Cherry tomato plant grow and care – herbaceous of the genus Solanum also known as Cherry tomato tree, Cherry tomato plant short perennial evergreen or mostly grown as annual plant, can grows as vine or shrub, can grow in tropic, subtropical, mediterranean, temperate or desert climate and growing in hardiness zone 11+ as perennial and with the right overwinter care and the right cultivars in hardiness zone 10b and as annual in hardiness zone 2+ as annual, instead of annual plant possible to take indoor overwinter cutting and plant it in the spring after the last frost.
Leaves color green, there are two types of leaves: RL (regular leaves) / PL – (potato leaves), Regular leaf: a leaf with serrated edges. Potato leaf: large and wide oval leaves with no serrated edges, there are claims that potato leaf plants more resistant to pests and disease than regular leaves and tomatoes, when the plant attack the leaves release chemical signal against pests.
Flower color yellow the flowers grow in clusters.
Cherry tomato plant fruits
Fruit color can be: red, green, purple, yellow, pink, white, orange or colorful – can appear without form in the colors, can be striped in different colors and can appear different colored dots, shape can be round, elliptic, pear, fruits are small.
Cherry tomato plant for sale – Seeds or Plants to Buy
How to grow Cherry tomato plant growing and care:
Warm weather, rich soil (soil full of nutrients), trellising, for determinate should trellising like cage, mulch to keep the soil moist
How to care:
Put fertilizer with small content of nitrogen (delay bloom), add mulch especially in the summer and winter, and in hardiness zone 10b as perennial the plant suffer or die due to the cold of the winter, better to protect the plants and there are varieties that can survive the winter and will bear some fruits in the winter, vegetative reproduction can maintain high quality of cultivar indoor or greenhouse to next season, trellising and support for the plant (sometimes the fruit are heavy and without support the fruits will touch the soil and will be damaged).
What is the best way to start growing?
Plant / Seedling / Seed / Vegetative Reproduction – by cutting possible by water or by soil (explanation bellow) or bending a branch over and covering it with soil
Is it necessary to graft or use vegetative reproduction?
No, but it’s possible to use in vegetative reproduction and it’s easy the same as to start by seeds, when start by cutting its ensure the quality of the fruits and from seeds not always can ensure what kind of fruits will be
Difficulties or problems when growing:
A lot of pests for the fruits
Planting season:
Spring after the last frost in hardiness zone 2-10a and better as perennial plant in the spring, spring to summer in hardiness zone 10b-11a, spring to autumn in hardiness zone 11b, all year in hardiness zone 12+
How to plant:
Dig a bigger hole than the root ball, add to the hole organic matter, dead leaves and humus put back some soil and mix it, after this put the plant cover lightly but strong enough that won’t fall put support for the plant and give it place to trellising on it, consider to prune week branches, water it twice in the first day and every day for two weeks, better to plant them few centimeters (inches) under the soil level in order that if there are problem in the base of the plant easy to cover the base and create new root for the plant and not lose all the fruits
Pests and diseases:
Aphids, mealy bugs, leaf miners, slugs, flea beetles, nematodes, whiteflies, wilt, mosaic virus
Pruning season:
All the season and as perennial after the fruits
How to prune:
Rotten stems and leaves, week stems, blooming season stems without flowers possible to cut and use them for cutting
Size of the plant:
0.5-3 m 20-120 inches (depend the cultivar can be smaller)
Growth speed in optimal condition:
Fast growing / Medium growing, when the plant grow slowly as annual plant better to add fertilizer and organic matter to increase the growth speed
Water requirement:
Average amount of water / Big amount of water
Light conditions in optimal condition for growing:
Full Sun (possible to grow in less than full sun but will bear less fruits
Is it possible to grow indoor as houseplant?
No, but small plants (need to choose the right cultivars) possible to grow on hedge of window and in this method the plants and the fruits will get enough sun
Growing is also possible in pots, planter, flowerpot or containers:
Yes, when grow in container, size 10-30 liter (2-6 gallon) depend the cultivar, average amount of water that needed, it’s to keep the soil moist and the water go out of the pot, better not to use bottom for the pot, when it’s grow as perennial every two years to switch soil, and prune part of the roots and the plants, soil need to be well ventilated with good drainage, rich with organic matter, can us in potting mix or peat soil with perlite or vermiculite.
Blooming information
Bloom season:
Start in 15-80 days
General information about the flower:
Little yellow flower
Thinning the bloom:
If thinning happening should check the root, watering and try to hand polinate
Pollination is done by:
Bees and other pollinator, pollinate by hand, some of the species self-pollinator
Edible Fruits
When does Cherry tomato plant yield?
55-160 days from sowing
Fruits pests or diseases:
Slugs, worms, birds
What can be done with big quantities of Cherry tomato plant fruits?
Eat fresh, cooked, sauce, juice and much more
Work requirements on the fruit:
Clean the rotten leaves
How long does it take for a bear fruit?
1-2.5 month from planting
Ripening of fruit:
If there is massive attack on the fruit should pick them before they ready and let them be ripening at home
Subspecies
Blue tomato:
Cherry blue – small blue Cherry tomato plant
Black cherry – black with little bit red
Colored tomato:
Oval-Striped Super Cherry – red with green stripes oval
Green tomato:
Green cherry – green
Orange tomato:
Sun sugar cherry – orange
Purple tomato:
Cherry purple – purple sometime with a little bit of red
Red tomato:
Bonsai Tomato – red subshrub small cherry fruits
Red cherry – red tomatoes mostly grow as vine
Heart-Shapped Cherry – red heart shape
Red Pear Cherry – red in a pear shape
Chocolate cherry – red brown
Piccolo cherry – red sweet
White tomato:
Snow white cherry – white sweet
White cherry – white
Yellow tomato:
Coyote Cherry tomato plant – yellow sweet
Golden cherry – sweet yellow cherry grow as vine
Yellow Bonsai Tomato – yellow subshrub small cherry fruits
Yellow Cherry tomato plant – oval yellow cherry size
Yellow palm cherry – yellow in the shape of palm
Yellow Pear Cherry – yellow in a pear shape
How to grow Cherry tomato plant from seeds
Sowing requirement:
Easy to sow, brown-yellowish seeds, full sun, moist soil, high humidity, better 21-26C (70-79F) and possible 10-32C (50-90F)
Saving seeds until sowing:
Dark and dry location and better in the refrigerator if keep the seeds more than one year
Sowing season:
End of the winter indoor, start of the spring will be better, possible all year as perennial depend the temperature
Planting spacing:
20*40 cm (8*16 inches) depend the cultivars, for transplant 2*3cm (1*1 inch)
Depth of Sowing:
5-10 mm (0.25-0.5 inch)
Conditions for seeds germinate:
Full sun, better 21-26C (70-79F), moist soil, high humidity
Watering requires for Seeds:
Average amount of water, the soil should be moist
Germination time:
5-16 days, might be longer
Condition of seedling:
Full sun, more than 10C (50F), the sprout is very delightful to bug need protection in the beginning
Vegetative Reproduction
Vegetative Reproduction Method:
Cutting, Stems
Preferred time for vegetative reproduction:
Spring – beginning of the summer
Time to grow roots in vegetative reproduction:
1-2 weeks
Treatment for vegetative reproduction:
Warm, Moist, and should put the cuttings in glass of water and change the water every 2 days
Scientific name:
Solanum lycopersicum
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