2026 Tomato Varieties
This Season’s Tomato Varieties
There's something magical about that first bite of a sun-warmed tomato, especially when you've nurtured it from seedling to harvest in your own backyard. This season, our grow team has been hard at work in our greenhouses, coaxing along an exceptional selection of heirloom treasures and proven hybrid performers, all grown right here on-site in our custom soil blends.
The Heirloom Favorites
Cherokee Purple leads our heirloom lineup with its dusty rose shoulders and complex, smoky-sweet flavor that tastes like summer should.
Brandywine follows close behind, the gold standard of heirlooms with its massive, ribbed fruits that make supermarket tomatoes taste like cardboard in comparison.
San Marzano is the perfect sauce tomato, the Italian classic that turns into liquid gold when slow-roasted.
Black Krim brings its distinctive dark coloring and rich, almost wine-like depth.
Mortgage Lifter lives up to its Depression-era name with pound-plus fruits that could indeed pay the bills at farmer's markets.
Yellow Pear offers tear-drop shaped golden fruits perfect for snacking.
Beefsteak remains the backyard classic for sandwich supremacy.
New Varieties for 2026
This year, we're particularly excited about several new additions to our tomato family:
Strawberry Fields makes its debut, an heirloom that produces generous yields of sweet, meaty fruits with that old-fashioned tomato taste you remember from childhood gardens.
Indigo Cherry is our nod to modern breeding, with stunning purple-black fruits loaded with anthocyanins (the same antioxidants in blueberries). It's as beautiful as it is delicious.
5 Star Grape joins the lineup for gardeners who love the convenience of grape tomatoes but want superior flavor and disease resistance.
The Tried-and-True Varieties
We have gorgeous tried-and-true flavors that are often top picks for our customers.
Sungold has earned cult status among tomato lovers for good reason. These golden cherry tomatoes are so sweet, kids (and adults) eat them like candy straight off the vine.
Sweet 100 returns this year, offering clusters of small, incredibly sweet fruits that produce prolifically all season long.
Champion delivers reliable, disease-resistant performance with classic tomato flavor.
Honey Bee Cherry combines the best of both worlds: heirloom taste in a modern, productive package.
Tiny Tim proves good things come in small packages. This compact plant produces full-flavored cherry tomatoes perfect for patio growing, ideal for container gardeners or those with limited space.
Grown with Care, Released with Patience
Every one of these varieties has been started from seed by our experienced grow team, nurtured in our custom soil blends that we've refined over years of growing here in San Diego's unique climate. We don't rush these and we grow what we sell, ensuring you get the healthiest, most robust starts possible.
As San Diego gardeners know, patience pays off when it comes to tomato planting. We'll be releasing these varieties in stages throughout the spring as temperatures reliably warm and conditions become ideal for transplanting. This staggered approach means you'll get plants that are ready to thrive, not just survive, in your garden.
Release Schedule
Want to know when your favorite variety will be available? Give our front counter a call at 619-284-6358. Our team can let you know what's ready now and what's coming soon. Or better yet, stop by during our regular hours to see what's thriving in our greenhouse and get personalized advice from our knowledgeable staff.
Whether you're Team Heirloom or Team Hybrid (or wisely playing both sides), this season's selection offers something for every San Diego gardener. Here's to a summer of tomatoes enjoyed warm from the sun, caprese salads, and that unbeatable satisfaction of growing your own.
See you at the nursery!