Grow Cherry Tomatoes in a Container 

A cherry tomato plant started growing on its own in my compost bin last year. It was huge and the most productive one I've ever had.

I'm 80 years old. I only use is concrete wire, I make a circle out it. After a few years its gets rusty so I paint them with a aluminum paint. I'm still gardening

Here in New Zealand we call suckers, laterals. I pinch some of the laterals out and plant them. The grow quickly and bear fruit. Free plants.

My grandma who’s been growing cherry tomato for years always said to cut the leaf under the suckers once they get big enough, so that the plant will put energy into growing the fruit bearing part. This directly contradicted all the tomato videos I’ve watched. Finally, your video is the first that’s told me to do what my grandma does, but for cherry tomatoes only! I finally feel justified and like I’m not going crazy. Thanks!

In my younger days I put a foot of yard dirt n grass clippings in 6 stainless trash cans in fall. They had lids and drain holes 2" up sides not on bottom. Bury to cover drain holes so worms get in. Over Winter we tossed in n mixed up all kitchen scraps from our large family. ... used paper napkins n cardboard too. In spring lined with cardboard and filled with soil to plant cherry tomato in each.... fed neighborhood all Summer 😊 they grew to 12 feet wired to garage!

We save our eggshells, wash them out, bake them to make sure bad bacteria are killed, and then grind them up for some calcium. We leave some for the birds, too.

I always plant deep. In fact I grow them long and leggy in the pots just for that reason. I also like to lay them over and plant that deeply as well. I can sometimes get almost two feet of stem under the dirt. When planting sideways, you can leave a side shoot intact, and it will make a second vine from the same rootstock.

Compact dwarf cherry tomato varieties are great when you need to fit 2-3 plants in one large container. Just make sure there's extra soil, water, nutrients & airflow. Six to eight hours of full sun too. Noticed plants placed to receive the first blast of cooler early morning light grow & produce the best. (Plants placed to receive mostly blazing mid to late afternoon light wilt & struggle with spotting & other diseases much more.)

My first video, I'm not even growing tomatoes, just enjoying the sight of an awesome brother ❤

How can anyone NOT learning something from your videos-they’re the best. The two tomato cages together is genius, I’ll have to try that this year. Thanks again Brian.

Great advice. I've always wonder why my yield was small. I was discarding the suckers. I didn't realize that this is not to be done with cherry tomatoes. Thank you.

Since you are not a huge cherry tomato fan, I will give you our favorite recipe to use lots of them. Use whatever you like as your favorite crust (unbaked), brush with a bit of olive oil, top with some shreaded herbs, then halved cherry tomatoes, cut side down, salt and pepper. Bake at 375 until bubbly. Magic happens in the oven. You can drizzle some pesto or sour cream if you like, but these never last long.

In all of my large containers, I line them with newspaper around the inside and then fill them. This seems to keep pots insulated from heat during the summer and also retains moisture as it seeks to drain down along the sides first.

I love your double tomato cage. Great idea for stabilizing the structure. I'll be using this to discourage the stray cats and challenge the wind. Might even use it to set up a planter for a vining plant. Still modifying my layout. The more I put outside, the more I change my plans. Also, thanks for the "sucker" advice. I didn't know not to prune them on cherry tomatoes, this year I will make sure to let the armpits bush out. (Give Hairy Vetch a run for its money. LOL.)

I learned to garden organically from watching how my grandparents did it. They never bought any amendments or soil conditioners. They only put down heaps of compost and manure in late fall after the last harvest and cleanup and then tilled in spring. Once it was warm to plant they sowed their seeds and planted their tomatoes and peppers and added fresh grass clippings throughout the summer to keep down weeds and enrich the soil. The tomatoes were out of this world with flavor and we could never eat a store bought tomato after the last of these wonderful fruits was eaten and all with simple readily available organics.

Due to my mom getting old and not very healthy, I'm planting and maintaining my parents' garden this year (first time). I feel like I just got a GREAT crash course for my cherry tomato plant because I knew none of this. THANK YOU!! Now I'm going to see if you cover all the plants I'll be planting (not more than 10-12; small garden basically for salad vegetables).

My mother had a green thumb and could grow anything with minimal effort. She planted cherry tomatoes in a flower bed and just let them grow rampant. Our family of 6 had more tomatoes than we could ever eat.

Wow! I’ve been plucking off the suckers of my Sungold tomatoe plant. Won’t do that anymore. These tomatoes are some of the sweetest cherry tomatoes I’ve eaten. It’s winter now and they are still growing in Southern California.

Thank you. I've done cherry tomatoes in pots for several years. My neighbors love me. I give sandwich bags full ALL summer long.

When the tomatoes get really tall and you are near the end of the season, the top flowering stems make great cut flowers. They last forever if you replace the water regularly and they smell herby and fabulous. The greens are beautiful with other cut flowers, too. They will also root if you want to try a winter indoor plant. I never tried planting the rooted stems and keeping over winter but I can imagine someone with the space and light might try it.

I planted two CHERRY 100's last year in Colorado. They both grew to between seven and eight feet and had so many delicious tomatoes!! If you can find them you will be thrilled with the results!

As a first time gardener of cherry tomatoes, this video has come in handy😊

My friend gardens and had a ginormous cherry tomato plant that produced an incredible number of tomatoes. She decided at some point to count them and picked over 1,000 cherry tomatoes off the one plant! I don’t have a the perfect place to grow one in the ground - not enough sun - so am going to try your container method! Hoping for a bumper crop.

Fun fact: those side suckers root out nicely and quickly. Start a plant extra early and clone a bunch from it for easy free plants. They should start producing earlier than the same size grown from seed, given the advanced maturity.

Back for the refresher versions of these videos. I hope everyone has a great growing season!

TIL about pruning all my cherry tomatoes. Oops! On that note though, I grew those sweetheart cherry tomatoes last year and WOW. I was getting like, buckets of them from 1 plant. Now I find out that was with me stunting production and I'm a little scared I might die in a tomatovalanche this year lol

I cannot believe how timely this was for me. This is my first year to grow Cherry Tomatoes and have also elected to grow them in a container. I will be looking forward to any follow up vids in the future.

I needed this. I built my first ever above the ground vegetable garden, and planted 1 tomato in a five gallon bucket.

wow I've been cutting all the suckers off of my cherry tomatoes! no wonder they didn't produce! thanks for the tip!

Your channel is *awesome* , I love it! Keep going :)

Some people don't know that food bearing plants can be purchased with EBT... (food stamps).

You just blew my mind with stacking tomato cages. I was like - well duh! Thanks for the great tip!

You know exactly what I need! lol. I started cherry tomato seed in 6b. Looking forward to plant it in a container.

Last year I grew my cherry tomato plant in my raised bed on an 8 foot stake. It grew 8 feet tall. The problem was keeping the stake secure in the rocky soil in Massachusetts (zone 5a). So it leaned, no big deal. Also I should have notched my wooden stake to keep my ties secure around the stake. This year I'm growing a grape tomato plant (among others) but with a few adjustments. I think if I did a container I would use four stakes to make a square around the plant for more stability. It's really not a matter of growing in containers or raised beds, the important part is the stake and how secure it is and if it's easy to maintain. I'd be interested how well your cage idea works out when the plant is producing heavily. I don't think it's stable enough. The bigger the container and the deeper it is, the more stable your staking will be. In a raised bed you have a foot but here everything below that is filled with rock so I really need to excavate and back fill. Again, if using wooden stakes just notch the stake so the tie has something to grab ahold of. I'm "The Northeast Garden" on Facebook.

I used to grow Sungold tomatoes that was until I discovered Sunsugar tomatoes. After a few years of growing both varieties and testing them including blind tests with friends and family the Sunsugars always beat out the Sungolds For taste and texture. They have a hint of sweetness with rich tomato flavor without acidic after taste. Try em and see for yourself.

I grow almost exclusively cherry tomatoes (just love snacking on them throughout the season). My favorite for flavor is sun gold and my favorite for production is super sweet 100. Mine always end up growing 8 feet plus, so be prepared! Grown in ground, Zone 7B. My method, for what its worth: I grow on tall stakes, not in cages. I grow 8 plants in close proximity to maximize space. Looks like this... : : : : ... each of those dots is an 8 foot tall stake, about a foot and a half apart. Prune the bottom foot of all growth to protect from soil splashing and then at the 2 feet mark I'll allow for another offshoot, tie it off. Then allow for another offshoot at about the 4 foot mark. Then another one at about 6 feet. By the end, each plant will have 4 main growing stems, tying them to the stake as they go. This works for a stake growing method and growing in compact spaces. I'll be fun to see how yours do when allowed to bush out! BTW, I use Neptunes Harvest fish/seaweed product since watching your videos. My container peppers/okra last year loved it!

Love the idea of combining the 2 cages to make a trellis. Last summer I had one cherry tomato plant that grew like Jack's beanstalk and I had to get pretty creative on how to support it and train it to wrap around itself etc. This will help!

If you want a "cherry" tomato that tastes like candy, grow super sweet 100s

Yass. Here in Alabama, I grew my sweet 100’s in a container last year in about a 4 gallon. It went well and they put out and survived well into October and November. They actually did better in the fall due to cooler weather. Our summers get into the 90’s and 100’s here in Bama.

I like the way you show us everything step by step. Really easy to understand your directions for a newbie like myself.

Just a small correction @ 7:44 and 8:50 : not all cherry tomato plants are indeterminate, there are lots of determinate cherry types out there. Thanks for the video!

OMG! I’ve been doing it wrong all these years. I’ve always removed the suckers on my cherry tomatoes. Lots of great info. Thanks so much.

I find tomato cages work well for cucumbers. I train the plant around each ring as it grows and then up to the next one.

I appreciated your cherry tomatoes in a container video because that's exactly what I'm doing this year. We have voracious rabbits in this area so I stacked the growing container on top of an empty container upside down, This raises the plant taller than any rabbit can reach. Also the slippery sides of the containers foil rodents that might try to climb.

My first time trying central stem style pruning, I tried to prune my cherry tomatoes this style. One plant died. The other just kept putting out side shoots. I ended up with a very strange looking plant, with FIVE support stakes and many, many cherry tomatoes. I appreciate the information on pruning difference between cherry and standard sized tomatoes. Here in the pacific northwest, we have plenty of calcium in the soil, but the soil in most areas is acidic and this prevents calcium uptake. Adding calcium doesn't work, but correcting the ph level does. What this tells me is checking ph levels would be a good idea when planting any calcium hungry vegetable.

My grandparents seemed to grow tomatoes so easily when I was a kid but I've been having a horrible time of it so decided to watch a bunch of videos. I've learned a lot! Question: why do you not trim the "armpits" of cherry toms? I seemed to have missed the "why"

Great video, as usual. Planted cherry tomatoes last year and had pretty good results but this info especially the pruning details will help to improve on that this year. I planted a variety called “Flavor Bombs” and they are the best tasting cherry tomatoes I have ever had. Thanks again for all the information you provide on all things gardening.

Looks like those wood chips falling was some good ASMR for you! 🤤😂

Nice. Thanks, Brian. Will have to watch again as I was too distracted by the monster nasturtiums in the background. Theybsure don't grow like that here in northeast New Mexico. Single digit humidity and persistent winds keep them low and little.

Actually, you plant your cherry tomatoes in the ground next to an established, well fertilized, rose bush. My cherry tomato plants last year were over producing and over 6ft tall. Aswell as it was so big and "bushy" I could not get my arms around it in a gentle hug to gauge its width/circumference of its growth. Cherry tomato plant variety: Sweet One Hundred. Roses are one of the best companion plants for tomatoes, just no one ever thinks about them as such, because well they are roses.

I was thought that Kellogg's Raisin Bran was being added to the soil. @1:55

6x6 road mesh works great for tomato cages. Put in pot first, and then soil. As for watering, I have water heater pans under my buckets that hold water and I can add liquid fertilizer for plants to wick up. After the plants are toward the top of the cage I take a piece of PVC pipe and string it through horizontal at the top of multiple buckets for added stability during the growing season.

Wow! This is brilliant...definitely going to use your tips on the cage this year 🥰

Hii, this video was really helpful thank you! I have a question, does the no-pruning thing go for yellow pear tomatoes too? They're not cherry but they're cherry-sized so i was wondering if not pruning could give a better yield

Love all your videos! I live in south central Ontario next to Lake Huron, so quite a different climate from yours. All the information you provide works well here with slight modifications. Thanks so much. This will be year 2 for my raised bed garden and I can’t wait. Last year, implanted late due to being locked down in Toronto from March to June first. Following your advice, I still had quite a good crop.

Don't twist the bottom wire of the tomato cage, instead use a couple of zip ties.

I have followed your seed planting in growing pods and then transferred them to the red cups. They have wonderful root systems and are the size of your example here. I am planting in pots and appreciate your help in this video.

I'm growing Tommy Toe tomatoes. I sowed a total of 6 seeds hoping to get 2 good plants for the season. This newbie now has 6 very sturdy Tommy Toe starts! Thank you for showing how to plant them in containers! 🍅 👍🏻😋

My 4 yr old loves eating Sungold tomatoes all summer whenever we're in the backyard. We're adding more varieties this year.

Additionally, another plus worth mentioning, I've never had blossom end rot on my #SunGoldCherry tomatoes in 3 years. I've had it on other tomatoes, both cherry and otherwise, but never on the Sun Golds.

I’m doing many varieties of tomatoes in stock tanks and my greenhouse in Central Oregon (high desert) this summer. This helps.

Learning more and more. Cherry tomatoes on my list to grow. 2nd year of gardening. Homegrown tomatoes taste so much better than supermarket ones.

Hi, do you ever grow tomato's in an basket upside down? I've looked into it, but still don't understand if it works or not. Thanks in advance for your help. from Switzerland

Timely video. Just planted a bunch of Sungolds. 2 questions: is Azomite a good source of calcium and magnesium without adding anything negative? And, although I get that cherry tomatoes have good production from side growth, would it be a bad idea to use the tomato hook method or is it just not necessary? Thanks for all the great videos.

when did your channel name change? Congratulations on 5,000 viewers by 1 pm EST!

I've just put my cherry next to the fence and tie branches to it. Done

I’m actually growing all my tomato and pepper plants in grow bags this year for space reasons so this video is right on time

I never fail to learn something from your videos. Retaining it is the tricky part 'cause I'm, like, old. 🤦‍♀️ No worries; I take notes. 🤗

I bought my tomato plant for a dollar, I spent $15 on stuff to help it grow... I harvested $4 of tomatoes. Kill me

I love that you keep your additives in buckets with lids. My puppy has torn into my fabric greenhouse and shredded bloodmeal and other additives! That will keep her and I friends

Excellent tips! I grew cherry, grape and a mediums sized slicer last year- the double cage into a trellis is an awesome idea! "Almost" makes me regret getting rid of the cages left by the previous homeowner when I bought my house 8 yrs ago! 😄 Almost, but not quite! Thanks so much and have a great day! ☕😊

New subscriber here: I learned SO much!!!!! Your voice is perfect. I could understand every word. Can't wait to correctly plant a few tomatoes in pots!!!

Thanks for great videos! Question: if I use revitalized soil, I have already added amendments to my soil. I also use Neptune’s mix - do I add more or just add calcium and magnesium?

Good advice. First year containers n raised bed gardening. Need all the help I can get because I’m 71 years old and always grown inground. Haven’t had garden in 15 years. Moved to town n no space. I’m trying.

Perfect timing. I'm only growing cherry tomatoes in containers this year, and I was all set to follow instructions I've seen for regular ones.

I would like to bring up a tomato propagation question if I may. Last year I discovered the ease of propagating tomato plants. I propagated a top producer in water for about 12 days and it produced lots of hairy roots. I transplanted this in a raised bed in August and it produced well. By December I removed all my plants to the trash except this propagation. I trimmed it to about 24 inch tall ( was about 48 inch tall) , removed flowers and unripe fruit and put it into a container and overwintered it in a south facing window propped up with bamboo sticks for support until last frost was over, early March for me. I hardened it off again and It has now been in a raised bed for a month and is showing new growth and has reached about 40 inch in height.

Galvanized fencing is another budget friendly swap for tomato cages. Thanks for listing what to put in the soil and the unique pruning required for cherry tomatoes . That information was also very helpful.

Hi.. thank you for the information in this video! First time gardening so will keep this in mind ! Can you please do a video on the lovely Nasturtiums I saw in the background.. I have several seedlings growing but would like to know the reason behind such big leaves!

After watching this; I’ve decided to plant my sweetcherry tomato seeds in a container! Thank you so much as I hadn’t really thought to do it!!!

I planted cherry tomatoes by accident thinking they were roma tomato’s. Anyway, they are getting very big and I need to transplant them into a larger container but I’m afraid of damaging their roots. What’s the easiest transplant trick? Thanks for the video it’s extremely helpful!

Thank you so much for all this information in a concise, understandable format. You hit on so many important points for a person, such as I, who never has grown a tomato plant successfully. I have grown large vines with plenty of leaves and two to three brown bottom tomatoes. I never tried again. I’m in humid Oklahoma with tons of wind and rain in spring and drought in hot summer. After watching this video, I’m going to try one, just one patio tomato plant. The only thing I plant is peppers. They love the weather here. But even basil gives up. I can only do container gardening. I’m ready, after three years of only planting peppers, to give other veggies another shot. Thanks so much. I’ve subscribed to your channel because I’m sure I’ll learn more important information.

Thank you so much for this information! Here in Florida, we mostly grow cherry or determinate tomatoes; as the humidity and heat get to be too much for larger tomatoes to develop. I love knowing I can leave those suckers on there and get a bounty. I am also growing them all in containers because we don't have our raised beds up yet; plus I can move them around if I need to. Your videos are always so specific and so informative, and I love that you include notes for different climates. I hope you'll show us your cherry tomatoes as they grow throughout the season.

Brian you are in for a treat. Sungolds are incredible. I have been growing them in pots for about 8 years. I use at least a 10 gallon pot. I also grow most of them in fabric pots. You definitely have to stay on top of the watering, but I love the fabric pots. Very healthy plants. Looking forward to see what you think of the Sungolds. My neighbors and co-workers ask for them by name each season, when I start sharing. In fact one of my friends named them "little balls of sunshine". Like the idea of turning over the tomato cage, because they can get very big. I will do that this year. Love your channel, always learn something new. Thanks again!

I'm always so psyched after one of your videos. I'm focusing on cherry and paste tomatoes this year, so the timing on your advice is perfect. Thanks, as always!!

I love cherry tomatoes mainly because they fully ripen. My big, beefsteak varieties rarely ripen beyond an orangish hue, probably due to the lack of sun in my wooded area. Enough sun to get those little guys all plump and juicy, but only a few of the bigger guys. It's weird because sitting in the garden in summer, it sure feels like 4-5 hours of that direct sun, preceded and followed by some dappled sun should be enough, but apparently not.

Ditto on timely. Question: The pot you show is the size I have from last year. Can I put more than one tomato plant in it or stick to only one?

OMG, this is the only gardening channel one ever needs to grow a garden!!! Thank you!!! ❤❤❤

Great info. I am growing just cherry tomatoes and also experimenting with growing cuttings from the lower branches that were too close to ground of the Sun Sugar yellow cherry tomato! The prices at the big box were over $5 per plant so propagation makes sense. The cuttings are growing root hairs right now after about 5 days in the water.

Sungold ❤️ It's the only hybrid seed I bought this year.

Stacking the cages ?? What an excellent idea!!! thanks 👩🏽‍🌾👍🏽🍅💚

Oh! I never thought to group cages together. I cannot wait till my cherry tomatoes are big enough to plant. Growing Sweetheart Cherry and Isis Candy Cherry. I love all your ideas and advice. Thank you!

The hardest thing I've dealt with in my tomatoes is septoria leaf spot. It seemed like no matter how much i pruned, it kept coming back. I used anti-fungals of all kinds and it still got into my plants. I'm hoping this year will be different.

Tomato cages are also good for malabar (Ceylon,vining) spinach. It loves lots of heat and is a tall climber. at about 2-2.5 ft pinch the tip and multiple side shoots form. Delicious, abundant and like little cherry tomatoes you can bring the pot indoors to a sunny sliding door to keep growing all winter.

I hate cherry tomatoes. I hate the texture. But im watching this because my mum loves them and asked me to grow some. Great video ❤

You remind me of Dane cook! My husband and I were watching this and I began saying “you know who...” and my husband shouted DANE COOK! lol 😂

My second year of gardening....SOOOOoooo much to learn. I knew about the trimming suckers from "armpits," however, did not know the cherry breeds do better by NOT doing that. My Yellow Pear "cherry" did not do ANYTHING last year; this year, it got away from me and has become my Seymour in the greenhouse....we're OVERLOADED with tomatoes. Thank you for the information and confirming what I have experienced. Praying for your health. How are you doing?

I have followed you for some time now and have to tell you that I enjoy & appreciate your videos and especially the how-to's. But I am curious - I know you have your irrigation on a timer - but do you water your vegies everyday & if so how long.

Have grown tomatoes in bags for a few years now...they will never grow to same size as a tomato in decent ground. That said, they can grow decent...never use less than a ten gallon grow bag as they are more like 7 gallons capacity. Bags dry out VERY quickly...a shallow saucer will help but they need a lot of frequent watering. That height trellis might be enough but if u can erect something a bit taller all the better (we fixed a cattle panel across vertical 4x4’s we poured cement bases for...worked pretty well). Regarding the comment about suckers taking away energy from the main plant for regular indeterminate tomatoes ...I always believed that as well and still do for tomatoes in bags but most tomato “experts “ state that isnt the case. When we grow indeterminates we typically let 3-4 suckers develop along with the main stem and suspend all on strings so we have good airflow to prevent fungal diseases...I think that is the main drawback to not pruning suckers (lack of airflow). Would post a link to pics of what we built for our patio cattle panel trellis but utube would probably remove it as spam. Might give it a shot as a reply to this comment...it worked pretty well...our cherry tomatoes got six feet tall or so but our in ground cherry tomatoes exceeded 12 feet tall...same area of yard light wise, essentially same watering schedule (little longer for the bags), same fertization, etc. difference was crazy... EDIT...channel won’t allow me to post a link to pics...if want to see a GREAT way to trellis determinate tomatoes, tomatillos, etc. heck out my IG page.. OldSquishyGardener ...

I have my cherry/grape tomatoes growing on my garden aeroponic tower. I hope your advice works for it. It’s becoming a bit of a monster.

I will be planting different varieties of tomatoes this year. I have yellow pear and other cherry tomato varieties along with Amish Paste and Crimson Sprinter. What kind of cross pollination issues could I have. Should I separate my varieties in separate areas?