Discover the Exact Right Tomato to Grow for Maximum Flavor in Your Garden Space Whether That’s a Big Backyard, Balcony or Just a Windowsill!

From beefsteak to baby cherry, heirlooms to hybrids, there are over 10,000 known tomato varieties, so we can be forgiven for finding it difficult to decide which is best tomato to grow in our gardens. But that incredible assortment does mean that, however big or small your backyard is, and whatever your USDA zone or growing conditions, there’s a variety that’s perfect for you. Not too big, not too small, but Goldilocks-just-right for an abundant harvest of flavorful fruits that makes the most of whatever outdoor space you’ve got.

I’ve been growing tomatoes for 20 years, starting off with a single small plant in a patio pot and gradually scaling my harvest up to match my garden size, and now I have a veggie patch heaving with ginormous vines. I like to experiment with different varieties every year, only regrowing those that really earn their garden space with lots of tasty toms, and zero hassle. So I can promise that, even if you’ve only got a windowsill to spare, you can enjoy flavorful, easy-to-grow tomatoes all summer long. The secret is simply to find the best tomato variety for your growing conditions.

Get that match right and rest is simple. All these varieties are straightforward to grow (I've included links so you can see exactly what products I'm talking about, but do support your local retailers, too). Start seeds in seed starter mix such as this from Gardenera via Amazon, or get a head start with a young plant that can go straight into a container of a nutritious all-purpose potting mix such as this from Amazon. Stake unless it’s a bush variety – using a cage is the easiest option, but make sure it’s strong like this one from Amazon as tomatoes are heavy!

If you’re growing tomatoes in the ground, then enrich your soil first with organic matter such as worm castings like these from Amazon. Adding coir like this from Amazon, too, will improve the soil’s drainage and ability to hold water – and consistent moisture is key to growing great tomatoes. Enriched soil or potting mix will have enough nutrients for strong growth but, once you spot flowers and the first fruit beginning to set, you can fuel an abundant harvest with a tomato feed such as Espoma Organic Tomato! from Amazon. Plants in pots will need more regular feeding than those growing in the ground.

Here are my top 10 tomato varieties to grow for maximum flavor in whatever garden space you’ve got. Which one is just right for you?

1. Best Tomato For a Windowbox or Balcony: Verandah Red

This little powerhouse of a plant means everyone can grow tomatoes as it only reaches just over a foot tall and wide. It’s been bred to thrive in a container so pop it in a windowbox or a balcony pot for abundant cherry tomatoes in the tiniest of spaces. You could grow it as a centrepiece for your outdoor dining table for the freshest of pickings for summer meals. Or it can even be grown on a sunny windowsill indoors: just gently shake the plant to pollinate flowers in the absence of bees.

As it’s a determinate variety, ‘Verandah Red’ naturally grows into a bushy shape that doesn’t need staking. Incredibly versatile and quick to mature in around 60 days, it can be grown in all zones.

2. Best Tomato For a Veggie Patch: Rain Drops

If you’ve got the room to stake 8-foot-high and 2–3-foot-wide ‘Rain Drops’ in a veggie patch, then you’ll enjoy flavorful cherry tomatoes right up to the first frost. This indeterminate hybrid has been bred to be direct-sown straight into the soil and it’s very straightforward to grow, even for beginner gardeners. And, as its name suggests, it’s pretty weatherproof with good resistance to cracking should a heatwave hit.

It takes 70 days to mature, so get seeds into the ground as soon as possible after your last frost date.

3. Best Tomato For a Huge Backyard: SteakHouse

One of the world’s largest beefsteak tomatoes, just one ‘SteakHouse’ tom can weigh up to 3lbs and a single slice is enough for a whole sandwich! Also known as ‘Gigantomo’, this variety is incredibly flavorful for its size, with a wonderful fragrance. This is an indeterminate variety so it needs strong support, and can grow up to 6 feet tall and wide. It takes around 80 days to mature so needs a long growing season in a warm, sunny climate, so it’s best suited to zones 7–9 but will be fine in zones 5–6 as long as it has a sunny, sheltered spot.

4. Best Tomato For a Hanging Basket: Sunpeach

Pop ‘Sunpeach’ in a sturdy hanging basket and you’ll have cascading stems studded with pretty pink-tinged cherry tomatoes all summer long. Give it the biggest basket you can and hang it high on a strong chain, though, because this is a highly productive variety and stems can grow to 8 feet long!

Choose a solid-sided hanging basket to conserve moisture, but you’ll still need to water extra regularly as compost will dry out more quickly in an exposed spot. Unlike many similar cultivars, this indeterminate variety is highly resistant to cracking and, as long as you look after it, it’ll reward you with toms till the first frost. It does best in a hanging basket in zones 5–8; while it will cope in zones 3 and 4, and 9, it's better to give it an easier life growing vertically in a trellised container.

5. Best Tomato For a Trellis or Fence: Super Sweet 100

‘Super Sweet 100’ is incredibly abundant with pendulous clusters of bright red cherry tomatoes, making it as attractive as it is productive. Plants can grow to 6 feet high – and even taller in the right conditions – but only spread to around 1½ feet, making it the perfect shape to grow up a trellis fixed to a fence. The tomatoes are beautifully sweet, so this variety will provide you with plenty of gardening snacks, too.

This is an indeterminate variety so it will produce tomatoes all summer long and, if you look after it, into fall. It prefers a warmer climate so zones 5–9 give optimal conditions.

6. Best Cherry Tomato For a Patio Pot: Baby Boomer

The competition for this category was tough, as plenty of cherry tomato varieties have been bred especially for patio pots. But ‘Baby Boomer’ earns my top spot on account of its incredible abundance in the smallest of spaces. One plant measuring just 2 feet high and wide can produce around 300 tomatoes, and each is a 1oz gem bursting with sweet flavor. It’s fabulously quick to mature, too, taking just 50–55 days to fruit.

‘Baby Boomer’s only downfall is that it tends to produce its fruit all at once so, if you want patio pickings that keep coming all summer, ‘Sweetheart of the Patio’ is a better choice. Or, even better, grow both! 'Baby Boomer' and 'Sweetheart of the Patio' are both suitable for zones 3–11.

7. Best Beefsteak Tomato For a Patio Pot: BushSteak

Years ago, you needed to have plenty of garden space to grow beefsteak tomatoes, but not any more! ‘BushSteak’ brings big 8–12oz tomatoes on compact plants less than 2 feet tall. The flavour is rich and the texture meaty, so don’t worry that this dwarf plant doesn’t pack just as tasty a punch as taller varieties.

Despite being determinate variety, it’s a good idea to support ‘BushSteak’ on account of the weight of those standout beefsteaks. Because it’s so versatile, and an early producer with toms in as little as 65 days, this variety can be grown in zones 2–11.

8. Best Tomato For Southern States: Heatmaster

Bred to excel in hot, humid climates where many other varieties struggle, ‘Heatmaster’ is the perfect choice if you live in zones 8–11. As it’s a bushy determinate variety, it’ll cope fine with life in a container as well as in the ground, though it’ll still need a cage as it grows to 3 feet high and wide.

This slicer produces 7–8oz toms with an excellent flavor, and though it’s a little slower to mature than others, taking 75 days, that’s not a problem with the long growing season of southern states.

9. Best Tomato For Northern States: Early Girl

This variety matures incredibly quickly, growing from a seedling to a fruiting plant in around 59 days, making an excellent choice for the shorter growing season of northern states. ‘Early Girl’ is an indeterminate variety with 5oz toms, growing to around 4½ feet high and wide, that carries on fruiting all summer.

If you want to stick seeds straight in the ground – yes, even in the North! – then this Garden Sown Early Bird determinate variety is cold tolerant so grows well from an early direct sowing. It grows smaller cherry toms and takes 75 days to mature.

10. Best Tomato For High Rainfall Areas: Mountain Magic

Think it’s not worth growing toms because your high rainfall and humidity invite every tomato disease going? Think again! ‘Mountain Magic’ has been bred for incredible disease resistance to blight and wilt so, even if you’re an organic gardener, this variety will treat you to a plentiful crop of red cherry tomatoes.

This indeterminate hybrid grows to around 4 feet high and wide, producing 2–3oz fruit all the way to the first frost. Because of its robust nature, ‘Mountain Magic’ can be grown in zones 3–11 but, as it’s a little slow to mature, taking up to 80 days to fruit, it’s best to start with a young plant rather than seed at this point in the year, if you have a shorter growing season.