Tomatoes for ContainersThe second most asked??? Which ones work best in pots? On a patio? I don't have much space... O.K., here we go... All the same rules apply, see the 'Tips' page, but here's a few more idears for ya'll "spacially challenged".
Firstly, FEED YOUR PLANTS!!! Those in pots can't hunt for their food like their in-ground brethren do. Ya'll gotta bring the cheeseburgers to the plants! Liquid organics will need to be provided about every two weeks; granular forms less so frequently...follow directions of course. Watering is your other challenge, water deeply and thoroughly then allow for the soil to dry a few knuckles deep before the next drink, this may mean DAILY in warm weather. Plants don't care that you want to go to Vegas for a long weekend ...they're gonna DIE! Think BIG when selecting a container, a five- gallon sized pot is way too small, think whiskey barrel!!! Choose a quality potting soil to fill it; I like 'Ladybug's VORTEX'. Of course add all the stuff I recommend on the 'Tips' page. The varieties I'm recommending in this category are all 'Determinate', meaning they don't get big (plants that is) although any 'mater can be grown in an appropriate sized pot; a 15' tall plant is going to need that whiskey barrel full of water every day come summer! |
| Cat No. | Variety Name | Description | Add to Cart |
| 1161 | Alamo Hybrid |
Determinate (72 days) Special selection hybrid of the famous San Marzano Redorta strains. Large fruits are flavorful with huge quantities produced. Very disease resistant. (Hybrid) | Sorry, not available this year. |
| 1115 | Amish Gold |
80 Ind. Another Tomatofest standout; This successful cross between 'Amish Paste' and 'Sungold' resulted in the awesome flavor of the later with the firm meatiness of the former in a small 1½-2" oblong fruit with a pointed end. My gardens will never again be without this winner!!! | |
| 1216 | Babywine Try Google |
Nice looking, small plum shaped pink tomatoes. Slightly angular. 4 to 6 cm. Firm and fleshy. For fresh eating or sauces. Tall potato leaf plants reaching 2 m or more. Long production, until frosts. 75 days. Rare. | |
| 1162 | Black Sea Man |
Determinate. (75 days) You guys caught on quick, my third most popular variety in 2009 in the first year I offered this unique variety. Potato leaf (YEAH).A Russian heirloom that may look odd but tastes delicious. Rich, tangy tomato flavor in medium-sized, 4 to 8 oz. fruits with brown-black skins and pink shoulders. Fruits are slightly plum-shaped, revealing skeleton-like veins when blanched and peeled. | |
| 1207 | Bush Beefsteak Try Google |
For the spatially challenged: a compact form of the ol' Beefsteak. Bushy plants yield an early abundance of big clusters of 6 to 8 oz. rich red, beefsteak-shaped fruit. Popular because of its earliness, productivity, and large fruit size. Determinate. 62 days. | |
| 1253 | Chili Verde Try Google |
New for 2010; I am always looking for ‘new’ green tomatoes. Baker creek has released this beauty;” A far-out and really cool tomato developed by Tom Wagner, who also bred the ‘Green Zebra’ and many other great varieties. This one is especially fascinating, with its amazing, pointed pepper shape and the mellow green skin, nearly like a green chili. The flavor is also good, strong and earthy, perfect for canning or for making green ketchup! This is one of the few green paste tomatoes and, like most paste types, this one has few seeds. That made seed collecting a challenge, but fortunately this variety really produced, right up till frost. Plants are really vigorous with thick stems and large leaves” Lets try it shall we. | |
| 1208 | Don Juan Try Google |
Gorgeous deep pink tomato covered with paler yellow-orange stripes. Unique. Paste type, firm, oval-shaped, about 6 cm long by 5 cm wide. Small, compact plants, about 50 cm high, with rugose foliage. Very rare, hard to find variety!75 days. Determinate. | |
| 1076 | Fargo Try Google |
Very similar to 'Yellow Pear'; strong vigorous vines become absolutely covered with sweet yellow tomatoes. The fruit is a bit more plum-shaped than that of Yellow Pear, but what really makes Fargo distinctive is that it is a much smaller plant than Yellow Pear, a plus for gardeners who don't want to stake such tall plants. Determinate. 72 days. | Sorry, not available this year. |
| 1059 | Green Grape |
Sold Out for 2010 Please try Green Doctor's, Green Zebra or Chili Verde. 60 Ind. A semi-compact plant that bears loads of 1"×1½" green striped fruit that ripen when amber in color. These tasty little morsels are becoming very popular in restaurants and markets everywhere. Flavor is sharp and citrusy, like a mini green zebra. Gourmet Selection. | Sorry, not available this year. |
| 1078 | Green Zebra |
75 Ind. Not surprisingly this old-tymer cracked the top ten in sales at #9 in ’09. Unique and delicious. 3 oz. fruit which ripen to beautiful amber yellow with emerald green stripping. Flavor is sweet, citrusy and addictive. Our friends at Baker Creek say “One of my favorite tomatoes. Beautiful chartreuse with deep lime-green stripes, very attractive. Flesh is bright green and very rich tasting, sweet with a sharp bite to it, (just too good to describe!). A favorite tomato of many high class chefs, specialty markets and home gardeners. Yield is excellent”. A delicious taste treat for any garden. Personal Favorite. Compare to Chili Verde, Green Grape and Green Doctors. . | |
| 1128 | Homestead 24F Try Google |
80 Semi-Det. Coming in a very close second to Arkansas Traveler for best selling red-fruited variety; Released in 1956 by the Asgrow Seed Co., New Haven, Connecticut. The plants are large with heavy foliage and produce seven to eight ounce red fruits that are luscious meaty, firm, and consistently uniform. Highly recommended for hot weather southern gardens, fruit set under a wide range of conditions. Strong, disease resistant vines will require good support! Compare to Arkansas Traveler, Dona, Carmello, and Momotaro. | |
| 1015 | La Roma III Hybrid Try Google |
Sold Out for 2010- Compare to heirloom/open polinated varieties like Rocky,Rio Grande or maybe Purple Russian? 76 Det. VFFNA - Producing seven times more fruit than standard 'Roma', these small 3-4oz. gems are One of the very best just got better...5 to 8 oz. fruit are produced on large, vigorous plants with excellent disease resistance. Expect larger fruit and healthier plants than with the standard Roma. Perfect for sauces, drying, or just snacking. (Hybrid) | Sorry, not available this year. |
| 1163 | Marglobe |
Determinate (72 days) You've been asking so here it is!!! This old favorite has red, sweet tasting, 8-10 ounce fruit. The vines have dense foliage, and are loaded with globe shaped, solid tomatoes. Heavy producer for a bush type tomato. A perfect above average table tomato for slicing and chopping. | |
| 1164 | Nebraska Wedding |
Determinate, (85-90 days) Reliable producer of beautiful 3-4" round fruits with shiny orange skin and orange flesh, very meaty. Produces fruits in clusters. Shoulders are always smooth and almost never crack. Well-balanced flavor. Plants require staking, but are typically less than 36" tall and always are very manageable.. Surprissingly popular in 2009, thanks folks! | |
| 1166 | Pineapple Tomatillo Try Google |
This tomatillo has a sweet, fruity taste that reminds you of a pineapple. Short, spreading plants yield plenty of these tasty fruit which is wonderful in salsas, especially those made with fruit as an ingredient. 75 days. | |
| 1254 | Pink Grapefruit Try Google |
An exciting new addition for 2010; A really unique tomato of medium size. Dark yellow to golden fruits showing a beautiful pink blush at their core. Fresh, zesty flavor, almost lemony. Small size, round fruits 2 ½” Firm. Very productive; a winner. 75 days.Semi-det. | |
| 1176 | Plum Tigris Try Google |
A pretty plum-shaped variety that has shining red and yellow stripes; very unusual. Plants produce lots of 4 oz fruit that are of a very good flavor. This colorful tomato was sent to the USA by Andrey Baranovski, from Minsk, Belarus | |
| 1255 | Poma Amoris Minora Lutea Try Google |
This is a perfect example of why I do this; to offer you folks cool tomato varieties like this one. From the deep diversity at Baker Creek; “Small, bright yellow fruit are borne in trusses, and yields are good; they have a nice flavor and are an ancient variety that is described in various historic botanical books. Grown at Hortus Botanicus, Padua, Italy, 1553. A very pretty, historic “Love Apple” that is among the oldest.” Small 1-2” fruits on small, to 6’ plants. | |
| 1108 | Purple Russian Try Google |
86 Ind. - A nice surprise at tomatofest last September, a new 'Black' fruit and a paste type as well! This Ukrainian heirloom sports regular leaves and huge, pointed, plum-shaped fruits with an excellent wine-sweet flavor. Should make EXCELLENT sauce!!! Few. | |
| 1167 | Purple Tomatillo Try Google |
A uniquely colored tomatillo that is enjoyed for the sweet yet tart flavor it gives Mexican dishes. These small fruit form inside papery husks and begin as pale green, then ripen to a rich, deep purple. Vigorous and productive plants. 75-85 days. | |
| 1209 | Red Rocket Try Google |
60 days.Det. A compact, bushy plant that might seem to take off like a rocket, then loads up with bright red tomatoes ripening up early in the season. Fruit is in the 8 to 10 oz. range and smooth with absolutely no blemishes. Pleasantly these are very flavorful tomatoes with a good blend of sugar and acid, giving you top quality fruit as well as earliness. Compares to Bush Celebrity and Sugar Baby. | |
| 1210 | Rio Grande Roma Try Google |
Replacing 'Alamo' for 2009, this variety produces very large, blocky pear-shaped tomatoes; borne in profusion, making for large harvests to turn into tomato sauce, paste, or juice. Deep red fruit is about 4 inches long. Vigorous plants are well adapted to extremes in temperature. Determinate. 80 days. | |
| 1262 | Rose-Quartz Multiflora Try Google |
For the true tomato enthusiast, why I enjoy doing this, offering these cool varieties. From Solana seeds; “Multiflora sub-type with huge bunches of delicious pink cherry tomatoes. Like the standard Rose Quartz, fruits have the same nice deep pink, iridescent color and the same aromatic, fruity flavor. Large clusters of more than 100 tomatoes each. This variety is also amazingly productive. About 75 days. Rare, hard to find variety!” Limited production so order early! | |
| 1211 | Russian Persimmon S-D Try Google |
Another 'something different' for my container-growing friends; I've found you this very attractive yellowish-orange tomato. The flavor is outstanding, with significantly more acid than in most yellow tomatoes. Short plants are less than 4 ft. tall, but bear an abundance of these striking tomatoes. – From Amishland Heirloom Seeds: "This was my favorite new bi-color (striped ) tomato that I have ever grown, and believe me, I have grown lots as I adore the striations and marbling. This gorgeous tomato hails from the famous seed bank of the former Soviet Union. This is the first heart shaped (oxheart) tomato ever discovered with stripes. It is bi-colored both outside and inside. An absolutely breathtaking beauty. The taste is fruity, sweet and wonderful. I had very large fruits, mine averaged one pound, although it was described as being 8 oz or more. Very solid meat, scant gel and very few seeds. I am so very pleased to offer this beauty...this was the tomato more people commented on in my gardens than any other this season." Determinate. 81 days | |
| 1212 | Rutgers VFA Try Google |
Gardeners everywhere are rediscovering this old-fashioned classic for its terrific flavor and productivity. This strain has some disease resistance, which may help produce large crops of crack-free, bright red 6 to 8 oz. tomatoes with delicious old-time taste. For many years, this was a favorite for canning because of its abundance, juiciness and deep red color through and through. Developed in the 1920's, Determinate. 75 days. | Sorry, not available this year. |
| 1213 | Salsa VFT Hybrid Try Google |
Limited numbers were grown for 2010... and they went pretty quick. I'll grow more next year! Consider Dona, Momotaro or Carmello instead. From Tomato Growers Supply: "An outstanding new French tomato that has become very popular among French gardeners because of its fine, full tomato flavor and excellent performance." Juicy, round tomatoes weigh an average 5 ozs. Outstanding yields outdoors as well as under plastic. Lets compare this variety to 'Dona', which is getting hard to find. Semi-indeterminate. 72 days. (Hybrid) | Sorry, not available this year. |
| 1227 | Southern Night Try Google |
Sold Out for 2010 O.K., here ya go, a black-fruit for container growing! A rare, old traditional Russian variety that bears round, slightly flattened, 3-1/2 in. blackish-red fruits that are richly flavored, sweet yet acid. Performs best in warm areas, where it turns the deepest 'black' color. Determinate. 84 days | Sorry, not available this year. |
| 1195 | Sprite Try Google |
Sold out for 2010. We've spent a lot of time trying to help you folks who garden in container...so, if you love grape tomatoes, but don't have the space for supports to grow tall plants, try "Sprite". There is no sacrificing quality, size, productivity, or flavor - just shorter plants for smaller gardens. The small red oval grape tomatoes are borne in amazingly large numbers on more compact, determinate plants. Their taste is refreshingly sweet and skins are thin and crisp, just like the original Grape tomatoes. Determinate. 60 days. | Sorry, not available this year. |
| 1214 | Sugar Baby Try Google |
Our substitute for 'Patio' for 2009. Very early harvests of super-sweet tomatoes on compact plants make this variety a wonderful addition to anyone's garden. These 1 to 2 oz.(larger than cherry) tomatoes will likely be among the first of the season, and their sweet, delicious flavor is sure to be a delight. Plants are small, but very productive. Determinate. 54 days. | |
| 1169 | Sunberry |
Perfect for drying, canning and paste. Also delicious fresh and great for specialty market. From Seeds Savers "(Solanum Burbankii) Bred in the early 1900s by Luther Burbank, who called it Sunberry and lamented it being renamed Wonderberry by the dealer who purchased and introduced it. Critics immediately claimed Burbank had simply reintroduced S. nigrum, Garden Huckleberry, as a new plant. Burbank said it was the result of many years of crossing of Solanum guinense (a species native to Africa) and S. villosum (indigenous to Europe). Sunberry's fruits are blue, slightly sweet and slightly larger than a pea. Said by its admirers to rival and even surpass Blueberries. Truly historic variety. (Photo from How Plants Are Trained to Work for Man by Luther Burbank, 1914). | Sorry, not available this year. |
| 1117 | Sweet Orange Roma |
76 Ind. A very interesting variety indeed; you folks seem to agree and made S.O.R my 8th best seller in 2009. This is the one that made the biggest impact on my taste buds at Tomatofest. I simply could not believe the combination of color and flavor. A typical 1½" × 3" Roma shape fruit, but bright orange, filled with a good balance of acidity and sweetness. A++. Compare to Amish Gold and Orange Banana. | |
| 1168 | Toma Verde Tomatillo Try Google |
The tomatillo is a member of the tomato family, but not a real tomato. Round green tomatillos have a papery husk that is removed before preparing. Vining plants are easily grown and prolific. Flavor is sweet yet tart and wonderful in green Mexican salsa and other Mexican and Southwestern dishes. 75 days. | |
| 1265 | Velvet Red Try Google |
A little something different for me; for you? Just wanted to see these fuzzy little babies on my benches this spring…plus they are supposed to taste good! An Angora-type, with fuzzy, silvery-gray, dusty miller-type foliage and an excellent producer of 1" cherry tomatoes. Flavor is sweet and intense, packed into small, red, round fruits that make an attractive display against downy plants. Skins have a very faint fuzz, but not to the same degree as peach tomatoes. A choice variety. | |
| 1238 | Viva Italia VFFNA Try Google |
An Italian paste-type tomato that is a beautiful, deep red elongated oval with very solid flesh and a higher natural sugar content. This sugar coupled with ample acid make these tomatoes tastier for fresh eating, as well as for canning, freezing, and turning into sauce or salsa. Resistant to bacterial speck, and sets fruit better in hot weather than the original Roma. A modern hybrid that has become a classic Italian-type tomato. Determinate. 75 days (Hybrid) |