If you have not yet tried growing heirloom tomatoes, this season is a good time to start. Heirloom tomatoes are open-pollinated and selected over generations for flavor, texture, shape and color. If you already grow them, you may be considering adding another variety to your lineup.
Older heirlooms can show wide variation, but they reliably express the traits for which they were selected. Because they are open-pollinated, plant breeders can use them to develop new lines. If you do not intend to breed, separate varieties to limit cross-pollination.
The most reliable approach is to match plant choices to your season length and climate. Those factors determine whether a variety will mature and perform without extra protection. Experienced growers know if a beefsteak needs a greenhouse start or row cover at the shoulders of the season.
Heirloom tomatoes to consider
Start a few of these in seed trays and set space for them outdoors, in a tunnel or under modular row cover. Keep different varieties apart if maintaining varietal purity matters for your operation. Market regulars may look for familiar names, but a distinctive newcomer can draw attention.
San Marzano Roma Pole Tomato
For paste and sauce, San Marzano remains the benchmark. This heirloom, grown in the United States since the 1920s and often described as the mother of modern paste types, is vigorous, with vines reaching six feet or more. It is indeterminate, so provide strong trellising and plan for continuous fruit set as long as conditions hold. Allow roughly three months of warm weather for dependable yields.
Cherokee Purple Pole Tomato
Grown for more than a century, Cherokee Purple is a celebrated slicer with a sweet, slightly smoky profile. Fruits typically weigh 10 to 12 ounces. As an indeterminate, it benefits from sturdy support and will produce through the season.
Ace 55 Bush Tomato
For short seasons, Ace 55 offers a determinate heirloom option. This bright red slicer matures in about 80 days and works well for canning. Fruits measure about five to six inches across and weigh six to eight ounces. Expect most fruit to ripen within one to two weeks, and note its resistance to verticillium and fusarium wilts. In longer seasons, succession plant for staggered harvests.
Beefsteak Pole Tomato
Where the season is long, Beefsteak Pole rewards patience. It needs about 95 days, producing century-old flavor and very large fruit ranging from 10 ounces to two pounds. Vines usually reach six feet and can extend to 20 feet in optimal conditions, so plan for substantial support.
Brandywine Red & Yellow Blend
Brandywine fruits, often ribbed and slightly flattened, can reach up to two pounds. This blend includes pink-red and golden-yellow selections, and some suppliers mark strains to distinguish between them. Expect harvests from roughly 76 to 100 days, with steady picking through the season from these indeterminate slicers. Flavor is the draw, so pick at full ripeness for peak quality.
Gardener’s Delight Pole Cherry Tomato
Cherry types excel for fresh snacking and for regions with shorter summers. Gardener’s Delight, a 1950s German heirloom, matures in about 65 days and produces one-inch fruits in red and yellow. Each truss carries six to 12 cherries. Despite their size, the indeterminate vines need robust support.
Black Krim Pole Tomato
Originating from the Black Sea region near Krymsk, Black Krim ripens to a dusky reddish purple, about baseball size at maturity. Its rich, slightly saline flavor stands out, and it continues setting fruit in heat when some varieties pause flowering. Color deepens in hot weather and appears more pink with green shoulders in cool conditions. Indeterminate vines reach around six feet.
Cream Sausage Bush Tomato
For a compact determinate with unusual color, consider Cream Sausage. This yellow, roma-shaped tomato takes about 80 days to mature. It suits fresh use and also performs well in sauces, salsas and pastes. Plants top out near three feet and adapt well to containers, which is useful for moving under cover as temperatures drop. Stagger plantings for repeated flushes.
Red & Yellow Pear Blend Pole Cherry Tomato
Pear tomatoes combine ease of culture with distinctive appeal for specialty markets. Traditionally used for pickling and preserves, these low-acid fruits are also juicy and flavorful fresh. Train indeterminate vines on a cage or trellis and harvest around 75 days after transplant, when fruits reach one to two inches and ripen in clusters.
Oxheart Pole Tomato
Known in Italy as Cuore di Bue, this heirloom traces to Liguria in the north. Oxheart’s meaty, ribbed, red fruit, typically six to 12 ounces, is prized for sauce and shines in Caprese salads or roasted preparations. Plants are indeterminate, about six feet or taller, and need roughly 80 days to maturity with small but steady harvests in warm, moderate weather.
Costoluto Genovese Pole Tomato
Bred in Italy, Costoluto Genovese is deeply ribbed, slightly flattened and bright red at maturity. Its concentrated flavor excels in sauces and holds up well in sandwiches and salads thanks to thick walls and dense flesh. Plan for 80 to 90 days to maturity and sturdy support for six-foot vines producing six to eight-ounce fruits.
Heirloom tomatoes: matching varieties to your farm
Select varieties based on days to maturity, growth habit and your local climate. Provide ample trellising for indeterminates, isolate if you want to save true-to-type seed, and consider succession planting determinates to extend your marketing window.