Tomato
Sowing and growing tall cherry tomatoes
Cherry tomatoes are fun and delicious, and a single plant can give you a large harvest. This variety produces long trusses full of wonderfully sweet tomatoes.
What is a tall cherry tomato?
Cherry tomatoes are smaller than ordinary tomatoes, but the plants produce far more fruit.
Most tomato plants, including our cherry tomato, grow tall and need to be tied to a support such as a trellis or a wigwam made from bamboo canes.
Our cherry tomato produces beautiful long trusses full of wonderfully sweet tomatoes.
Most tomato plants, including our cherry tomato, grow tall and need to be tied to a support such as a trellis or a wigwam made from bamboo canes.
Our cherry tomato produces beautiful long trusses full of wonderfully sweet tomatoes.
Are tomatoes nutritious?
Tomatoes provide vitamins including C, A and several B vitamins, as well as potassium, phosphorus and magnesium.
Red tomatoes also contain lycopene, an antioxidant. Cooking tomatoes makes their lycopene easier for the body to absorb, although some vitamin C is lost through heating.
Enjoy tomatoes both raw and cooked as part of a varied diet.
Red tomatoes also contain lycopene, an antioxidant. Cooking tomatoes makes their lycopene easier for the body to absorb, although some vitamin C is lost through heating.
Enjoy tomatoes both raw and cooked as part of a varied diet.
More about the Makkelijke Moestuin cherry tomato
This tomato variety grows tall and produces long trusses of sweet cherry tomatoes.
Tomatoes are true summer plants that need plenty of warmth. Give the plant a sunny, sheltered spot beside the trellis.
Tomatoes are true summer plants that need plenty of warmth. Give the plant a sunny, sheltered spot beside the trellis.
- Variety: Sweety
- Family: nightshades
- Plants per square: 1 beside the trellis
- Height: up to 180 cm
- Start indoors: from late March to late April; plant outside after mid-May
- Time to harvest: from 16 weeks
- Germination: 6 to 10 days at 20°C or above
- Sunlight: needs a sunny, sheltered spot beside the trellis
You can buy our cherry tomato seeds separately, or find them in the good-value Climbers seed pack.
What do you need to grow cherry tomatoes?
Start tomato seeds indoors, then plant them in your outdoor raised bed at the end of May.
In addition to the seeds, you will need:
In addition to the seeds, you will need:
- MM seed-starting mix or MM coconut seed-starting mix
- MM-Airpots in both the small and large sizes
- clear cling film (not needed with coconut mix)
Please note: MM coconut seed-starting mix does not contain plant food. Before using it, add one heaped tablespoon of MM plant food.
Once the plant can go outside, you will need:
Once the plant can go outside, you will need:
- one 30 × 30 cm square
- Makkelijke Moestuinmix
- a spot that receives at least 8 hours of sunlight a day
- a trellis or another support to guide the plant upwards
- MM plant food
How do you sow and grow cherry tomatoes?
This cherry tomato is included in the free Makkelijke Moestuin app. The app guides you from seed to harvest.
Every vegetable passes through a series of stages, which we call levels.
The app tells you exactly what to do at each level and regularly asks you to check whether your plants are ready for the next one.
So you do not need to know how to grow cherry tomatoes successfully before you begin. But if you would like to read ahead, here is what the whole process looks like.
Every vegetable passes through a series of stages, which we call levels.
The app tells you exactly what to do at each level and regularly asks you to check whether your plants are ready for the next one.
So you do not need to know how to grow cherry tomatoes successfully before you begin. But if you would like to read ahead, here is what the whole process looks like.
Level 1: Starting cherry tomatoes indoors
Tomatoes are true summer vegetables and take a long time to grow from a seed into a plant with ripe fruit: too long for our climate. The seeds also need a temperature of about 21°C to germinate.
That is why you should start them indoors around the end of March, then plant the young tomato outside around the end of May. To be on the safe side, grow 2 plants even though you will only need 1 later.
That is why you should start them indoors around the end of March, then plant the young tomato outside around the end of May. To be on the safe side, grow 2 plants even though you will only need 1 later.
- fill 2 small MM-Airpots with MM seed-starting mix or MM coconut seed-starting mix
- place 1 seed in each pot, 1 cm deep
- cover the pots with a piece of clear cling film (not needed with coconut seed-starting mix)
- put the pots in a warm place in your living room
Please note: MM coconut seed-starting mix does not contain plant food. When preparing it for the first time, add one heaped tablespoon of MM plant food.
Levels 2 and 3: Cherry tomato seedlings
As soon as the seedlings emerge, remove the film from the pots. They probably will not both emerge at the same time, but both should be visible within a week.
From then on, place the pots in the brightest spot you have, preferably somewhere that is not too warm.
Keep the mix damp, but not soaking wet, and turn the pots a quarter turn every day. This prevents the seedlings from leaning to one side.
From then on, place the pots in the brightest spot you have, preferably somewhere that is not too warm.
Keep the mix damp, but not soaking wet, and turn the pots a quarter turn every day. This prevents the seedlings from leaning to one side.
Levels 4 and 5: Caring for your plants on the windowsill
To help your plants grow well, give them full light but keep the temperature at no more than 20°C. Turn them a quarter turn every day to prevent leaning, and keep the mix damp.
One month after sowing, move the plants into larger pots filled with MM-mix. This lets them produce extra roots, gives them fresh nutrients and helps them grow even better.
Our Knowledge Base guide explains tomato repotting in detail.
One month after sowing, move the plants into larger pots filled with MM-mix. This lets them produce extra roots, gives them fresh nutrients and helps them grow even better.
Our Knowledge Base guide explains tomato repotting in detail.
Levels 6 to 10: Getting used to outdoor conditions
During the second half of May, gradually get the plants used to outdoor conditions by leaving them outside a little longer each day.
At the final level, they remain outside all day and only come indoors at night.
At the final level, they remain outside all day and only come indoors at night.
Level 11: Plant the best tomato in your raised bed
Once your plants are used to outdoor conditions, choose the strongest one and move it to your outdoor raised bed. Plant it at the back beside the trellis.
Add some extra MM plant food to the planting hole, 30 ml or 2 tablespoons, and plant the tomato as deeply as possible.
Always water a tomato at the base of the plant, never over the leaves.
Add some extra MM plant food to the planting hole, 30 ml or 2 tablespoons, and plant the tomato as deeply as possible.
Always water a tomato at the base of the plant, never over the leaves.
Levels 12 to 14: Caring for your tomato beside the trellis
A tomato plant does not cling to a trellis on its own, so attach it with plant clips or ties.
Remove the side shoots, also called suckers, that grow in the leaf axils as soon as you see them, as they use a great deal of the plant's energy.
Remove the side shoots, also called suckers, that grow in the leaf axils as soon as you see them, as they use a great deal of the plant's energy.
You will soon see the first trusses of flowers. To help the plant produce as many tomatoes as possible, scatter extra MM plant food around its base every 4 to 5 weeks, using 30 ml or 2 tablespoons. The app will remind you.
Apart from that, water regularly and remove weeds and unattractive leaves. That is it.
Apart from that, water regularly and remove weeds and unattractive leaves. That is it.
Level 15: Harvesting the first tomatoes
The first cherry tomatoes ripen around July. They ripen more quickly in warm, sunny weather and more slowly when it is cooler.
Cherry tomatoes taste best when fully ripe but still firm. If you leave them on the plant for too long, they become soft and floury. Try a few to find the right moment.
Pick the ripe red tomatoes from the plant; the stems break easily. You can also use scissors to cut them from their stems.
Cherry tomatoes taste best when fully ripe but still firm. If you leave them on the plant for too long, they become soft and floury. Try a few to find the right moment.
Pick the ripe red tomatoes from the plant; the stems break easily. You can also use scissors to cut them from their stems.
How can you use cherry tomatoes?
You can eat tomatoes both raw and cooked.
They are delicious as a snack, as well as in salads, sauces, soups and even stir-fries.
Or preserve them, as Vrouwholle does:
They are delicious as a snack, as well as in salads, sauces, soups and even stir-fries.
Or preserve them, as Vrouwholle does:
The final levels
Around the end of August, the days become shorter and the tomatoes take longer to ripen.
To help the remaining fruit ripen, cut off the top of the plant just above the final truss of ripening tomatoes. Remove leaves that shade the fruit so that sunlight can reach it.
Also remove new flower trusses, as those tomatoes will no longer have time to ripen. This directs the plant's energy towards the fruit already growing.
You can continue harvesting until the weather becomes colder. The plant will then decline quickly and is best removed from the raised bed.
To help the remaining fruit ripen, cut off the top of the plant just above the final truss of ripening tomatoes. Remove leaves that shade the fruit so that sunlight can reach it.
Also remove new flower trusses, as those tomatoes will no longer have time to ripen. This directs the plant's energy towards the fruit already growing.
You can continue harvesting until the weather becomes colder. The plant will then decline quickly and is best removed from the raised bed.
So, what is stopping you from growing cherry tomatoes?
These sweet cherry tomatoes are delicious, much tastier than supermarket tomatoes, and great fun to grow yourself. Our app and materials give you plenty of help along the way.
Good luck!
