Discover the Best Heirloom Tomatoes to Grow in Your Garden

The heirloom tomatoes are now everywhere; you may have seen them at grocery stores, local markets, at fancy restaurants, or even at a friend’s house. The list is endless. One look and you can surely tell that it’s an heirloom tomato. How? Heirloom tomatoes have peculiar shapes and colors but taste better than those regular tomatoes you usually consume at home.

Not only that, gardeners and farmers highly favor heirloom tomatoes because of how their seeds can be passed from season to season, just like how your family passed down that silver locket. Plus, it’s effortless to pollinate them because they can be pollinated naturally by birds and insects. Nevertheless, here are the best varieties of heirloom tomatoes you should grow at home.

Ace 55-VF Tomato Heirloom Tomatoes

One of the best varieties and why heirloom tomatoes are gaining in popularity is because of Ace 55-VF. This is commonly known as Ace 55, and the VF stands for Verticillium and Fusarium wilt. Meaning this variety of heirloom tomato can tolerate VF, the fungi borne on the soil that will kill tomatoes. It’s also a good idea to sterilize the soil to attain good field crops and avoid VF.

What makes this variety so special that you should try planting at home is they are juicy inside, crack-resistant, and low in acid. Another advantage to planting Ace 55 is you have the option to plant them in a container, in a garden, or even in your fences. Although they are not picky when it comes to the soil, it would still be best to add some organic fertilizer to achieve the best result. After 80 to 85 days, you can now harvest your fresh and juicy Ace 55.

Oxheart Pink Tomato

The oxheart pink is an indeterminate variety of an heirloom tomato. Indeterminate variety of tomato means that when you plant one, it will continue to grow and continue to produce fruits throughout the growing season, a vining tomato in layman’s term. With that said, when you plant oxheart pink, you will need extra support for their stems at least five feet tall.

What makes oxheart pink unique is its feature. They have a pointy bottom, pink skin, and look like a giant strawberry that can weigh up to two pounds. Not only that, nothing can go to waste when it comes to oxheart pink’s fruit. Why? Because you just have to wash them after freshly picked, and you can take a bite with its pink skin along with its pink flesh like an apple.

Hillbilly Tomato

The Hillbilly tomatoes are just scary by name, but they are actually one of the sweetest varieties of heirloom tomatoes. They are also identified as beefsteak tomatoes which means they are large in size and have a compact feature. Furthermore, what makes them an excellent option to plant at home is they are crack-resistant and heat tolerant.

Just keep in mind that when you plant them at home, ensure that the place you plant them have full sunlight; hillbillies enjoy the heat of the sun. Plus, since hillbillies are an indeterminate variety of tomatoes, it would be best to support them by creating or putting more sticks at least five feet tall, serving as the stand when their vines will spread.

Kellogg’s Breakfast Tomato

One of the best varieties of heirloom tomatoes that is perfect for your hamburger is Kellogg’s Breakfast tomato. This is also the most common heirloom tomato since most of us love to eat hamburgers. With that said, you should definitely try planting at your home. Planting Kellogg’s breakfast is actually simple. Here are the methods below:

Buy seeds that are already germinated and ready for planting indoors.
Sow seeds first in a container before transplanting them in the soil.
When the plant reaches 20 cm, you can now transfer them to the soil.
When transferring to the soil, choose a location that will be hit directly by sunlight.
Nurture them with the diligence of a good father, and it’s all set.

Usually, the Kellogg’s Breakfast tomato will take 80 to 90 days to mature. So when you sow them in a container, it would be best to sow more than twenty seeds to make the best out of it and ensure that you have reserves when others don’t grow.

Amish Paste Tomato

If you want a variety of heirloom tomatoes that are perfect for canning and making sauces, then you may want to consider planting Amish paste tomatoes at home. Amish paste can grow up to six feet tall and can produce juice from fruits at least six to eight-ounce. They are common ingredients of salads and pizzas. So if you are fond of eating them, plant Amish paste now.

In addition, Amish paste tomatoes have the same care and the same way of planting as those mentioned above. However, to attain the best harvest, it would be best that when fruits of Amish paste tomatoes are like the size of a golf ball, you add some 10-10-10 complete fertilizer per plant with a three weeks interval.

Takeaway on Heirloom Tomatoes

There are at least 20 varieties of heirloom tomatoes. Whether you plant them and then sell them, or you want to have healthy ingredients to add to your salads, those mentioned above are the best ones to plant at home. With your determination, patience, and commitment, you can achieve planting these sweet and juicy varieties of heirloom tomatoes.