Tomatoes are the most popular plant for the home gardener. They're easy and fun to grow, and they're quite nutritious. Tomatoes are high in vitamins A and C, provide a good source of potassium and contain antioxidants to increase protection from the aging effects of the sun. Tomatoes also contain lycopene, a proven cancer preventative.

Everyone has a favorite variety they grow every season but there are several things to consider in your selection.

1. How will the fruit be used? The tiny cherry tomatoes, which are available in many colors, are great for salads. Red Robin, Sweet 100, Gold Nugget and Yellow Pear are popular favorites. Oblong paste tomatoes like Roma, San Marzano and Sausage Tomato are meaty and contain less juice. They're great for canning, salsa and recipes that require diced fruit. The larger varieties such as Brandywine, Cherokee Purple and Jetsetter are wonderful slicing tomatoes. Early Girl is the earliest producer with heavy yields in the spring and Super Sioux can handle the summer heat.

2. How much garden space do you have? Plant breeders have developed compact plants that grow well in a large pot on the patio. These varieties usually produce smaller fruits with fewer per plant. Bush-style plants can support themselves and don't require being staked. These will take less room in your garden. Many hybrid plants are bush style. Vine tomatoes must be staked or surrounded by cages for the best production.

3. Do you want lots of fruit at one time? If you are canning and preserving tomatoes, a determinate variety will produce fruit that ripens within a shortened time. Indeterminate varieties will bear fruit over an extended time. Determinate or indeterminate type will be indicated on the plant tag of each variety.

4. Heirloom verses hybrid tomato? Heirloom varieties have withstood the test of time. Seed has been saved and passed down through generations of growers. Heirlooms are almost as famous for being fickle in the garden as they are for their wonderful taste. Hybrid varieties are cross-pollinated from two different plants. They have been developed by growers for extra disease resistance, size or flavor. Fruit usually has thicker skin, which allows for less cracking.

5. What color? Tomatoes are available in a multitude of colors and sizes. Newly developed breeds have an elongated cherry shape, are small in size, multicolored and oftentimes striped. Colors range from pale gold, yellow, green, orange, red or purple. Yellow and orange varieties are generally lower in acid than red tomatoes.

You'll be the envy of your neighbors and friends when you grow your own tomatoes. You can find lots of varieties of tomato plants at the Master Gardener Plant Sale on March 1, 37860 W. Smith-Enke Road, starting at 7:45 a.m.