Cherry Tomatoes

[Tomatovator]

Are cherry tomatoes easier or harder to grow than full sized tomatoes? Is there any difference in the hardiness of the plant, etc.?

[organichris]

My experience is that they are definitely easier to grow. In fact, my father-in-law had some volunteers that just came back on their own in his fallow garden from tomatoes that dropped on the ground the previous year. The ones I am familiar with are very hardy indeed.

[kygreg]

Have grown a few varieties of cherries including Black Cherry and Sungold; have found them to be very hardy and prolific and most have a very good flavor.

[feldon30]

I would say because you get so many more fruit, that they are more forgiving. You get a lot more "chances" to get it right.

That said, they follow all the same basic rules of fertilization, cultivation, soil prep, etc.

A cherry tomato plant in a container can "scale down" its production better than a beefsteak which might simply give you NO fruit. For newbie growers, I definitely give them a couple of cherry tomato plants to increase their chances of success (so they won't give up on growing tomatoes!).

Are you trying to cram a cherry tomato plant in less forgiving soil or into a smaller container than you would usually consider for a tomato?

[Elliot]

Originally Posted by Tomatovator

Are cherry tomatoes easier or harder to grow than full sized tomatoes? Is there any difference in the hardiness of the plant, etc.?

I find cherry tomatos by and large much easier to grow than larger tomatos. You also get a higher yield. There are different varieties of cherry tomatos. Some are sweeter than others. I am experimenting this year with a few new varieties of both cherry and grape tomatos

Good luck

Elliot

Long Island, New york

[Tomatovator]

Morgan,
No, I planted out 19 varieties about 2 weeks ago and only one was a cherry (Black Cherry). Since I planted we have had nothing but high winds and cold temps. When I first put the plants out the Black Cherry seemed like one of the stand outs, large, deep green leaves, etc. All of the plants have suffered a good bit of wind damage but the Black Cherry seems to be the slowest to recover. Since I only have the one plant I'm trying to decide if I should give it a week or so more to grow or just pull it and replace with a spare (not black cherry). I really want to try this one this year.

[bonekittyslug]

If it's anything like the Black Cherry plants I grew a couple years ago, by mid-late season, you may be yelling at it to stop growing!

[shelleybean]

I agree that cherries are easier to grow. I usually grow at least one variety because for a few really hot weeks out of the summer, I can count on them to set fruit when the bigger varieties don't.

[Tomstrees]

This will be my first year for growing cherries as every time I've "tried" one that "pop" when you bite into them spells "ick" for me.

However, this year I'm trying Black Cherry & SunGold and they are growing like weeds.
I grow plants for my family and send them to my family every season, they say the same.

~ Tom

[violet0996]

Cherries are a sure thing and will produce pretty well even when conditions aren't ideal. While I grow most for taste, there are some I grow because they get so covered in blooms they're just lovely. Actually I grow those for my irridescent green halictid bee which seems to love the small flowers. Riesentraube and Blondkopfchen are the ones I grow for blooms. Besides that it's fun to have a bowlful of different colored cherry tomatoes to decorate the table and my kids eat them like candy.

[organichris]

I've got an idea. I didn't grow any cherry tomato plants this year, but I know I can get them really cheap this time of year. I'm going to go and buy a few of them , plant them really deep in ditches and among weeds and let them grow wild. That's how confident I am in their ability to grow unassisted.
8)

[jhp]

I've got an idea. I didn't grow any cherry tomato plants this year, but I know I can get them really cheap this time of year. I'm going to go and buy a few of them , plant them really deep in ditches and among weeds and let them grow wild. That's how confident I am in their ability to grow unassisted.

That's an interesting idea. If it did work, there'd be no reason to give up garden space for them. Then again around here, anything not within my garden fence, gets eaten by deer.

I'd have to agree with the consensus, cheeries are easier to grow. AND I'll add, easy to give away when you inevitably have more than you can eat.

[barkeater]

It would make sense that the largest, greenest plant would suffer the most from the cold wind, so would be slowest to recover, cherry or otherwise.

That's the price you pay by trying to push the season. You can't just look at the long range forecast to see if the nights won't go below 40.

A windy, rainy spell in the 40's can really beat up a plant, and on top of that, make it more susceptible to diseases.

You can fool mother nature some of the time, but you can't fool her all of the time. ;-)

[organichris]

Yeah, well I did it. I went straight to the nursery after I got off of work and got a 4-pack of Juliet tomato plants. I planted them deep among the ragweed.

I thought that was the only cherry they had, but I noticed they also had Sungold. But I didn't think it was a cherry at the time. I just found out that it was. Now I am finding out that Juliet is a bit dry like a Roma, and that isn't what I'm looking for at all. Plus a lot of people said they didn't particularly care for the flavor.

After I get back from the holiday weekend, I'm grabbing some Sungolds and planting them too. Both are F1s and should grow quite vigorously.