Tomatoes are the crop Missoula gardeners most want to succeed with and most often struggle to ripen. The reason is almost always variety choice. Many of the famous tomatoes in seed catalogs need a long, hot season we simply do not have, and they get caught by frost still loaded with green fruit. Choose varieties bred for short, cool seasons, though, and tomatoes become one of the most rewarding things you can grow here.
For the full rundown on planting and care, see our guide on growing tomatoes in Missoula. This post is about which varieties actually ripen in our climate.
Look for Short Days to Maturity
The number that matters most is days to maturity, counted from transplant. For Missoula, favor tomatoes in the 55 to 70 day range. Anything needing 80 days or more is a gamble in a cool summer, since our nights stay chilly and slow ripening even in July. A quicker variety gives you a real harvest instead of a race against the first frost around September 22. Starting them indoors at the right time helps every variety succeed.
It also helps to choose varieties described as cold-tolerant or able to set fruit in cool conditions, since many tomatoes drop their blossoms when nights are cold. The varieties below are all known for performing in short, cool seasons like ours.
Reliable Slicing Tomatoes
Early Girl is the classic Missoula tomato. It ripens early, produces steadily all season, and gives you full-size, good-flavored slicing tomatoes. If you grow just one tomato, this is the safe choice.
Stupice is a cold-tolerant heirloom that sets fruit even when nights are cool, producing loads of small to medium tomatoes with great flavor very early. Glacier and Sub Arctic are bred specifically for cold short-season climates and ripen remarkably early, which makes them dependable here even in a cool year. Oregon Spring and Legend are also excellent cold-climate slicers that set fruit early and resist some common diseases.
Cherry Tomatoes That Never Quit
Cherry tomatoes are the most foolproof tomatoes for our climate, ripening earlier and producing more reliably than full-size types. Sungold is the standout, a golden-orange cherry with an almost candy-like sweetness that produces enormous quantities all season. Sun Sugar is similar with slightly tougher skin that resists cracking.
For red cherries, almost any variety does well here, and a single plant can keep a household in snacking tomatoes from midsummer until frost. If you have had bad luck with larger tomatoes, start with cherries to build confidence. They rarely disappoint.
Heirlooms and Paste Tomatoes
If you love heirloom flavor, choose the shorter-season ones. Black Krim and Cherokee Purple are rich, dark-fleshed heirlooms that can ripen here in a good year, especially with a warm, sheltered spot and an early start. Stupice, mentioned above, is an heirloom that combines great flavor with genuine earliness, making it one of the best heirloom choices for Missoula.
For sauce and canning, paste tomatoes like the Roma types work, but look for earlier-maturing paste varieties since some of the big sauce tomatoes are slow. Determinate paste tomatoes, which set most of their fruit at once, can be handy if you want a concentrated harvest for putting up a batch of sauce before the season ends.
Determinate or Indeterminate
One last thing worth understanding is the difference between determinate and indeterminate tomatoes. Determinate types grow to a set size and ripen most of their fruit in a short window, which can be useful in a short season and for canning. Indeterminate types keep growing and producing until frost, giving you a steady supply over a longer period. Most of the early varieties above are available in one or both forms, so check the packet and pick based on whether you want a big batch at once or a steady trickle through the season.
Get the variety right, give your tomatoes a warm, sunny, sheltered spot with warm soil, and you will be picking ripe tomatoes well before frost. If you want help choosing varieties and planning your tomato patch for Missoula, that is exactly what I do. Take a look at the vegetable garden consulting page and reach out.