The Best Tasting Tomato to Grow in Cleveland, Ohio
Not all tomato plants are created equal. Understanding their growth habits helps you choose the right tomato to grow in your area. Cleveland, Ohio, is in USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 5 with approximately four to five months of frost-free days. If you choose to grow bigger, later maturing varieties, a greenhouse will extend the season, increasing the chances that the fruits ripening on the vine. Does this Spark an idea?
-
Growth Habits of Tomatoes
-
Indeterminate tomatoes are massive vines; they grow until you cut off the top or frost kills them. Determinates are small bush types. They produce all their fruit at once. Semideterminates, also bush-like, produce two crops. Dwarf hybrids have cherry-type fruit and have been developed for small spaces or container gardening. Inteterminates need a 2-foot radius and should be staked. Determinates and Semideterminates take up less room and do not need to be staked.
Hybrids vs. Heirlooms
-
Hybrid tomatoes have been developed for commercial markets.Their flesh is firm and less juicy. Mechanical pickers have an easier time picking them and the fruit travels well. The fruit is uniformly red and round, but the taste is substandard.
Heirloom tomatoes, on the other hand, taste juicy, tangy and delicious. They come in shades of yellow, red green, purple red and brownish red. The fruit is round but can be indented into rib-like sections or balloon shaped bulges.
-
Determinate Tomatoes vs. Indeterminate Tomatoes
-
Supermarkets are full of hybrid tomatoes. If you are going to go to the trouble of growing your own, you may as well grow something in that you can't buy. You can get heirloom tomato seeds for determinate and indeterminate varieties, but plant the indeterminate varieties; they have the best taste, although, the shorter growing season in Cleveland, Ohio, compared to southern locations means not all of the tomatoes may have time to ripen on the vine before frost.
The Tastiest Heirloom Varieties
-
Heirloom tomatoes are what every gardener wants to grow. In Cleveland, Ohio, seek out farmers' markets or local gardening clubs for heirloom tomato seeds. Some seed catalogs specialize in heirloom seeds. Black Krim is extremely juicy and makes a tangy delicious salad. Brandywine is fleshier. It tastes great in a sandwich. Purple Calabash has a smooth, rich flavor and is great in a sauce. Pop a Red Currant tomato in your mouth for a flavorful pick-me-up when you are in your garden.
-
References
Resources
- Photo Credit Green Tomatoe vine image by ngeoffrey from Fotolia.com tomatoes image by Maria Brzostowska from Fotolia.com
