A rite of passage for most beginner gardeners is growing cherry tomatoes. It can kickstart the love of gardening! Our tips make it easy.
Growing cherry tomatoes is a great place to start growing all sorts of tomatoes. Most gardeners have tomatoes growing at some point. There’s much to choose from, with over 100 established varieties of cherry tomatoes. In the scheme of all tomato varieties cherries are easy to grow.
Cherry tomatoes or Solanum lycopersicum were cultivated for centuries from wild tomato fruits grown in the Andes. Inca peoples selected them for their sweet taste and snacking ability. Anyone with the privilege of eating a ripe cherry tomato right off the plant knows why this happened.
When you’re stocking up on tomato seeds for spring, consider growing cherry tomatoes. We like Chadwick’s cherry tomatoes from San Diego Seed Co. Whether you’re interested in heirloom seeds, black cherry tomatoes, determinate, or indeterminate seeds, cherry tomatoes make it easy to produce something worthwhile throughout the growing season. Grow them, eat them fresh, can them, and have sweet flavor infused with the sun year-round! Forget other tomatoes; let’s grow cherry tomatoes!
All About Cherry Tomatoes
Solanum lycopersicum var. cerasiforme is also known as cherry tomato, as well as a wide selection of varietal names ranging from tomaccio to Sungold to Dances With Smurfs. They originate from wild tomatoes cultivated in the Andes by Inca peoples about 80,000 years ago. Tomato plants have trichome-covered leaves and fruits that cluster. The difference between cherry tomato plants and other tomato plants is that cherry tomato fruits and seeds are smaller.
These tomatoes grow from flowers blooming on branches covered with green serrated leaves which connect to a central stem. External pollination occurs on tomatoes, but they are self-pollinators. The yellow tomato plant flower has five petals. After flowers die, fruit forms.
The edible part of a tomato plant is the fruit. Leaves can be eaten, but they are poisonous to humans in large quantities. Like other nightshade plants, tomato leaves contain alkaloids solanine and tomatine that are hard to digest. Still, there is a lot of debate as to whether tomato leaves can be cooked.
There are tons of cherry tomato varieties to choose from. I’m currently growing Cherokee purple cherry tomatoes, an indeterminate variety that exploded since spring moved into summer. They have purple skin, a red interior, and great flavor. Traditional red varieties are a great way to start your tomato journey. If a red tomato bores you, there are many types of tomatoes to choose from, including yellow and orange varieties.
Planting Cherry Tomatoes
Determinate varieties are easier to grow in containers (like the Air Pots stocked in our online store) or raised beds. Indeterminate varieties go wild in the garden and require a lot of space and care. Plant them in prepared ground. Leave at least four feet between each row of these plants. But choosing the right variety will have bearing on how to plant your tomatoes.
Transplant summer varieties after the last frost. If you’re starting your tomatoes from seed, start those tomato seeds indoors 6 to 8 weeks before the last frost. Plant fall varieties a few months before the first frost. Tomato plants need deep holes, at least 10 inches down. Plant your tomatoes in deep holes to allow solid root growth and nutrient uptake.
Add a tomato trellis early on instead of a tomato cage which cherry tomatoes quickly outgrow. The trellises or stakes (instead of cages) give you vertical room to work within your garden. This also prevents heirloom tomatoes from contracting diseases. Cages and stakes are great supports for your plants but due to clustering, consider a trellis for your tomatoes. Cages are a no-go here unless you have extremely tall cages that can handle indeterminate growth.
Caring for Cherry Tomatoes
Caring for a cherry tomato plant is easy if the right conditions are met and maintained every day. Here are key aspects to pay attention to.