How do you know what kind of tomatoes to plant?

Q: I have been going through vegetable seed catalogs and am getting very confused about all the various types of tomatoes. They have all kinds of letters behind the name such as VFTSWVSt and some are determinate and others are indeterminate. Some are open-pollinated and others are hybrid. And now I even notice artisan types. This is really getting confusing. Help me out.

A: Don’t feel alone as there are more than 264 varieties of tomatoes offered this year with 27 new varieties being offered for the first time.

Let’s take this step-by-step as you mentioned them. When you see all the letters behind the name of the tomato variety, this is an indication that this variety has an in-bred disease resistance for a certain disease(s). A ‘V’ letter indicates a resistance to Verticillium Wilt. An ‘F’ indicates a resistance to Fusarium Wilt. An ‘FF’ is for two races of Fusarium Wilt and an ‘FFF’ indicates a resistance to three races of Fusarium Wilt. An ‘N’ is a resistance to nematodes. A ‘T’ is resistance to Tobacco Mosaic Virus. An ‘A’ is a resistance to Alternaria Stem Canker. A ‘ST’ indicates a resistance to Stemphyllum Gray Leaf Spot. A ‘TSWV’ indicates a resistance to Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus.

The term ‘determinate’ indicates that most of the tomato fruits all ripen within a small periods of time which would be suitable for canning and juicing purposes. The term, ‘indeterminate’ indicates that fruits will ripen throughout the entire growing season making these varieties great for picking daily for fresh use.

Open-pollinated varieties have been grown over a long period of time and the seeds are saved from year to year and depend upon insects for the pollination. Hybrid types are pollinated by humans with crosses between two or more varieties.

Artisan tomato types are different with unusual colors and/or shapes.

Cherry tomatoes are produced on ‘hands’ with several smaller tomatoes ripening at the same time. These are usually the earliest to ripen and the whole hand ripens together.

There are also tomatillo varieties which have skins or husks and are also called ‘ground cherries’.

There are also ‘acid-free tomatoes’ which are yellow in color and lower in acidity.

You will also see certain varieties labeled as AAS. or the All-American Selection Winners as they have been tested in almost every state in trial gardens and must receive a high score at each of these gardens. For this reason the seeds are a little more expensive, but they have been proven to excel in all types of climate. These All-American Selections make up most types of vegetables and flowering annuals that have scored high enough in all locations.

There are also ‘grafted’ tomato plants which have a rootstock which is hardy to cooler soils and there is a scion top that can be any variety that is desired. But unless you live in a mountainous area, it’s not usually necessary in our area, but some gardens try to get an early production by obtaining these grafts.

This story was originally published April 6, 2017 at 8:00 AM with the headline "How do you know what kind of tomatoes to plant?."