The 5 Best Tomatoes for Zone 9
Five tomatoes perfect for Zone 9 Suburban gardens
That said, Zone 9 here in San Diego (as well as many other parts of Southern California and the southwest) does present some special challenges.
First, there’s the lack of rain throughout growing season. Our wet season runs from November to March (and sometimes early April), but after that, we don’t see a drop again for six to seven months.
Also, there’s the heat. Not just in the summer, but into the fall as well. Even when you have a good watering plan in place, the hot, dry Santa Ana winds basically suck all the moisture out of everything.
Finally, there are the pests. We don’t have the assortment they do in other parts of the country, but the weather gives them the ability to start early and go late, so we’re fighting insects and rodents all season long.
I’ve been growing in these conditions for over 30 years now, trialing nearly 50 varieties of tomatoes to find which offer the best combination of heat tolerance, pest resistance, and yield. Here are the five no fuss, low maintenance varieties for my Zone 9 suburban garden I now grow every year.
Selection Strategy
You’ll note that while all of these tomatoes are indeterminates (i.e., they grow and fruit for the entire season), they’re a combination of small, medium and large (plus one very large) fruits, as well as slicers, snackers, cooking and canning varieties. The selection also includes both early (50 days) and late (85 days) tomatoes.
With a diverse selection, I get a steady harvest from spring to autumn and endless ways to use them. Plus, it’s great insurance: if one plant fails, there are always plenty of others to fall back on.
Quick Reference Table
| Variety | Growth Habit | Days to Maturity | Fruit Size | Uses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fourth of July | Indeterminate | 50 Days | 2-4 oz | Snacking, Salads, Canning |
| Valentine | Indeterminate | 55 Days | 1/2 oz | Snacking, Salads |
| Early Girl | Indeterminate | 60 Days | 4-6 oz | Slicing, Cooking, Canning |
| Carbon | Indeterminate | 75 Days | 8-12 oz | Slicing, Cooking, Canning |
| Costaluto Genovese | Indeterminate | 85 Days | 12-16 oz | Slicing, Cooking |
Fourth of July – The Early Bird
A basket of freshly picked Fourth of July tomatoes
Why I chose it: Though I’ve only grown this one for five years, it’s quickly become the top pick of my “Favorite Five”. An F1 hybrid indeterminate, it got its name because it doesn’t mind cooler weather, and at 50 days to harvest, people in other areas of the country people can expect fresh tomatoes by the Fourth of July. Here in San Diego though, I can transplant them into the garden in March and be picking vine-ripe tomatoes by mid-May.
Fourth of July tomatoes on the vine
Zone 9 Performance: These plant produces a plentiful harvest of 4 oz. tomatoes in clusters of 4 – 6 fruits from May well on into October with only the slightest slowdown in fruiting during the hottest parts of August. A group of four plants will produce well over 40 lbs of fruit during the season.
Kitchen uses: These are firm, smallish tomatoes with sweet, tomato flavor. They have a long shelf life after picking (10 days or more, no refrigeration). Great for salads and cooking, their skins are also easy to remove making them a good choice for canning.
Grower Notes: The plants will grow to 6 feet and need good support to keep from falling over under the weight of all the tomatoes. Also, aphids really seem to like this one more than others, so make sure the plants have plenty of room so it’s easy for beneficials like lady bugs to get in there and keep them in check for you.
My Rating:
- Heat Tolerance: 9/10
- Flavor: 8/10
- Yield: 10/10
Seed Source: Burpee Seed
Valentine – Prolific Grape-Sized Snackers
A wooden bowl of ripe Valentine tomatoes
Why I chose it: Among little tomatoes, this one is hard to beat for productivity and earliness. The half-ounce fruit is blood red, firm, and has a fairly thick skin that’s not prone to cracking. Flavor is good, slightly acidic, and high in lycopene.
You can begin harvesting in 55 days, and once you do, you’ll practically be swimming in tomatoes. A single plant will pump out 15 pounds or more over the course of a season.
Zone 9 Performance: Doesn’t mind cool spring weather, so you can transplant outdoors once the soil temperature hits the high 50s-low 60s. Does extremely well in dry weather conditions. Modestly impacted by heat, but only when it gets over 95° F. Flowers and fruits well into September and early October.
Valentine Tomato (L) next to Roma (R)
Kitchen Uses: Great as a snacker as well as in salads, veggie trays, etc. The firm nature of the tomato also makes it great for pickling or using in giardiniera.
Grower’s Notes: This one grows very large, indeterminate plants (7 – 9 feet tall)! It’s also a heavy producer so it requires good support in the form of heavy duty staking or tomato cages. The skins are rather thick and don’t cook down well, so I don’t recommend them in cooking unless you like tomato skins in your food.
>> Click for my Valentine tomato review
My Rating:
- Heat Tolerance: 9/10
- Flavor: 8/10
- Yield: 10/10
Seed Source: Pinetree Seeds
Early Girl – Reliable Go-To Tomato
Fresh picked Early Girl tomatoes
Why I chose it: It’s pretty hard to go wrong with Early Girl. A vigorous, indeterminate heavy-bearing tomato, you can transplant it outdoors as soon as overnight temps hit the low 50s (that’s around late March here), and it’ll be fruiting by mid-May. It takes a little longer than Fourth of July to ripen, but the fruit is twice as large, making it a great slicer as well as a great canning tomato. Resistant to Verticillium and Fusarium wilt, as well as blossom end rot it produces smooth, medium-sized 6 ounce fruit with a sweet, low acid tomato flavor.
Zone 9 Performance: Early Girl doesn’t mind the cool, cloudy weather we have in early spring, and first harvest is generally in mid-June. The plants are really heavy producers in June and July, but they’ll take a break in the highest heat of August before flowering and fruiting again in September.
Early Girl is very prolific
Kitchen Uses: A great slicer, as well as sauce and canning tomato.
Grower’s Notes: This is one of those “no-fuss” tomatoes that’s dead simple to grow well even if you don’t know much about tomatoes. As we do a lot of canning here, so along with Roma, this is a tomato we grow every year because, even if the weather doesn’t cooperate, we know we’re going to get a big harvest to preserve for the fall and winter.
My Rating:
- Heat Tolerance: 9/10
- Flavor: 8/10
- Yield: 9/10
Seed Source: Burpee Seed
Carbon – Size, Color, and Flavor
A bowl of ripe Carbon tomatoes
Why I chose it: Carbon is one of those cool looking heirloom indeterminate tomato that’s easier to grow that some of its pickier “black” tomato cousins. With a pink-purple skin and greenish shoulders, it’s an interesting contrast to the others in the garden. At an average 10-12 ounces per, the smooth, slightly oblong fruit is larger than other tomatoes. It has a meaty texture and rich tomato flavor that’s great fresh, sauced or canned.
Zone 9 Performance: At an average of 75-80 days to harvest, Carbon is a little slower than other tomatoes to reach maturity. It is, however, a heavy producer and it’s 6 foot plants require good support to keep them off the ground. It doesn’t really like heat and will stop flowering once temps reach the 90s. Giving it some shade in August helps.
Kitchen Uses: Use as a slicer, sauce and canning tomato. The low-water, meaty texture holds up well when cooked.
Carbon tomato plants are large and require good support
Grower’s Notes: Prone to cracking and cat-facing if not regularly watered during the hottest part of the summer. Aphids also like this one, so you may have to hit it with organic soap spray to keep them down if beneficials like lady bugs can’t keep them under control.
Additionally, the skin is rather thin, so be careful when picking, and be ready to eat in a few days. Otherwise they tend to get soft and mushy. Seeds from this one can be collected and grown again the following year.
>> Click here for my Carbon tomato review.
My Rating:
- Heat Tolerance: 7/10
- Flavor: 8/10
- Yield: 8/10
Seed Source: Johnny’s Seeds
Costaluto Genovese – Jumbo-sized Italian Classic
Fresh picked Costaluto Genovese tomatoes
Why I chose it: At 85 days to harvest (from transplant) it’s definitely not an early tomato, but what’s a vegetable garden without a ridiculously large tomato? Costaluto Genovese is an indeterminate Italian heirloom that averages 12-16 ounces, with some clocking in at close to 1-1/2 pounds! The tomato is firm and richly flavored, perfect giant slices as well as for stuffed tomatoes and saucing.
Costalutos are big tomatoes!
Zone 9 Performance: Costaluto doesn’t like cool weather at all, so even here in Zone 9, you’ll want to wait until late April or early May to transplant. Once it gets established, it’ll grow several feet tall before its first flowers, so be patient. Once it gets started though, look out! You’re going to have tons of fat, lobed tomatoes as big as or bigger than your hand.
Kitchen Uses: Big slicer, saucing and cooking. A favorite for summer caprese salad https://www.google.com/search?q=caprese+salad
Grower’s Notes: Even though it’s an heirloom, Costaluto is resistant to diseases like Bacterial Leaf Spot and Botrytis. However, the plants are gigantic (the packet said 7 feet, but mine grow 9 feet or more), so they require plenty of room to grow.
Also, because it does produce very large fruit quite heavily, you need really sturdy support. I use steel stakes for this one because it snaps wood stakes like twigs. The nice thing is, this tomato loves heat, so, even in the hottest part of August, it’ll keep on fruiting (just make sure to provide plenty of water).
The fruit has deep lobes, so it’s not the easiest to get the skin off and process for canning, but the classic Italian tomato flavor is unmatched.
My Rating:
- Heat Tolerance: 10/10
- Flavor: 9/10
- Yield: 8/10
Seed Source: Renee’s Garden
Conclusion
So there you have it: my recommendations for the five tomatoes Zone 9 gardeners are sure to love year in and out. Easy to grow, low maintenance, long growing season and a great mix of snackers, slicers, cooking and canning tomatoes.
Have you tried any of these in your garden? Let me know in the comments.
About the Author: Sage Osterfeld
