unknown | Pretty high. |
| Old Wisconsin 55 2008. This was an early, wonderful tasting tomato. I’d say it had a taste at least as good as Celebrity, maybe better. Trouble was, it didn’t handle the Texas heat well so it only produced a few tomatoes (nice sized). I kept it alive all summer to no avail. I did not get any late tomatoes (there might have been one that fell off.) The leaves curled quite a bit when attacked by spider mites and when I pulled it up, some of the farther roots looked like they had been attacked by nemotodes. All in all, while I loved the taste, not enough yield in the high heat. | Great | Med-Large | Some cracking | Low Yield in Texas. |
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For some odd reason, my site gets hit now and then with a search for “big green spider” in my tomato plant (or in some other plant.) Spiders are good in the garden–especially those that are big enough to see. Green spiders are very common in greenery. Don’t worry about the spiders. Just leave them be and they will eat many bugs.
I often see pale tan spiders and green spiders. When they attach themselves to me via their string-lines, I just deposit them on a leaf. They are harmless and not aggresive. If you have rocks or logs bordering your garden, use gloves to move things like that around. It is possible for black widows or a brown recluse (or even a snake for that matter) to lodge itself in these types of crevices. Use common sense, but most spiders are great friends of gardeners!
Comment by Maria — September 21, 2008 @ 11:32 am
I have recently been asked if tomato plants can produce in the fall. The short answer is “yes.” I generally baby a few plants through the heat of the summer and they produce again in the fall. Juliets are great for spring, summer and fall. Celebrities produce in the spring and then again in the fall. The key is to determine if the plant is “determinate” or “indeterminate.” Determinate plants will produce a healthy, full flush of tomatoes and then diminish–to very few or none no matter how much you water, fertilize or the temperature.
In Texas you can plant fresh transplants in about September and expect a fairly healthy crop into the end of November–or whenever the first freeze is. I generally try to work two methods: Keep a couple of plants alive through the summer so that they begin producing again in September and also plant fresh ones in the ground in September. The fresh ones will usually start producing in October. I only get a few weeks of produce out of them.
In colder climates, obviously the fall crop is going to be restricted. If you live in a colder climate and you plant determinate plants, you’ll want to start a second set of plants by the time the first set is producing.
The other question I have received is about yields. Yields vary dramatically depending on the type of tomato plant. If you are looking for a high-yielder, generally you will want to avoid heirloom tomato plants. Spend some time researching in a tomato catalog to determine yields. The chart on my website list yields of some types, but it is going to depend on where you are growing your tomatoes. Juliet is one of the highest yielders I’ve grown. Celebrity is a good yielder of larger tomatoes. The Opener has been a prolific yielder for me early in the season until the heat slows it down. There are some Roma types that yield a lot, others not so much.
I always advise people to start by growing two or three varieties to hone in on what types of tomatoes they enjoy and what types grow best. In general, I like Juliet (a grape tomato type that does very well in Texas and elsewhere) Celebrity (a nice medium, meaty, wonderful-flavor) and a roma of some type. I haven’t settled on a favorite roma yet.
Comment by Maria — September 26, 2008 @ 1:28 pm
Echoing the comments about Celebrity. I always put in a few Celebrity plants and they never fail to give me nice tomatoes in return. Even in the hot part of the summer they seem to put out even a few sterile fruit without seeds. Granted, the sterile tomatoes do lack a bit in flavor compared to “pollinated” Celebrity tomatoes, but they’re still much better than most store-bought tomatoes. Once fall rolls around (read that as September and October and beyond in some years) Celebrity has always put out a second batch for me. Love ‘em– if I only plant one tomato, it’s Celebrity.
Comment by schrodinger — June 30, 2010 @ 2:22 am
Celebrity and Juliets are by far my best and steadiest producers. I agree–if you plant just one, make it a Juliet if you like grape tomatoes or a Celebrity if you want medium/large. The Juliets, a smaller tomato, will produce longer and many, many more tomatoes than the Celebrity. It is a large vine plant and will need a trellis or other support.
Comment by Maria — June 30, 2010 @ 7:01 am