Read on to learn everything you need to know about growing cherry tomatoes in pots.
Growing cherry tomatoes in pots nz.
Place your plant in a sunny spot where it will receive at least 6 8 hours of direct sunlight daily.
A container 14 inches in diameter is the minimum width necessary for growing cherry tomatoes in pots.
We recommend tui tomato mix as it is a perfectly formulated specialist tomato potting mix.
Cherry tomatoes do best when given enough room to grow.
Plant plants not seeds.
Dwarf cherry tomato varieties mature at under two feet tall.
When looked after well each plant can produce around 2 5kg of tomatoes.
It can be incredibly rewarding or flat out disastrous.
Cherry tomatoes are one of the easiest vegetable plants to grow.
They work well in small containers 5 gallons or less in size.
Cherry tomatoes with their compact growth small fruit and early harvest times are a perfect variety to try.
If you re short on space try tiny tim cherries.
Tomatoes are happy in containers or planter bags and can be easily cared for on decks and patios they just requiring staking and training as you would plants grown in the garden.
The best cherry tomatoes to grow in pots are bush varieties like baxter s bush cherry and varieties named for their excellent growth in containers such as patio princess and balcony cherry.
Growing tomatoes in containers.
Don t sow seeds directly into your containers germination and development will take too long.
When i get asked about cherry tomato plant problems i find that usually one of the following issues is going on and has prevented the plants from thriving and producing as well as they should be.
Sometimes epic failures can happen for reasons beyond your control like tomato blight or a ridiculously wet or cold summer.
Wet leaves result in fungal growth.
Plant purchased cherry tomato seedlings or seedlings you ve started indoors.
Let the sun.
Choose your plant type.
Common mistakes growing cherry tomatoes in pots.
If you often forget to water bings are your best bet.
I find that even when the tomato plants are rapidly growing and fruiting the greensmart pot water reservoir only needs refilling about every three days.
Choosing a pot for growing tomatoes.
Take extra care with watering throughout.
Growing cherry tomatoes in pots is the most popular method and literally any type of pot or container will work as long as it has good drainage.
Pots come in a lot of sizes and materials.
Plants only grow 20 30cm tall are perfect for pots or in small troughs and produce full flavoured mildly sweet bright red cherry tomatoes.
Best tomato plant for hanging baskets though it also looks great in pots.
However if you avoid some common mistakes you will vastly increase your chances of successfully growing tomatoes in containers.
Greensmart tm pots are ideal for growing tomatoes as you can fit 2 3 plants in one of the large pots with a 40 litre bag of potting mix.