Growing cherry tomatoes
How nice it is to eat cherry tomatoes warmed by the warm summer sun straight from the branch. These juicy fruits concentrate all the flavor of a full-sized tomato with a diameter of less than 5 cm. They are sweeter, have an almost perfect shape, and their skin is much thinner than that of regular tomatoes.
Cherries are highly addictive but also very beneficial to your health. The fruits are rich in calcium, iron, lycopene, as well as vitamins A and C. Easy to care for, many plantings of cherry tomatoes have an innate resistance to some diseases that can kill the common tomato. They are strong, fast growing and prolific plants. Some of them begin to bear fruit just 60 days after transplanting.
Read the article in the topic: how to pinch tomatoes?
Cherry tomatoes come in very different colors
Growing cherry tomatoes in containers
If you don't have a garden, try growing tomatoes in pots. There are several varieties bred specifically for container planting. We tried Terenzo, Lizanno and Tumbling Tom. They are all bushy, compact plants that have adapted well to life in a large nursery or hanging pots, topped with lots of small but tasty cherry tomatoes.
This year we are planning to test the new Rumbling Rose. This pink cherry tomato is specially bred for growing in containers.
Regular tomatoes can also be planted in containers, they just need more space. One 23 L bucket with drain holes in the bottom can hold one plant. Plant it near your porch or trellis to keep the plant off the ground.
Most cherry tomatoes will grow, blossom and bear fruit until frost kills them.
Vine support
Tomato vines can grow very high and need support. Forget your ordinary tomato cage - they will outgrow it in the blink of an eye. In this case, you will have to be creative.
We grow tomatoes on the ground and install rebars at the ends of each row and every 6 plants. As they grow, the stems are tied in turn with a rope to the posts according to the braiding principle. In this way, the tomato hedge, also known as the "Florida Garter", is formed. I don’t want to pull out a ladder every time I want to pick tomatoes, so I climb as high as possible and then let the plants grow freely. We even have tomatoes that have exceeded the two-meter mark and continued to grow, spreading to the other side.
The best varieties of cherry tomatoes
There are a huge number of cherry varieties. Below are a few of our favorites:
- "Sangold" is impressive in size and is one of the first in our garden to start producing crops. These gorgeous golden fruits are the tastiest thing I've ever tasted. The only problem with Sangold is that the plant does not tolerate cold well, and its thin skin tends to crack.
- Sun Sugar looks exactly the same and tastes the same as Sangold. The only difference is that its fruit separates worse from the branch.
- Isis's cherry candy is another great variety. Tomatoes have a red marble color with a golden hue and a strong aroma.
- Chadwick and Fox are our family values.These red cherry tomatoes are distinguished by their sharp original taste and actively bear fruit.
- “Chocolate” and “Black” tomatoes are two varieties of cherry with dark skin and rich aroma. Thanks to them, you can prepare a salad of an unusual color.
- Sweet Trits has a phenomenal taste and intense ruby red color. This variety is resistant to many diseases.
- "Honey Drop" bears amber fruits that fully correspond to the name, because they are sweet, like a drop of honey.
If you don't plan on growing anything else this summer, we recommend planting one cherry tomato and enjoying its pleasant aroma.