Some of the most famous heirloom tomatoes in the world can completely fail… simply because they’re the wrong match for your climate.
In this video, I’m sharing the tomato varieties I’m personally done growing — not because they’re “bad tomatoes,” but because certain varieties just don’t thrive in certain regions.
The biggest takeaway is this:
You can do everything right and still struggle if you’re growing the wrong variety for where you live.
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33 Comments
Thousand Oaks, CA Zone 10a – Best Heirloom (which was just average in production) – Kelloggs Breakfast….Best Cherry, both prolific – Sungold Hybrid and Mountain Magic…Best Basic Tomato – Celebrity Hybrid….Best Paste – San Marzano
Long island NY and I haven't found it yet! Although Kellogg's actually did pretty well last year.
ANYONE ON HERE FROM LONG ISLAND THAT CAN SHARE THEIR TOMATO SUCCESS??
My top successes are Sun Gold and Bella Rosa (Hoss). I'm in Florida 10a. Intense heat and bug pressure make it almost impossible to grow larger tomatoes. This year I'm trying Hossinator for larger tomatoes. I'll keep them protected with bug netting and hope. This Fall I had good luck with my tomatoes and had good harvests. Then came the Arctic blasts and killed off most of my garden. Only the greens and the onions have survived so far.
Now it's time to work toward Spring and a new beginning.
Colorado, along the I-25, between the Rocky Mountains foothills and the front plains. We have similar conditions to the ones detailed in this video: cool springs that ramp up suddenly to hot, dry days that last until September. I've tried many varieties unsuccessfully. I can't seem to grow any large tomatoes at all because I get so few and they always crack. I will research tomato varieties in my area! Thanks for your video!
Delaware 7b Amish Paste do well for me every year
Looking for suggestions here! I need a variety that can handle crazy temperature swings daily. We can be in the 90s by noon but an hour after sunset drop to the low 40s. Rarely have a night above 50. Surprisingly we have a fairly long frost free summer, mid April till late October usually. Most varieties that I've tried don't die because they don't freeze but take months to develop. I'm lucky to get a few golf ball sized tomatoes by October's first frost.
NH i have not found one yet
By the way.. I'm in San Diego (inland) zone 10a
I live close to Branson, MO in the Ozark mountains. A lot of rock, so we have to do raised beds. I love German Johnson tomatoes that did so well in NC (only 50 or so miles S latitude from here), but they don't do really well here. They produce late, and not nearly the yield. I also grow Sam Marzanos that do quite well here. Elevation is at 1164 ft, so that's not an issue.
Texas Gulf Coast- 9b- Ananase Noir and Rose De Berne do very well for me, as well as most cherry tomatoes. Cherokee purple is a bust.
NE PA,
Black cherry
Boy, this makes sense. Zone 7a NYC, Brandywine, Cherokee I love but cracks. Any yellow will do well, like burpee pineapple. The exception is sun gold cherries, they just don't do well.
Totem pole cherry and any determinate do well for me.
Just what I needed to know !! I live in Manteca California and love meaty tomatoes and cherry tomatoes but last year the Rutgers tasted bad and did not produce much. I loved the Kellog's breakfast which grew over 6' but produced just a handful of fruit. The big yellow/orange tomatoes tasted great ! Paul Robeson did not grow much at all and I did not get any fruit. The previous year I got a few tasty tomatoes from Paul Robeson but the work is too much for no fruit. This year I am trying Burpees and Ferry Morse tried and true tomatoes. I will likely try one Kellog's breakfast since it is soooo tasty .
Thank you Brian
Central Kentucky zone 7a. Kentucky beefsteak is my favorite. It's a large yellow/orange
Leduc County Alberta 3b. Pink Ladys
Zone 10b Southern California. Last year I had success with Big Boy hybrid. It produced the best tomatoes I ever ever eaten and kept producing for about 8 or 9 months.
I had a very productive cherry tomato variety that didn't have a tag. I also tried Sungolds fir the first time. Those did decently, but not great.
All my plants are in containers.
I'm trying several new varieties this year (hybrids and one heirloom).
Zone 5b western Michigan. Mortgage Lifter does great for me whereas beefsteak doesn't produce many fruits & Rutgers also sometimes will do good but has a stronger tendency to get blossom end rot. Sweet 100 produces better than chocolate sprinkles. Roma does better than San Marzano. All indeterminate.
I grew some absolutely beautiful beefsteak tomatoes about 3 years ago and they were soooo yummy! However, I have not had that luck since then. I’m in SWFlorida so it does get really hot here. I feel like it has a lot to do with the rain. We just don’t get much at our house and I don’t think all the stuff in the county water is very good for them. I now however have to try and heal my soil in my raised beds. I believe they just got too dry and everything, except for my herbs, all got root knot nematodes and withered away. I almost afraid to plant anything else. I’m going to try the cardboard thing and see if I can fix it. I also grew the little yellow pears and some variegated varieties. They also grew well for a while, but the bad nematodes got them in the end.
Fayetteville, NC. The OP varieties that survive is "Homestead" and "Black Cherry". For me it's determinate hybrids as my main crop.
Southwest Louisiana Zone 9A Black Krim does well. Don’t grow any large tomatoes anymore. if we get large rains in summer they all split. Like 4-6 ounce tomatoes
I live in South Central PA. I believe the zone is 6 or 6b. San Marzanos and Roma perform super well for me. I prune San Marzanos but not the Romas. 🍅 Brandywine is okay. I struggle with Cherokee purple and other heirloom varieties. Pink Ox Heart usually only produces about 3 very large tomatoes.
I’m in northern NJ and the only heirloom tomato I grow consistently is Tiffen Mennonite . It consistently produces year after year with nice sized pink slicers. I have no issue at all with hybrids. Early girl is one of my favorites. It produces salad size tasty tomatoes from early July straight through to the frost. I encourage growing heirlooms if you like to but make sure you have some proven hybrids to make sure you never run out of tomatoes!
You may want to consider the Creole tomato. It was bred for hot and humid climates like in Louisiana yet it’s open pollinated and a heirloom so that you can save the seeds.
This is very helpful. I have been struggling with this for 6 years. I'm still working on finding the right variety. My best tomatoes started as volunteers and I kept the seed. I don't think they were volunteers from my own plantings; I think they came in with some compost. I always know what will take them out…spider mites. I can delay the mites but I can't defeat them.
Southern Middle TN – Brandywine but didn't get any. Still trying to find one. Black Krim didn't go well. It was crazy hot last season with a lot of rain.
WA coastal – everything struggled until I got a small greenhouse. Everything growing well now 😀
Just moved from zone 8b to 6b over the Summer. I now live in the colder but still dry Southern Utah mountains. Any suggestions for good tomato varieties is appreciated.
South central PA (Harrisburg) – Mortgage Lifter, German Johnson, Red Beefsteak and San Marzano have been my best producers. Brandywine varieties have been hit or miss (mostly miss). Cherokee Purple has never done well for me. Sun sugar and Supersweet 100 cherry varieties do very well. Last year I picked up a Juliet plant from a hardware store just to fill in a gap in one of my beds. That plant went crazy. I’ve never experienced production like that. The fruits are like mini Romas – very meaty and delicious. I still have two 2-gallon bags in the freezer. Big Boy, Better Boy and Lemon Boy hybrids also do very well in my garden.
I do grow a variety of San Marzano but it is a hybrid variety. It does well enough but I like to make sauces and the taste is good. I tried the regular San Marzano a few years back and it was not great once the Florida heat kicked in. We go from possible frost (not very often) until early March and by the end of April beginning of May a sauna. I don’t recall the cherry variety name off the top of my head but as you mentioned the name is a good indicator and the name sounded very Florida. Cherry varieties seem to do the best production wise here.
I already started them inside right after New Years.
On a side note, I am shocked my Pineapple plants weren’t killed off back to the ground. We got down to 27F and generally that kills off all the leaves, but they come back every year. We are suppose to get down to 20F. Twice coming up so I did go ahead and cover them just before watching this. Who knows, maybe the plant is adapting to the winter weather here and I can sell a new 9A variety of pineapple plants.
We live in Northern California 9B . We grow Juliette.
Zone 7b/8a Southern Maryland (hot humid summer) – Rutgers was hit hard by early blight and was stunted the rest of season.
Monticello ky plum tomatoes san marzano