14 Fast-Growing Tomatoes You Should Add To Your Garden

Many tomato varieties take between 60 and 100 days to mature, and there are quite a few stages between planting the seed and harvesting fruit, assuming temperature, pests, or disease don't scuttle the process. Besides being a cool addition to the facts you didn't know about tomatoes, this means home cooks can be left twiddling their thumbs as they wait for their toms to ripen. If you're itching to fill your salad bowl sooner rather than later, we're thrilled to report that there are over 80 tomato species that can provide you with fresh fruits in just 40 to 70 days.

There are lots of reasons why gardeners look to plant fast-growing tomatoes, but temperature fluctuations are among the most important. Home cooks raising tomatoes in colder regions face a shorter growing season and can struggle to get enough fruit by the end of that time. Faster-growing determinate, indeterminate, and semi-determinate types, which come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors, can be the perfect solution.

The name may be a mouthful, but this German heirloom variety is among the fastest growers out there. It produces delicious-tasting red salad tomatoes in just 40 days, and will continue to do so until the first frost hits. Quedlinburger Frühe Liebe (which means early love of Quedlinburg) is indeterminate, so it will benefit from a trellis, rather than a cage, for support. It's also great for growing in USDA zones 3 to 10.

If your growing season is shortened by cold weather, this variety from Canada is the tomato plant for you. Also known as "Chilly Willie," Sub-Arctic Plenty will give abundant, juicy, and relatively small fruit that have a slight acidic tang, all in about 42 days. As a determinate tomato, it won't overtake your plot but will help stock up the salad bowl before the warmer months hit and your other tomato plants catch up.

Stick to this rule of thumb for tomatoes in pots, and they will flourish. Plant Tiny Tim in those pots and you'll likely be rewarded with oodles of tart, marble-sized fruit within around 50 days. Make sure to give it plenty of water in the warmer months, but otherwise it's perfect for patios, limited outdoor spaces, and even indoors. That's because it's not only a determinate species, but a dwarf variety of tomato.

Although it's not the most precocious of the fast growers listed here, the Early Girl tomato nevertheless clocks in at an impressive 52 to 60 days from planting to harvesting its vivid red slicing tomatoes. It's a tough-as-old-boots indeterminate hybrid with lots to recommend it. The fruit's flavor improves when watering is restricted (as for some other tomatoes), while the plant will tolerate hot, dry regions as well as temperatures as low as 40 degrees Fahrenheit.

The name is startling and perhaps communicates some of the punchy flavor of this fast-growing indeterminate heirloom tomato. It takes just around 54 days to generate clusters of fruit, and the plant will withstand outdoor temperatures as low as 50 degrees Fahrenheit and as high as 95-plus. You can plant Bloody Butcher tomatoes in pots, but make sure you give them plenty of room. Walmart's best-selling planter, for example, would be fine.

This determinate heirloom variety takes about 54 days to supply your table with bunches of scarlet fruit that make delicious additions to either a sweet or savory salad. They're a great variety to kick-start the growing season, and because they're on the smaller side, there's always plenty of room in your garden for tomato-friendly companion plants to do their thing.

Looking for a fast-growing tomato that provides a satisfying punch of color to your salads, as well as plenty of flavor oomph? Check out the yellow and orange-hued Northern Light, which takes 55 days to mature. An indeterminate heirloom variety, it's a juicy, beefsteak-style tomato that's perfect for slicing and popping on top of your earliest summer cookout burgers.

Vibrant, full of flavor and ready to eat after 59 days, Early Doll is the tomato gift that keeps on giving. They're great for growing in zones 3 to 9, and as a determinate hybrid species, Early Doll is perfect for growing in pots on a patio. As with all tomato species, make sure to water them consistently to prevent their skins from cracking.

Home cooks and gardeners love this flavorful determinate heirloom fruit, which gives clusters of yellow cherry tomatoes in about 60 days. Apart from looking lovely and tasting yummy, Gold Nugget will continue to produce tomatoes even when the overnight temperatures don't drop very much. Be aware that it's a heavy feeder, so you'll need soil that's packed with nutrients to keep it going.

It takes an estimated 64 days for this indeterminate heirloom plant to produce its eye-catching fruit. Even in that short timespan, you'll be itching to introduce your taste buds to the amazing flavors of these cherry tomatoes, whose colors range from dark purple to almost black. Consider mixing some eggshells into the soil to give it a boost.

If you've ever wondered if tomatoes would work in a dessert, this is the variety to try. The orange and red Prairie Fire is — according to the Brix scale, which measures sweetness — a perfect 10 out of 10. It is a semi-determinate tomato, so it grows a little bigger than pure determinants, and you'll be harvesting handfuls of grape tomatoes in 65 days.

Developed in the state that gave this variety its name, this determinate, heirloom tomato is great for planting in cooler climes and will bear handsome, medium-sized red fruit after an estimated 66 days. New Yorker toms are solid and meaty enough for canning, and if you follow these growing tips, you could maximize their flavor potential for salads or sauces.

You'll get lots of fruit from this semi-determinate heirloom variety, which produces vibrant, yellow cherry tomatoes after 70 days that are sweet with just a whiff of acid that reminds some of citrus fruit. Developed in Russia, Nikolayev is regarded as a rare plant by many growers. If you decide to have a go, give it plenty of TLC during the growing season — in other words, water and feed it well — and you'll still be harvesting when the frosts arrive.

More pink than red, this Russian indeterminate heirloom (its name means "Northern") has its origins in the Southern Ural mountains, and is ideal for gardeners with cooler, shorter growing seasons. Severnye slicing tomatoes will produce luscious fruit, weighing up to 12 ounces, after around 70 days. They taste as good as they look, too, delivering a rounded yet complex flavor.