Container Gardening

If you’re interested in growing cherry tomatoes in containers, you’re in luck: as a class, they’re among the easier tomato varieties to grow.  However, depending on your particular taste or the kind of container you have, you can choose from among many varieties.

The first question to ask is what kind of container you want.  There are three real choices: hanging baskets, small containers, or full-sized tomato planters.  If you want a full-sized tomato planter, you can choose from among the many full-sized varieties on offer.  If you want something smaller, a little more research is required.

Hanging Baskets

To plant cherry tomatoes  in a hanging basket, you need a variety that thrives with shallow roots and does not grow very tall.  Tomatoes with long trailing vines will spill attractively from the basket.

Florida Basket: Produces red fruit around an inch in diameter, in slightly elongated globes.  Determinate.

Floragold Basket: Cherry-sized round tomatoes, gold in color when ripe.  Determinate.

Anmore Dewdrop: Cherry-sized round tomatoes, red when ripe.  Prolific fruiter.  Determinate, but will have a second crop once the first is harvested.

Micro Tom: Itty-bitty plant, which will fit even in a 4-inch pot.  Can be planted a few to a basket.  Round red fruit, smaller than a penny.  Determinate.

Small Pots

Most basket tomato varieties will also work in small pots.  If you choose, however, you can use a slightly larger variety, which grows to around a foot or two in height.

Anmore Treasures: Slow to grow, but can be started early.  Around 12″ tall, with bright red round fruit, 1″ in diameter.  Sensitive to cracking from uneven watering.  Determinate.

Tiny Tim: Fast-growing, with only 60 days to maturity.  18-inch plants can fit in a 6-inch pot.  3/4 inch fruit, bright red and round.  A heavy fruiter for its foliage.  Determinate.

Totem: Very small plant, at only 10-12 inches.  Small, red, round fruit.  The leaves are very attractive, making this work well in a semi-ornamental garden.  Determinate.

Yellow Pygmy: Bush-style plant, with low, dense foliage.  Tiny yellow-orange fruit, 1/2 inch in diameter.  Slightly acidic, sharp flavor. Indeterminate.