Ask ten gardeners for the best tomato and you may receive eleven answers.
One grower wants handfuls of little fruits for lunchboxes. Another wants broad slices for summer sandwiches. Someone with a greenhouse can train a tall cordon to the roof, while someone with a balcony needs a plant that understands the meaning of personal space.
So the honest answer is this: there is no single best tomato seed for every UK garden. There is a best type for the place you have, the care you can give and the crop you want to eat.
This guide will help you choose without getting lost in a catalogue of tempting names.
Start with four questions: Where will it grow? How much space and support can you provide? What size of tomato do you want? Would you like to save seed afterwards?
01 · AT A GLANCE
Quick tomato chooser
| Your situation | Look for | Why it suits |
|---|---|---|
| Patio pot, trough or hanging basket | Compact bush or trailing cherry tomato | Smaller plants need less training and suit containers |
| Narrow sunny space with tall support | Cordon cherry or salad tomato | Vertical growth uses limited ground well |
| Greenhouse or polytunnel | Cordon varieties suited to protected growing | Extra warmth and shelter broaden your choice |
| Warm, sheltered outdoor border | An outdoor-suitable, reasonably early variety | Earlier fruit has a better chance of ripening |
| Lots of tomatoes for sauce | Plum or paste type | Fleshier fruit usually means less watery sauce |
| Large slices for sandwiches | Slicer or beefsteak type | Chosen for larger individual fruits |
| Saving seed for next year | A clearly identified open-pollinated variety | Offspring are more likely to resemble the parent |
| Uniform plants or a stated bred trait | An F1 hybrid offering that trait | F1 plants are selected for consistency or other qualities |
02 · GROWTH HABIT
First choice: bush or cordon?
The plant’s growth habit affects almost everything that follows, yet it is easy to overlook when looking at photographs of ripe fruit.
Cordon tomatoes
Cordon tomatoes are also called indeterminate or vining tomatoes. Their main stem continues growing and producing flower trusses until cold weather or the gardener stops it.
- A tall, secure cane, string or other support
- Regular tying-in
- Removal of side shoots between leaves and the main stem
- Enough height for continued growth
Because they grow upwards, cordons can be an excellent use of a narrow sunny space. They suit greenhouses, borders, growing bags and large containers, provided their roots have enough room and watering is kept consistent.
Classic Moneymaker is a cordon tomato. The RHS describes it as an old-fashioned salad variety suitable for a greenhouse or outdoors, producing dependable crops of medium-sized red fruit.
Heritage cherry tomato Riesentraube is also indeterminate. It bears small red fruits in large sprays and needs sturdy support.
Bush tomatoes
Bush tomatoes are also called determinate tomatoes. Their shoots end in flower clusters, so the plant reaches a more limited size and tends to ripen much of its crop over a shorter period.
Bush plants generally do not need their side shoots removed. Some may still benefit from a short stake or cage once laden with fruit. Compact bush and trailing cherry varieties often suit pots, troughs, window boxes and hanging baskets—but “bush” does not automatically mean tiny, so check the expected mature size.
03 · POSITION
Second choice: greenhouse or outdoors?
Tomatoes love warmth and light. A greenhouse gives them a longer, more sheltered season, but it is certainly possible to crop tomatoes outdoors in the UK.
For outdoor tomatoes
Choose a warm, sunny and sheltered position. South-facing walls, enclosed patios and protected garden corners can create a kinder microclimate than an exposed plot.
- Suitable for outdoor growing
- Early or quick to mature
- Reliable in cooler conditions
- Blight resistant, if that is a concern
“Resistant” does not mean invulnerable. Tomato blight is encouraged by warm, wet weather, and the pathogen can change over time. Resistant cultivars can reduce risk, but good spacing, healthy plants and prompt removal of infected material still matter.
Outdoor plants should not be moved into their final position until frost danger has passed and conditions are reliably warm. The RHS advises planting young tomatoes into their final position in early summer when temperatures are reliably above 16°C, after hardening them off.
For greenhouse tomatoes
Protection opens the door to vigorous cordons and varieties that appreciate a longer season. It keeps rain off foliage and makes wind-blown blight spores less likely to reach plants, although greenhouse tomatoes are not immune to disease.
Ventilation is essential. Open vents and doors in suitable weather and give plants enough space for air to move.
04 · ROOT ROOM
Third choice: how much room is really available?
Tomatoes can be productive in a small space, but “can be grown in a pot” does not mean “will be happy in any pot.”
The RHS recommends one tomato plant in a container around 30–45cm wide, or two plants in a standard growing bag. Large containers hold more compost and dry out more slowly, making steady watering easier.
- Choose a compact bush variety if height and support are limited
- Choose a cordon if you have a tall, secure support and can prune it
- Use a container with generous drainage holes
- Expect pots to need frequent watering in warm weather
- Keep one plant per suitably large pot rather than crowding several together
Sometimes the smartest plant for limited ground is a tall cordon trained neatly upwards.
05 · FROM SNACKING TO SAUCE
Fourth choice: what sort of tomato do you want to eat?
Cherry tomatoes
Small-fruited tomatoes are often prolific and comparatively quick to ripen. They are useful for snacking, salads, lunchboxes, roasting whole and picking little and often. Do not assume every cherry plant is compact: Riesentraube is a vigorous cordon.
Salad and standard tomatoes
Medium-sized tomatoes are dependable all-rounders—large enough to slice, but usually produced in greater numbers than beefsteaks. Moneymaker sits comfortably in this group.
Plum and paste tomatoes
These are generally chosen for firm, fleshy fruit and a lower proportion of watery gel. They are useful for sauces, passata, roasting, drying and preserving with a tested recipe. Growth habit varies, so check whether the variety is bush or cordon.
Beefsteak and large slicers
Each large fruit takes longer and more plant energy to develop. In a cool or short season, very large, late cultivars may be more dependable under cover than in an exposed position.
Black, purple, yellow and striped tomatoes
Tomato colour can range far beyond supermarket red. Colour alone does not reveal whether a variety is bush, cordon, early, late, hybrid or heritage—read the full description before choosing.
06 · KNOW YOUR SEED
Should a beginner choose F1 or open-pollinated seed?
Either can be a good choice.
An F1 hybrid may be bred for uniformity, vigour, disease resistance, fruit quality or a particular growth habit. Those qualities can be useful where conditions are difficult or space is precious. Seed collected from the crop will not reliably reproduce the F1 plant.
An open-pollinated variety offers more dependable seed saving and may carry an interesting history or broader natural variation. That does not automatically make it tastier, tougher or better suited to your exact garden.
Choose the traits that matter to you rather than treating either label as a universal badge of quality. Read our plain-English guide to heritage, open-pollinated and F1 tomato seed.
07 · BEFORE YOU BUY
Seven checks before buying tomato seed
- Growth habit: bush/determinate or cordon/indeterminate?
- Growing position: greenhouse, outdoors or both?
- Maturity: is it early enough for your likely conditions?
- Plant size: will it fit with support included?
- Fruit type: cherry, salad, plum, paste or beefsteak?
- Resistance claims: which particular disease or disorder is named?
- Seed type: open-pollinated, heritage or F1—and do you hope to save seed?
A clear listing should make those decisions easier, not hide them behind words such as “amazing,” “giant” or “best.”
08 · TWO DIRECTIONS
Two dependable NoctiSeeds choices
Choose Moneymaker if…
You want a familiar, medium-sized red salad tomato; have a greenhouse or warm sheltered outdoor position; and are comfortable supporting and side-shooting a cordon plant.
Choose Riesentraube if…
You want a heritage, open-pollinated cherry tomato; enjoy harvesting small fruit from large sprays; and have room to support a vigorous indeterminate plant.
Neither is “best” in isolation. They simply answer different gardeners’ wishes.
A modest patio with one well-chosen plant can be more rewarding than a greenhouse full of varieties bought without checking their needs.
Start with your space, be honest about the training and watering you can manage, then choose the tomato. That is the small-space way: not growing everything, but making the space you have count.
The best tomato is the one whose needs fit your patch—and whose fruit you will be pleased to pick.