Growing Cherry Tomatoes In Pots From Seeds

Dwarf cherry tomato varieties mature at under two feet tall.

Growing cherry tomatoes in pots from seeds.

Use a standard tomato cage or even better a snap together cage that can be formed to fit your plants needs. Because containers can dry out quickly achieving success growing tomatoes in containers depends on maintaining consistent moisture. Water the seeds or seedlings every two to three days. Insert your stake or cage into the pot before you fill it with soil.

If soil is fast draining consider using a water retaining additive self watering container or checking soil moisture every day. Plant purchased cherry tomato seedlings or seedlings you ve started indoors. You can start cherry tomatoes from seeds or you can purchase seedlings at your local garden center. Plant plants not seeds.

Growing tomatoes in containers is almost always an adventure. Growing cherry tomatoes from seed planting tomato seeds in trays indoors five to six weeks before you plan to transplant the tomatoes outside is a great way to get a head start on your garden. Most tomato cherry varieties will need a cage or a stake. A container 14 inches in diameter is the minimum width necessary for growing cherry tomatoes in pots.

Plant your seeds or seedlings into the middle of the pot the hole only needs to be a few inches deep. Look at your cherry tomato seedling in its little container. Most varieties of cherry tomatoes will continue to grow all summer long. Set your cherry tomato containers where they can enjoy at least 6 8 hours of sun a day.

Most cherry tomatoes will take about 10 weeks to grow and start producing fruit. Cherry tomatoes can grow big and bushy. It can be incredibly rewarding or flat out disastrous. As you plan your garden keep in mind that tomatoes are happiest in well draining soil with a ph balance of 6 2 to 6 5 and they require four to six hours of sun each day.

Let the sun shine. Sometimes epic failures can happen for reasons beyond your control like tomato blight or a ridiculously wet or cold summer. Don t sow seeds directly into your containers germination and development will take too long. Even compact bushy container varieties will likely need some form of support as they fruit.

Caring for cherry tomato plants. Cherry tomatoes do best when given enough room to grow. The soil s moisture content is one of the biggest challenges you face with container gardening. When planting vegetables in pots one of your main considerations should be the size of the pots.

Then go ahead and fill the pot with soil. They work well in small containers 5 gallons or less in size. However if you avoid some common mistakes you will vastly increase your chances of successfully growing tomatoes in containers.