Choosing the perfect plants can be challenging when you are new to gardening. You likely want to select hardy, disease-resistant plants that are easy to grow. Since hundreds of tomato varieties are available, finding the right one for your garden takes quite a bit of research.
To help get you started, here is a curated list of the 11 best growing tomatoes for gardeners of any experience level.
Our Top Picks
Classic:
Better Boy Tomato
Roma Style (sauce & canning):
Invincible Tomato
San Marzano Roma Tomato
Cherry Tomatoes:
Sun Gold Tomato
Supersweet 100 Tomato
Beefsteak:
Hossinator Tomato
The Best Classic Tomatoes
Traditional tomato plants produce medium-sized, rosy, round fruits. These varieties are suitable for many purposes, including slicing, canning, and making sauces. The best growing tomatoes offer excellent disease resistance without sacrificing the rich tomato flavor that gardeners love.
Better Boy Tomato
The Better Boy tomato is one of the most popular best growing tomatoes. This vigorous plant produces massive yields of plump, delicious fruits. Due to its excellent disease resistance and hardiness, many gardeners claim the Better Boy is the easiest tomato to grow in backyard gardens.
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Rutgers Tomato
Rutgers tomato is a fantastic choice for new gardeners who aren’t sure what their favorite tomato is. This variety has a full tomato flavor and meaty texture that lends it outstanding versatility in the kitchen. Rutgers tomato plants are resistant to common diseases and can thrive in many climates across North America, making them one of the easiest tomatoes to grow.
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The Best Roma Tomatoes
Roma tomatoes are the premier choice for canning and making sauces. These small, oblong tomatoes offer a rich, full flavor that holds up well to canning. The creamy-yet-meaty flesh makes for incredibly smooth sauces that steal the show at dinner time, so if you’re looking for the best growing tomato that can pack a punch in recipes, this is the choice for you.
Invincible Tomato
The Invincible tomato might be perfect for you if you want delicious Roma tomatoes but don’t quite have a green thumb. The flavor is milder than most heirloom Roma tomato varieties. As the name implies, this tomato variety is exceptionally hardy and vigorous.
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San Marzano Roma Tomato
The San Marzano is the original Roma tomato. Gardeners and chefs alike have trusted in this best growing tomato variety for generations. Italian cooks swear by the San Marzano Roma tomato for making the smoothest and most flavorful sauces.
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The Best Cherry Tomatoes
Cherry tomatoes are considered garden candy by many. These sweet little orbs burst with bright tomato flavor, making them the perfect snack straight from the garden. Cherry tomato varieties are popular among new gardeners as they tend to be prolific and easy-to-grow tomatoes.
Sun Gold Tomato
The Sun Gold tomato might just be the most popular cherry tomato in North America. This hybrid variety has incredible flavor and is bursting with sweetness due to its high sugar content. Aside from their tendency to crack in heavy rain, Sun Gold cherry tomatoes are forgiving and hardy.
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Supersweet 100 Cherry Tomato
This cherry tomato variety is called vine candy for a reason. If you want the sweetest tomatoes, look no further than the Supersweet 100 Cherry tomato. These vining plants offer bountiful yields throughout the entire growing season. Be sure to provide extra support for the hundreds of fruits that grow in clusters, as they can weigh down plants and damage stems and vines.
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The Best Beefsteak Tomatoes
Beefsteak tomato varieties are the most popular tomatoes for slicing and adding to sandwiches. Many of these large tomatoes are mildly sweet and very meaty in texture. Some beefsteak tomatoes lend themselves well to canning and preserving, while others are best eaten fresh.
Hossinator Tomato
If you need a foolproof beefsteak tomato variety, then you might consider planting the Hossinator. This experimental hybrid offers rich heirloom tomato flavor with an unparalleled disease resistance package.
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Chef’s Choice Orange Tomato
The Chef’s Choice Orange tomato is great for canning and preserving. These massive, hearty fruits are resistant to many common diseases, making them easy to grow for inexperienced gardeners. The rich orange coloring of the flesh does not fade when cooked down, which allows you to create beautiful sauces and bisques.
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Delicious Tomato
The delicious tomato is loved by many backyard gardeners. This heavy producer offers large crack-resistant fruits that have a sweet and tangy flavor.
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The Best Growing Tomato Variety Packs
After reading all about the best growing tomatoes, you likely have a better idea of which variety you’d like to try. You might explore tomato seed variety packs if you are still at a loss and can’t decide on just one. These allow you to try some of the most popular, easiest-to-grow tomatoes.
Seeds of Change
This organic tomato seed variety pack offers four easy-to-grow tomatoes. The set includes three heirloom varieties— the Martian Giant, Chadwick Cherry, and Cherokee Purple— and the hybrid Wisconsin 55.
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Back to the Roots
Back to the Roots heirloom tomato seed variety pack provides a wide range of popular heirloom tomatoes. With no risk, you can try the Red Cherry, Roma, Beefsteak, Rutgers, and Big Rainbow tomatoes. Back to the Roots offers a germination guarantee, so you can be sure your tomato plants will grow and flourish.
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The Best Growing Tomatoes for New Gardeners
What makes a tomato plant easy to grow? The best growing tomatoes for you depends on many different factors. When choosing a new tomato variety for your garden, you should consider your preferences, gardening experience, local climate, and how much space you can dedicate to the best growing tomatoes you choose.
Before purchasing tomato seeds, you must determine your favorite tomato variety. Do you like big, meaty beefsteak tomatoes to slice and serve on sandwiches? Do you prefer candy-sweet cherry tomatoes that you can pluck off the vine and snack on straight from the garden?
If you have only tried tomatoes from the supermarket, you might have a limited reference for tomato varieties. To understand the wide range of tomato flavors and textures, you might want to visit your local farmer’s market or specialty grocer. This will enable you to try numerous heirloom and hybrid tomatoes that are easy to grow at home.
Are you brand new to growing tomatoes? If you don’t have a lot of gardening experience, then you will want to look for tomato plants that are hardy and offer disease resistance.
By choosing one of the best growing tomatoes with excellent disease resistance, you can eliminate many hurdles to growing healthy tomatoes. Common tomato diseases like Alternaria Stem Canker, Blossom-End Rot, Fusarium Wilt, Gray Leaf Spot, Tobacco Mosaic Virus, and Verticillium Wilt can wipe out your tomato plants before they have a chance to produce ripe tomatoes.
Gardeners who live in areas prone to extreme weather should carefully select tomato plants suitable for the local climate. Many of the best-growing tomatoes are heat- and drought-resistant. Others resist cracking when exposed to heavy rain.
You should also consider how much space you have allotted for growing tomatoes. You can try out different tomato varieties if you have a large garden plot. You will likely have adequate space to allow indeterminate tomatoes to flourish.
Do you live in an apartment or have a tiny yard? You may look into determinate tomatoes, which stop growing at a certain height. You can even find dwarf tomato plants that grow just over a foot tall.
There are a few tricks to growing healthy tomatoes in small spaces. You might want to try vertical gardening or growing tomatoes upside down. A hanging garden setup will allow you to produce any size tomato plant without the risk of overcrowding.
Each of the easiest tomatoes to grow comes with individual pros and cons that you will need to weigh. This guide highlights the notable differences between the best growing tomatoes.
The Best Growing Tomatoes Guide
Regardless of which tomato variety you decide to grow, you should follow the best growing practices to ensure healthy plant development and a bountiful yield. You can take many steps to make growing your tomato garden easier.
Growing tomatoes starts with the seeds. Experienced gardeners usually prefer to start tomato seeds indoors. Once the seedlings mature and grow to about a foot tall, they can be transplanted into their final growing location.
Transplanting tomato seedlings is a delicate process. You need to ensure that the soil in which you are planting the young tomato plants is sufficiently damp and well fertilized.
You should not fertilize the soil right before or after transplanting. Too much fertilizer too soon can cause nutrient burn, interfering with healthy growth and even killing your plant.
Instead, add fertilizer to the planting area a few days before transplanting and water the plot daily. This will allow the nutrients to soak into the soil and provide long-lasting nourishment for healthy plant development.
Once the final growing spot is prepped for your tomatoes, it is time to transplant. Carefully loosen the soil around your young tomato plant with your fingers. Start about three inches out and gently wiggle the earth to free the root ball.
Ensure the destination soil is damp—it should cling to your finger when you depress it—then dig a hole that is slightly larger than the root ball.
Place the tomato seedling in the hole, then drive your spade into the ground about six inches away from the plant. Angle the spade towards the seedling and gently wiggle it back and forth to press the dirt securely around the tomato plant.
Use your hands to finish packing the soil up to the first set of leaves, or about two inches higher than the roots. You’ll want to trim the lowest branches with clean scissors to prevent the leaves from picking up pathogens from the soil.
Now that your tomatoes are planted, you will need to give them plenty of water. Water them daily, and ensure the soil stays moist without getting soggy.
To promote maximum fruit development, you should prune and trellis tomato plants once the risk of transplant shock diminishes. You will know it is time to prune tomato plants when they start producing clusters of flowers and fruits.
The best-growing tomatoes are resilient and hardy, but always be mindful of the delicate roots and stems. Still, the easiest tomatoes to grow offer a wide margin of error when transplanting and pruning.
FAQ
What is the most popular tomato to grow?
Two of the most popular and easiest tomatoes to grow are the Sun Gold Cherry tomato and the Better Boy tomato.
What is the quickest growing tomato?
The world’s fastest growing tomato is the Sub-Arctic tomato. This tomato variety matures in just over 40 days, making it an ideal choice for areas with short growing seasons.
What is the hardiest tomato plant?
Hybrid tomatoes tend to be hardier than heirloom varieties. The Hossinator tomato plant has a full-spectrum disease resistance package and is suitable for growing in nearly any climate.
The Easiest Tomatoes to Grow
Finding the best growing tomatoes doesn’t need to be challenging. Start by discovering which tomato varieties you enjoy that suit your gardening skills and growing location. Are you brand new to growing tomatoes? Even the easiest tomatoes to grow require special care to get the best harvest. Excited for more tomato content? Then visit our tomato page for growing tips, comprehensive guides, and tasty recipes!
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Max Loel is a seasoned writer with a unique life journey that spans across diverse landscapes.
Beyond the realm of words, Max has carved out a different kind of haven—a 15-acre homestead in the Midwest. This sanctum represents their testament to resilience and commitment to sustainable living.
With a penchant for storytelling that reflects personal growth and cultural exploration, Max brings a fresh perspective to the literary world, blending the experiences of a global wanderer with the grounded roots of a Midwest homesteader.