With the arrival of spring weather, the treks to home garden stores have begun, often with tomato plants at the top of the wish list.

But with nearly 10,000 varieties of tomato, every person you ask might give a different answer as to which variety they deem superior.

Alabama Extension System experts have conducted many tomato programs over the years and include a tomato taste test as part of those programs.

Here are tips to help select tomato plants for this growing season, and some cultivars that may be worth a try.

Selecting varieties

When deciding which tomato to grow in Alabama, disease resistance is an important factor. No tomato is resistant to all diseases. You will have to choose resistant varieties based on the most problematic diseases in your garden.

It is common to find tomatoes resistant to fusarium wilt (race 1, 2 and 3), verticillium wilt, root knot nematodes and several resistant to tomato spotted wilt virus. However, it is also possible to find a few tomato cultivars resistant to early blight, late blight, gray leaf spot, tomato mosaic virus, tobacco mosaic virus, bacterial speck and bacterial wilt. You will not find a tomato resistant to all of these diseases. However, you can find tomatoes resistant to one or more of these diseases.

Spring means time for planting tomatoes. But which ones are best? (Alabama Cooperative Extension System / Getty Images)

What do you want your tomatoes for?

Alabama Extension experts say you should also consider tomato uses when selecting which varieties to grow. In broad terms, they place tomatoes into three categories: slicing tomatoes, paste tomatoes and salad tomatoes. But tomato growers can often disagree about which ones should be used for what. Chip East, an Alabama Cooperative Extension System horticulture regional agent, said some people prefer using traditional slicing tomatoes for canning and traditional canning tomatoes for slicing. In any case, here’s how they break down with some variety recommendations for each:

Slicing tomatoes

Tomatoes usually used for slicing tend to be 8-12 ounces. There are many varieties that fit this bill. However, they all taste a bit different. ‘Better Boy,’ ‘Celebrity,’ ‘Crista,’ ‘Big Beef’ and ‘Mountain Majesty’ are all common slicing tomato varieties.

Recommended slicing tomatoes with good disease resistance include:

• Amelia.
• Bella Rosa.
• Crista.
• Mountain Gem.
• Mountain Magic.
• Mountain Merit.
• Red Bounty.
• Red Defender.

Keep in mind, there are thousands of other slicing tomatoes available. “It is impossible to say which is best,” East said. “Some people will only plant one variety their entire life and claim that it’s the best despite never trying another.”

How do you slice your tomatoes? (Scott Bauer / U.S. Agricultural Research Service)

Paste tomatoes

Traditional paste or canning tomato varieties are smaller in size, at approximately 4-5 ounces. These tomatoes – including Roma, Plum and Mariana – tend to be lower in water content than larger slicing tomatoes. The higher meat-to-water ratio makes these tomatoes great for sauces and canning.

Popular paste tomatoes include:

• Granadero.
• Mariana.
• Plum Crimson.
• Plum Regal.
• Pony Express.

Salad tomatoes

The smallest tomato varieties are often used in salads. These are grape and cherry types. Both are near 1 ounce and are bite-size. As their names suggest, they are generally shaped like grapes or cherries. They are generally sweet and have an even higher meat-to-water ratio. Common cherry tomato varieties are Mountain Belle, New Pearl and Sun Gold. Common grape tomato varieties include Juliet, Mountain Honey and ‘Navidad.

Recommended cherry types are:

• Matt’s Wild Cherry.
• Mountain Belle.
• Sun Gold.
• Sun Sugar.
• Super Sweet 100.

Recommended grape types with good disease resistance include:

• BHN 410.
• Mountain Honey.

Tomato flavor factors

Homegrown tomatoes are largely considered the pinnacle of tomato quality. However, there is a lot more to it than the garden-versus-greenhouse argument.

East said the argument should be less about homegrown versus greenhouse and more about vine-ripened versus harvested early.

Tangerine tomatoes live up to their name, at least when it comes to color. There are so many tomatoes to choose from. (Betty Burri, U.S. Agricultural Research Service)

Homegrown tomatoes are normally picked as they are ready, while tomatoes in stores are often harvested early and shipped great distances. This keeps the tomato fresh longer but worsens its flavor. Some tomatoes may be picked while green, then ripened with chemicals after reaching the store. Not all greenhouse tomatoes are harvested early, though.

“Some people can tell the difference between field-grown tomatoes and greenhouse-grown tomatoes, but vine-ripened ones still have the best quality,” East said. “The closer to vine-ripe the tomatoes are, the better their quality is, but they have a shorter shelf life.”

There are other stress factors that can affect tomato flavor.

“Low light, cold, disease, insects, not ripening properly before harvest, poor irrigation management and poor nutrition are all stress factors which can change the flavor of tomatoes,” East said.

Proper irrigation and nutrition will help gardeners get the most out of their tomatoes, but planting at the right time will make it all easier. Planting at the right temperature will cause plants to grow more quickly, giving gardeners their culinary favorite all the sooner.

“Using a soil thermometer is the best way to do it,” East said. “The soil should be between 60 and 95 degrees Fahrenheit at the coldest part of the day when planting. If you had to pick a perfect soil temperature, 85 degrees Fahrenheit is optimum but hard to achieve early in the season. I like for temperatures to be at least 60 degrees Fahrenheit.”

Learn more about tomatoes from Alabama Extension experts at aces.edu.