Types of tomatoes: 15 cultivars from beefsteak to cherry

Types of tomatoes: 15 cultivars from beefsteak to cherry

Tomatoes are the single most-grown vegetable in US backyard gardens — over 60% of home gardeners plant at least one tomato every year. But the difference between a Sungold cherry, a San Marzano paste, and a Cherokee Purple beefsteak is enormous, and picking the wrong type for your garden style is the most common reason new growers feel disappointed by their tomato harvest. This guide covers the 15 most-grown tomato varieties in the US, split by functional type, with the determinate-vs-indeterminate habit that drives every staking and pruning decision you will make.

Match tomato to your garden: Open Growli and we measure your bed's sun hours and frost-free days — then rank the tomato types that will actually ripen for you.

Determinate vs indeterminate — the most important decision

Before you pick a cultivar, decide on the habit. This single choice drives staking, spacing, pruning, container suitability, and harvest timing.

• Determinate (bush) — the plant grows to a fixed size (usually 3–4 ft), sets fruit, ripens most of the crop within 2–3 weeks, then declines. Ideal for containers, small spaces, and people who want a big harvest at once for canning. Roma, San Marzano (technically semi-determinate), and most paste tomatoes are determinate. Minimal pruning — never remove growing tips.

• Indeterminate (vining) — the plant keeps growing all season (6–10+ ft) and produces fruit continuously from first ripening until frost. Needs sturdy staking, weekly pruning of side shoots (suckers), and constant watering. Most heirlooms (Brandywine, Cherokee Purple, Black Krim) and most cherry tomatoes (Sungold, Sweet 100) are indeterminate. Higher total harvest per plant but spread over 12–16 weeks.

• Semi-determinate / dwarf-indeterminate — middle ground; common in newer container-friendly cultivars. 'Bush Champion' and 'Patio' fall here.

For more on planting layout and what to pair tomatoes with, see our companion planting page for tomatoes and our how-to-grow-tomatoes guide.

Beefsteak tomatoes — the big slicers

The largest fruited type. Single tomato weights of 10–24 ounces are common. Used primarily for slicing on sandwiches and burgers, eating fresh with salt, or salad. Almost all beefsteaks are indeterminate.

1. Brandywine — Solanum lycopersicum 'Brandywine'

The pink Pennsylvania-Dutch heirloom that defined the heirloom-tomato revival of the 1990s. Massive 12–24 oz pink fruits with potato-leaf foliage. Famously "the best tomato you ever tasted" — meaty, creamy, deeply sweet — but late to ripen (80–100 days from transplant) and prone to cracking. Several strains exist; 'Sudduth's Strain' is the heritage favorite.

Habit: Indeterminate. Days to harvest: 80–100. Best for: long-summer climates, garden flavor.

2. Cherokee Purple — S. lycopersicum 'Cherokee Purple'

A 100+ year old heirloom said to originate from the Cherokee people of Tennessee. Dusky brownish-purple skin with dark green shoulders, brick-red flesh, 10–13 oz fruits. Smoky-sweet flavor, heat-tolerant, indeterminate slicer. Among the highest-rated heirlooms in US taste trials. Open-pollinated, so you can save seed.

Habit: Indeterminate. Days to harvest: 80–90. Best for: gardeners wanting one premium heirloom.

3. Black Krim — S. lycopersicum 'Black Krim'

A Russian heirloom from Crimea — the result of crossing a beefsteak with a parent of Cherokee Purple. Dark red to purplish-brown 8–12 oz fruit, deeply sweet with a slightly salty undertone. Performs better in cool maritime climates than most heirlooms — historically a UK favorite. Indeterminate.

Habit: Indeterminate. Days to harvest: 75–90. Best for: cool-summer climates, salt-savory flavor.

4. Better Boy — S. lycopersicum 'Better Boy' (hybrid)

The most-planted hybrid beefsteak in the US since the 1960s. Round, smooth, deep-red 10–16 oz fruit with disease resistance bred in (V, F, N — verticillium, fusarium, nematode). Reliable producer in most US zones; indeterminate. Less complex flavor than heirlooms but predictable yield.

Habit: Indeterminate. Days to harvest: 70–75. Best for: reliability and disease pressure.

5. Big Beef — S. lycopersicum 'Big Beef' (hybrid)

AAS Winner (1994). Round, smooth, 10–12 oz red beefsteak with strong disease package. Earlier than Brandywine, more uniform than Cherokee Purple, often the choice for first-time growers wanting "the classic tomato look."

Habit: Indeterminate. Days to harvest: 70. Best for: beginners, AAS-backed performance.

Slicing / globe tomatoes — the all-purpose round red

Mid-sized 4–8 oz round fruits — the default supermarket-style tomato. Used for sandwiches, salads, fresh slicing. Mostly hybrid, mostly indeterminate, mostly with built-in disease resistance.

6. Early Girl — S. lycopersicum 'Early Girl' (hybrid)

The fastest-maturing slicer at home-garden scale — 50–62 days from transplant. 4–6 oz red round fruits, indeterminate. The #1 choice for gardeners in short-season climates (Pacific Northwest, Mountain West, New England) who can't wait 90 days for Brandywine. Decent flavor for a fast hybrid.

Habit: Indeterminate. Days to harvest: 50–62. Best for: short seasons, first harvest race.

7. Celebrity — S. lycopersicum 'Celebrity' (hybrid)

AAS Winner. Round 7–8 oz red fruit with one of the strongest disease-resistance packages in retail (VFFNT). Semi-determinate — controlled height (3–4 ft) makes it container-friendly and useful for tomato beds without massive staking. Consistent producer across most US zones.

Habit: Semi-determinate. Days to harvest: 70. Best for: containers, disease-prone gardens.

8. Big Boy — S. lycopersicum 'Big Boy' (hybrid)

The 1949 Burpee hybrid that arguably launched the modern hybrid-tomato era. Smooth 10–16 oz red globes on indeterminate vines. Original "big juicy tomato" reputation, still widely sold.

Habit: Indeterminate. Days to harvest: 78. Best for: nostalgia + reliable yield.

Paste / plum tomatoes — for sauce and canning

Smaller (2–5 oz), oblong or pear-shaped, dense flesh with few seeds. Bred for low water content, which means you get more sauce per pound and shorter simmer times. Most paste tomatoes are determinate, so the crop ripens in a tight window — convenient for canning weekends.

9. San Marzano — S. lycopersicum 'San Marzano'

The DOP-protected paste tomato of Campania, Italy. Long, thin, pointed 3–5 oz fruits with thick flesh, few seeds, sweet flavor with low acidity. Considered the gold-standard sauce tomato. The Roma is a US cross derived from San Marzano and two other varieties. True San Marzano is technically semi-determinate but acts indeterminate in long seasons.

Habit: Semi-determinate to indeterminate. Days to harvest: 80–90. Best for: sauce, canning, Italian cooking.

10. Roma — S. lycopersicum 'Roma'

The most-grown paste tomato in the US. Pear-shaped 2–4 oz red fruits, determinate (3 ft bush), ripens in a 2–3 week window. Easier and faster than San Marzano. Modest fresh flavor but excellent for sauce, salsa, and canning. 'Roma VF' has built-in verticillium and fusarium resistance.

Habit: Determinate. Days to harvest: 75. Best for: canning, salsa, beginner paste tomato.

11. Amish Paste — S. lycopersicum 'Amish Paste'

Pennsylvania Amish heirloom paste tomato. Larger than Roma (6–8 oz, sometimes 12 oz), oxheart-shaped, sweeter and more complex flavor than Roma but still meaty enough for sauce. Indeterminate. Among the top-rated open-pollinated paste tomatoes in US flavor trials.

Habit: Indeterminate. Days to harvest: 80–85. Best for: heirloom sauce + slicing dual-purpose.

Cherry / grape tomatoes — the snack tomato

Small (under 2 oz), often grown in clusters of 8–30 fruits per truss. Sweetest of all tomato types because the small size concentrates sugar. Used for snacking, salads, roasting, and confit. Most cherries are indeterminate and continue producing until frost.

12. Sungold — S. lycopersicum 'Sungold' (hybrid)

Often ranked the sweetest cherry tomato in US taste trials. Tangerine-orange 1-inch fruits in long clusters, tropical-fruit flavor notes, indeterminate vines reaching 8+ ft. The cherry tomato that converts skeptics. Caveats: thin skin prone to cracking, and F1 hybrid (you can't reliably save seed).

Habit: Indeterminate. Days to harvest: 57. Best for: maximum sweetness, snacking off the vine.

13. Sweet 100 / Supersweet 100 — S. lycopersicum 'Sweet 100' / 'Supersweet 100' (hybrid)

The original "cherry tomato candy" — long trusses of 100+ red 1-inch fruits per plant. Supersweet 100 is the upgraded version with higher disease resistance and sweeter fruit. Indeterminate vines.

Habit: Indeterminate. Days to harvest: 65. Best for: massive harvest of red cherries.

14. Black Cherry — S. lycopersicum 'Black Cherry' (open-pollinated)

The dark-purple cherry. 1-inch round fruits with dusky purple-black skin and complex sweet-smoky flavor. Open-pollinated (seed-saving works), indeterminate, prolific.

Habit: Indeterminate. Days to harvest: 65. Best for: gourmet salads, seed-saving cherry gardeners.

Heirloom novelty — color, shape, flavor

15. Green Zebra — S. lycopersicum 'Green Zebra'

A 1980s cultivar bred by Tom Wagner; often classified as heirloom-style though technically modern. 3–4 oz green-with-darker-green-stripes fruit, ripe when amber-tinged. Tart, zingy flavor — excellent for salsa verde, salads, and fried green tomatoes. Indeterminate.

Habit: Indeterminate. Days to harvest: 75. Best for: color contrast, tart flavor, conversation starter.

How to choose the right type of tomato

Define how you'll use them. For fresh slicing on sandwiches and salads, pick a beefsteak (Brandywine, Cherokee Purple, Big Beef). For sauce and canning, pick a paste type (Roma, San Marzano, Amish Paste). For salads and snacking, pick a cherry (Sungold, Sweet 100, Black Cherry). For "any use", pick a slicer (Celebrity, Early Girl).

Then check your growing season length. Count your average frost-free days. If you have under 100 days (Minneapolis, Denver, Portland), prioritize fast-ripening cultivars: Early Girl (62 days), Celebrity (70), Sungold (57). If you have 150+ days (Sacramento, Atlanta, Houston), you can grow the slow heirlooms — Brandywine, Cherokee Purple, San Marzano.

Then check space. Indeterminate tomatoes need 4-foot cages or 6-foot stakes plus weekly pruning of suckers. Determinate paste tomatoes fit in a 24-inch cage. Container growers should pick determinates or dwarf-indeterminate cultivars — 'Patio', 'Bush Champion', 'Celebrity'.

Then check disease pressure. Hybrids labeled VFN (verticillium, fusarium, nematode) or VFNT (adds tomato mosaic virus) resist the four most common tomato soil-borne diseases. If you've had wilt issues in past years, prioritize hybrids with this disease package — Big Beef, Celebrity, Better Boy. Heirlooms have no built-in resistance; you compensate with crop rotation and good airflow.

Common care across the category

Five rules cover 90 percent of tomato care across every cultivar above.

First, plant deep. Tomatoes form roots along buried stem. Plant transplants up to the first set of leaves — a 12-inch transplant goes into a 9-inch hole. This produces a stronger root system and a more drought-resistant plant.

Second, water deeply and consistently. Aim for 1.5–2 inches of water per week, delivered in 2–3 deep waterings. Inconsistent watering causes blossom-end rot and fruit cracking. Drip irrigation or soaker hoses beat overhead sprinklers (which spread foliar disease).

Third, mulch 3 inches deep with straw, grass clippings, or shredded leaves once the soil warms in late spring. Mulch conserves moisture, prevents soil splash onto leaves (which spreads early blight and septoria leaf spot), and suppresses weeds.

Fourth, stake or cage at planting — not after the plant grows. A 6-foot stake, a 4-foot cage, or a Florida-weave string trellis works. Indeterminate vines pruned to a single leader (remove all suckers below the first flower truss, plus all suckers below the lowest healthy leaves) yield earlier and bigger fruits but lower total volume.

Fifth, feed with calcium and potassium. Tomatoes are heavy feeders. Apply a balanced fertilizer at planting, then switch to a tomato-specific fertilizer (higher potassium, with added calcium) when fruit-set begins. Calcium-deficient fruit develops blossom-end rot.

For a deeper dive on planting and growing, see our how-to-grow-tomatoes guide and our tomato companion planting page.

Try Growli: Snap a photo of any tomato plant with Growli — get instant ID, variety match, and care plan in 60 seconds.

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Reviewed and updated by the Growli editorial team. For questions about anything here, open Growli and ask — or email hello@getgrowli.app.