Tomatoes for the Desert: Best Varieties for Arizona
When it comes to growing tomatoes in Arizona, choosing the right variety is key. With our blazing summers and short growing season, it’s crucial to pick tomatoes that mature quickly—typically in 60 to 90 days. Smaller to medium-sized fruits tend to handle the heat best.
Here are some of my top picks for tomato varieties in Arizona, along with why they’re great and where you can find seeds:
10 Best Tomatoes for Arizona Gardens
Punta Banda: This tough little tomato from Mexico handles the heat like a champ, producing small, flavorful red fruits. Thicker skins mean they don’t split as easily. A meaty tomato that preserves well.
Cherokee Purple: With its deep, complex flavor and unique purple-red color, it is a must-try. It produces medium to large fruits that are great for slicing.
Find Cherokee Purple Seeds Here
San Marzano: Known for its meaty, oblong fruits with a rich, slightly sweet flavor. They are perfect for sauces and canning. Maturing in about 80 days, they perform well in Arizona’s heat, providing a reliable harvest of flavorful tomatoes.
Black Krim: With its deep, smoky flavor, Black Krim is a standout. These medium-to-large tomatoes have a unique dark red color with green shoulders.
Celebrity: A reliable hybrid resistant to disease, Celebrity tomatoes are medium-sized fruits with that classic tomato taste we all love.
Best Cherry Tomatoes for Arizona:
Chocolate Cherry: These small, deep red-brown fruits have a rich, sweet flavor. Perfect for snacking or salads, they mature in about 70 days and thrive in Arizona’s heat, offering a steady harvest throughout the season.
Find Chocolate Cherry seeds here
Sungold: These tiny orange cherry tomatoes are a favorite for their unbeatable sweetness. They’re perfect for popping right off the vine.
Juliet: Juliet tomatoes produce clusters of sweet, juicy, elongated fruits with a rich flavor, perfect for snacking, salads, or roasting. Maturing in about 60 days, they’re ideal for Arizona’s short growing season and are a prolific producer.
Sweet 100: Known for producing tons of small, sweet tomatoes, Sweet 100 is an excellent choice for Arizona’s hot climate.
Yellow Pear: These prolific, pear-shaped yellow tomatoes have a mild, sweet flavor.
Share Your Favorites!
Have you had success growing tomatoes in Arizona? I’d love to hear about the varieties that worked best for you. Share your tips and experiences in the comments below.
More Tomato Growing Resources on My Blog:
- How to Grow Tomatoes in Arizona: 10 Tips for Success
- How to Plant Tomatoes: A Step-by-Step Guide
- Prevent Blossom End Rot: Tips for Healthy Tomatoes
- Turning Green Tomatoes Red: 4 Ways to Ripen Green Tomatoes
Wickenburg-Prescott, Estiva, and Giant Crimson all performed well for me this year in Zone 8b in the Chihuahuan Desert. W-P, developed in AZ, is very prolific!
Thanks for sharing! I’ll have to give those a try. Appreciate it.
Kellogs breakfast, black trim, Arkansas traveler and black cherry all do well and taste great in Phoenix. one can grow early girl, better boy and super sweet 100 and have a ton of nice maters. I grew 1000 sweet 100 cherry tomatoes on one plant a few years back, so you can really succeed in Phoenix once you know the ropes
Wow that’s a lot of tomatoes. Great choices, thanks for sharing.
Replying from Tucson. I’ve taken the approach of using short season varieties rather than nursing along later maturing ones in the heat. I plant them as early as my conscience allows and hopefully get production before things do get hot. I’m always experimenting, but my go-to varieties are Scotia, Summer Frolic, Fourth of July and, of course, Early Girl if there is room among the plants on trial.
Smart. I agree you’ll have more consistent success with shorter days to harvest. Thanks for commenting.
I live in SE Arizona and about 5 years ago I planted Yellow Pear Tomatoes. I have not had to plant them again as volunteers come up all over the place. This year I had one come up next to the house on the north side that never got any water all summer and it is producing more fruit than the ones that are growing in my flower bed and got watered.
Definitely grows well here. Thanks for sharing!