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How to grow Cherry tomatoes in the UK

Sweet little tomatoes you can pick like sweets.

• DifficultyA bit more care
• WhereBeds or Pots
• Grows to150cm
• Spacing45cm
• Time to first pickabout 16 weeks

When to sow, plant and harvest cherry tomatoes

Dates are for central England. Sow about two weeks later in the north and Scotland, and up to two weeks earlier in the south and south west. Get the dates for your postcode.

Starting it indoors

1. Fill a small pot or tray with seed compost
2. Push the seeds in (0.5cm deep) - a couple per pot
3. Water gently, then put them on a bright windowsill
4. Keep the compost damp but not soggy - check it every day
5. When they have 2 proper leaves, give each seedling its own pot

Planting it out

1. Toughen them up ('hardening off'): put them outside in the day for a week, bring them in at night
2. Dig a hole a bit bigger than the pot
3. Tip the plant out gently, holding the leaves, not the stem
4. Pop it in the hole, firm the soil around it, and water well
5. Space the plants about 45cm apart in the row, with rows 60cm apart

Top tips for growing cherry tomatoes

• 'Tumbling Tom' grows in a hanging basket, no pinching needed or canes needed.
• Tall ones like 'Sungold' need a cane - put it in before planting, then tie the stem on as it grows.

Looking after cherry tomatoes

• At planting: Water every day in hot weather, at the bottom of the plant
• Week 1: Tie the stem to its cane every week, and pinch out the little side shoots between the stem and a leaf
• Week 5: Feed with tomato food once a week when the flowers appear

Soil and feeding

Rich compost, kept moist, in the warmest spot you have. Plant into good compost, then feed with tomato feed once a week as soon as the first flowers appear.

Pests and problems

• Blackfly & greenfly: tiny bugs that crowd the tips and suck the sap
• Blight: not an animal - a disease that browns the leaves in warm, wet summers

• Grow nasturtiums nearby - greenfly go for them instead
• In warm, wet weather watch for brown blotches (blight) - pick all the fruit and ripen it indoors

Harvesting and eating cherry tomatoes

Pick when they're fully red and come off with a gentle pull.

How to eat them: Eat them warm off the plant, or halve them on pizza.

Storing cherry tomatoes

Keeps about 1 week.

• Keep in a bowl at room temperature - the fridge spoils the taste
• At the end of summer, ripen green ones on a sunny windowsill next to a banana

Freeze whole in a bag - the skins slip off when they thaw. Perfect for pasta sauce.

Good varieties of cherry tomatoes

• Sungold: Orange cherry tomatoes - sweet as sweets.
• Gardener's Delight: Long trusses of tasty red cherry tomatoes.
• Tumbling Tom: Spills over the edge of a pot or basket - no staking.
• Crimson Crush: Shrugs off blight - the best for growing outside.

Companion planting

Grows well with

• Basil: classic partners - basil likes the same warm spot
• Nasturtiums: nasturtiums lure greenfly away from tomatoes
• Chives: chives may help keep greenfly away
• French marigolds: the smell keeps whitefly and greenfly away
• Calendula (pot marigold): brings hoverflies and bees
• Borage: bees for more tomatoes
• Cosmos: brings hoverflies and lacewings, which eat greenfly

Keep away from

• New potatoes: they catch the same disease (blight) and pass it between them

Saving your own cherry tomatoes seed

From a fully ripe fruit, any time in late summer.

1. Pick your best, fully ripe tomato
2. Squeeze the seeds and juice into a jar with a splash of water
3. Leave it on the windowsill for 3 days - it goes mouldy on top, that's fine! It cleans the seeds
4. Tip into a sieve, rinse well, and spread the seeds on kitchen paper to dry for a week
5. Seeds from 'F1' varieties (it says on the packet) don't grow the same - save from ordinary ones.

Things to build for cherry tomatoes

• Tomato stakes and ties:
• Tomato string supports:
• Cold frame:

Where to buy cherry tomatoes seeds

Thompson & Morgan · Suttons · Amazon

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Cherry tomatoes questions

When should I sow cherry tomatoes in the UK?

In the UK, sow cherry tomatoes indoors from early March to mid April. These dates suit central England; sow about two weeks later in the north and Scotland and up to two weeks earlier in the mild south and south west.

When do I plant out cherry tomatoes?

Plant cherry tomatoes out from late May to mid June, once the last frost has passed.

When can I pick cherry tomatoes?

Cherry tomatoes is ready from mid July to early October. Pick when they're fully red and come off with a gentle pull.

How long do cherry tomatoes take to grow?

Roughly 16 weeks from sowing or planting until the first harvest.

Are cherry tomatoes easy to grow?

Cherry tomatoes are rated 'a bit more care' for beginners, and can be grown in the ground or a raised bed or in pots and containers.