Top Tomatoes, Perfect Peppers

How to make 2026 your best year for these favorite crops

-  NIKI JABBOUR

Sunripened tomatoes and peppers are the highlight of my summer vegetable garden. Members of the nightshade family (Solanaceae), tomatoes and peppers have similar needs and make good planting partners. They aren’t difficult to grow, but the best possible harvest requires a bit of preseason planning. Here are my best strategies.

The Basics

There are two main types of tomatoes, related to their growth habit: determinate, or bush; and indeterminate, or vining. Determinate varieties grow to a predetermined height—usually three to four feet—and then bloom and produce all their fruits at once. Their compact size makes them a good choice for raised beds and containers, but their brief fruiting cycle means a lot of tomatoes to deal with at once. (Canning is an option.)

Indeterminate tomato plants can reach seven feet tall in a growing season. They require more space and physical support than determinate types, but they flower and set fruit over a longer period, making the harvest more versatile. It can continue right up to the first frost.

Peppers are also divided into two categories, but by taste: hot and sweet. Unsurprisingly, sweet peppers have a sweet, fruity flavor, with little to no heat. Most varieties develop green fruits that ripen to red, yellow, orange or even purple.

If you like a little fire, you'll love exploring the many types of hot peppers, also called chilis. They run from slightly spicy to insanely hot! Hot-pepper heat levels are rated on the Scoville Scale, which measures pepper pungency.

Location, Location