Best tasting tomatoes to grow in 2021
Homegrown tomatoes are about as delicious as they come. With proper growing practices, plenty of sunshine and the right tomato fertilizer, you can be plucking sweet and juicy tomatoes off the vine all summer long. Some tomato varieties are naturally sweeter and tastier than others, but exactly which seeds you choose to sow will depend on a number of factors.
When planning your backyard garden, you’ll want to think about how you plan to eat the tomatoes — whether blended into soups and sauces or fresh sliced on sandwiches and salads — and decide between different shapes, sizes and sweetness levels.
Why grow your own tomatoes?
Growing your own tomatoes will maximize their freshness and flavor. Tomatoes from the supermarket are often weeks — if not months — old before you buy them, and they’re ripened in warehouses and trucks rather than on the vine. Plus, growing your own tomatoes gives you control over the whole process. You get to select which varieties you grow and make other decisions in the garden that contribute to the flavor and growth of our tomatoes, such as properly pruning them or using specific fertilizers that will boost the microbe content of your soil and improve the flavor of the fruits.
When growing tomatoes, consider your climate. Depending on where you live, you may need to purchase a seed starter kit or a backyard greenhouse for best results.
How to choose which tomatoes to grow
When deciding which tomatoes to grow for the season, you’ll want to take a few different things into account. First, consider what you plan to use the tomatoes for and what types of meals you want to prepare with them. If you will mostly be eating your tomatoes raw in salads, you might want to opt for a cherry or grape tomato variety, as they grow abundantly and are easy to prepare. If you plan to slice tomatoes for sandwiches, you’ll probably want to opt for an heirloom variety or beefsteak tomato. And if you’re mostly growing tomatoes to use in sauces and soups, you can opt for a variety like Roma tomatoes, which are sweet and tasty for sauces but have a meatier flesh that’s less enjoyable when eaten raw.
Tomato varieties have varying levels of sweetness and tartness, on top of individual flavor profiles that come from over 400 unique aromatic compounds. If you’re someone who wants an extra sweet tomato, you’ll want to look for different varieties versus someone who wants a tarter tomato. Pizza and pasta sauce might benefit from a tarter tomato with more acid, whereas a tomato salad will benefit from a sweeter variety with a higher percentage of sugar.
Heirloom vs. hybrid tomatoes
Hybrid tomatoes, which are the most common variety at the supermarket, are crossbred to give them certain characteristics that make it easier to grow them on a large scale. These characteristics include thicker skin, firmer flesh and resistance to common diseases and pests. Hybrid tomatoes often lack the flavor of heirloom varieties, which are varieties that have not been crossbred for at least 40 years.
Hybrid tomatoes must be hand-pollinated to reproduce, while heirloom tomatoes are open-pollinated, meaning they are pollinated by bees, birds and butterflies. Heirloom tomatoes typically give lower yields and may be more susceptible to pests compared to hybrid tomatoes, but many small farmers and gardeners find that the flavor is worth it. This pack of heirloom seeds from Amazon includes eight different varieties of heirloom tomatoes.
Types of tomatoes
When choosing your tomatoes for the season, you’ll have to decide between several different shapes and sizes in addition to flavor. Here a few of the most common types of tomatoes you’ll find on the market:
Cherry tomatoes
These baby tomatoes are round and about the size of a cherry, hence the name. They have thin skins and supple flesh and come in a variety of different colors. Depending on the variety, these are some of the sweetest and most flavorful tomatoes you can find.
Grape tomatoes
These baby tomatoes have thicker skin and meatier flesh than other varieties, which makes them a good option for roasting and sauteing. Grape tomatoes range in sweetness depending on the exact variety you choose.
Slicing tomatoes
These medium- to large-sized tomatoes include some of the most common varieties available, such as beefsteak and larger heirloom tomatoes. Slicing tomatoes refers to their large size and round shape, which is more suitable for slicing and serving on something like a sandwich. They range from quite tart to quite sweet depending on the variety.
Roma tomatoes
Roma tomatoes are oblong in shape and fall between the size of a grape tomato and a slicing tomato. These tomatoes have a thick and dense flesh that makes them ideal for canning and tomato sauce.
What is the best tasting tomato?
Sungold tomatoes
This variety of cherry tomato is exceptionally sweet and fruity and has a beautiful yellow-orange color. They are also easy to grow and prolific with proper care and fertilization. Seed to harvest is about 60 days.
You can find sungold tomato seeds at Amazon or at your local garden store.
Brandywine tomatoes
This beautiful rose-colored heirloom tomato is known for its low-acid sweetness and soft flesh. Brandywine tomatoes can grow up to 1 pound each. These are excellent slicing tomatoes and are delicious on a sandwich or in a caprese salad with fresh mozzarella and basil.
You can find brandywine tomato seeds at Amazon and Home Depot.
Black krim tomatoes
A medium-sized heirloom tomato with a beautiful maroon flesh and a rich and intense flavor that almost tastes smoky. Each tomato can grow to be about 1/2 pound. Super sunny growing conditions will make the skin turn almost black.
Find black krim tomato seeds at your local garden store or on Amazon.
Green zebra tomatoes
These small globe-shaped tomatoes stay green even when ripe. They can have a beautiful light green flesh or a striped, green flesh. These tomatoes are more acidic and tart than other varieties, but still have plenty of sweetness.
Green zebra seeds are available from a number of local and national seed companies and can also be found on Amazon.
Early girl tomatoes
This highly popular slicing tomato is known for ripening earlier than other varieties. It has a meaty texture and a concentrated sweetness and pronounced flavor that makes it versatile for both slicing and canning. Early girl tomatoes can fully ripen in as little as 50 days after seeds are sown.
The seeds are available at Amazon.
How to store tomatoes
Tomatoes should always be stored at room temperature and never stored in the fridge, which can cause their delicate skin to burst. Always store tomatoes on a flat surface, and don’t stack them as this can also cause their skin to burst.
Katy Severson is a writer for BestReviews. BestReviews is a product review company with a singular mission: to help simplify your purchasing decisions and save you time and money.
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