Tomatoes

Tomatoes

Growing your own tomatoes is EASY!

Homegrown tomatoes are one of the most rewarding crops you can grow, offering unbeatable flavor compared to store-bought varieties. With just a little preparation and care, you can enjoy a bountiful harvest all summer long. Follow these steps to choose, plant, and care for your tomato plants so they thrive in your garden.

Step 1: Select good varieties. (see below) Varieties with “days to harvest” of 60 to 75 days are best for our area. Early Girl is our most popular and dependable variety.

Step 2: Plant in a sunny area. If plants are tall and leggy, plant with the rootball horizontal. Roots will form along the buried stem for a more robust plant.

Step 3: Water in with Fertilome Root Stimulator solution (according to directions on bottle). Thereafter water with plain (non-softened) water when soil surface is dry.

Step 4: Protect from wind and frost with Wall o’ Water, hot cap, or other protection as necessary.

Step 5: Feed monthly with Save-a-Tree plant food. (1/2 cup per gallon of water)

Step 6: Support with stake or cage. Indeterminate varieties (see below) should be staked or caged for best results. Determinate varieties can be grown without support.

Step 7: Enjoy your harvest. Tomatoes out of the garden are SO much more flavorful than those purchased at the supermarket. Depending on the variety chosen and the use of plant protectors you should harvest your first fruit between mid-July and early September.

Tomato Varieties

Determinate- Bush type that doesn’t need support. Tend to ripen all at once.

Indeterminate– Vigorous, viny plants do best when staked or caged. Fruit continuously until frost.

Heirloom- An heirloom tomato is an “old-time” open-pollinated (non-hybrid) variety.

VFNTA- Symbols for disease resistance- Verticillium wilt, Fusarium wilt, (a second F indicates resistance to more than one race), Nematodes, Tobacco mosaic virus, and Alternaria.

AAS- All-America Selections winner. Selected for outstanding performance.

Click below to learn about different varieties:

Variety Description
Oregon Spring
  • 60 days
  • Color: Red
  • Flavor: mild, classic and somewhat sweet
  • Yield & Size: 5 oz.
  • Key features: Few Seeds, Tolerates cool nights better than most
  • Uses: Best for salads, sandwiches and making sauces!
Celebrity Hybrid
  • 70 days
  • Color: deep red
  • Flavor: rich sweet, and slightly tangy
  • Yield & Size: 8 oz. and refuses to crack!
  • Key features: VFFNTA, AAS Disease resistant, dependable
Patio Hybrid
  • 70 days
  • Color: Red
  • Flavor: sweet and tangy to mild and citrusy
  • Yield & Size: 2″ large
  • Key features: Small compact plant, excellent for pots and containers
  • Best used for eating in salads, sandwiches and in snacks.
La Roma II Hybrid
  • 75 days
  • Color: Bight red
  • Flavor: rich, full, and robust
  • Yield & Size: 5 oz.
  • Key features: VFFNA
  • Uses: Popular for making tomato sauce or paste
Roma VF
  • 75 days
  • Color: deep red
  • Flavor: low-acid, sweet, earthy taste with subtle tartness
  • Yield & Size: 2 oz.
  • Key features: VF disease resistant
  • Uses: Popular for making tomato sauce or paste

Variety Description
Early Girl Hybrid
  • 55 days
  • Color: Red
  • Flavor: sweet and tangy
  • Yield & Size: 5 oz.
  • Key features: VFF; Early, reliable and prolific. Most popular by far.
  • Uses: Good for eating fresh, salsa, and more
Early Goliath Hybrid
  • 58 days
  • Color: Red
  • Flavor: tangy and rich
  • Yield & Size: 8oz.
  • Key features: VFFNT more disease resistant than early girl
  • Uses: best used for salads and sandwiches
Champion Hybrid
  • 70 days
  • Color: vibrant red
  • Flavor: sweet flavor
  • Yield & Size: 6-12 oz. range
  • Key features: VFNT Bigger than early girl and earlier than better boy
  • Uses: Luscious Sandwich tomato
Super Fantastic Hybrid
  • 70 days
  • Color: bright red
  • Flavor: meaty, sweet flavor with a balanced blend of sugar and acid
  • Yield & Size: 8-10 oz.
  • Key features: VF Favorite in east Idaho
  • Uses:
Lemon Boy Hybrid
  • 72 days
  • Color: Lemon yellow
  • Flavor: Unique
  • Yield & Size: 7 oz.
  • Key features:
  • Uses: Sandwiches, salads, and canning
Big Beef Hybrid
  • 73 days
  • Color: Red
  • Flavor: Old-time flavor
  • Yield & Size: 2
  • Key features: VFFNTA; AAS
  • Uses: slicing for burgers, salads and general cooking
Better Boy Hybrid
  • 75 days
  • Color: deep red
  • Flavor: sweet and juicy
  • Yield & Size: 14 oz.
  • Key features: VFN One of the best tasting hybrids
  • Uses: Best for raw dishes such as sandwiches, and salads
Beefmaster Hybrid
  • 80 days
  • Color: bright red
  • Flavor: mild and sweet
  • Yield & Size: 1-2 lb. large beefsteak
  • Key features: VFN
  • Uses: slicing for sandwiches, salads and burgers

Variety Description
Black Krim
  • 80 Days
  • Color: Dark red-purple.
  • Flavor: Rich, sweet, and juicy with a smooth texture.
  • Yield & Size: High yields of up to 12oz beefsteak fruit.
  • Uses: Fresh eating, roasting, sauce, drying, preserving.
  • Type: Indeterminate.
Green Zebra
  • 75 days
  • Color: Chartreuse with deep lime green stripes and bright green flesh.
  • Flavor: Rich, sweet flavor with just a bit of acidity and juicy texture.
  • Yield & Size: Excellent yield of 3oz round fruit.
  • Uses: Fresh eating, salsa, cooking, preserving.
  • Type: Indeterminate
Cherokee Purple
  • 80 days
  • Color: deep red-purple, with a dusky pinkish-red blush
  • Flavor: complex flavor with sweet distinctly smoky undertone
  • Yield & Size: 8-12 oz.
  • Key features:
  • Uses: Sliced on sandwiches, burgers, or in Caprese salads
Brandywine
  • 80 Days
  • Color: Pink
  • Flavor: Very rich, distinctively spicy with a firm texture.
  • Yield & Size: Medium yields of 8-16oz fruit.
  • Uses: Fresh eating, salsa, cooking, preserving.
  • Type: Indeterminate

Variety Description
Sun Sugar
  • 62 days
  • Color: Yellow
  • Flavor: Consistently wins consumer taste tests,
  • Yield & Size: Cherry sized
  • Key features: Indeterminate hybrid, heavy producer, needs staking
  • Uses: eating fresh or using on salads and pasta dishes
Sweet 100
  • 65 days
  • Color: Red
  • Flavor: Sweet
  • Yield & Size: Cherry sized
  • Key features: VFN Indeterminate hybrid, heavy producer, needs staking
  • Uses: snacking, in salads or in fresh dishes like bruschetta