How to Grow Cherry Tomato
Cherry Tomato At a Glance
Difficulty
Easy
Category
Fruit
Sun Exposure
Full Sun
Frost Tolerance
Frost Tender
Cold Hardiness
Survives to 2°C
Plant Family
Solanaceae
Growing Season
Warm Season
Plant Lifecycle
Annual
How to Start It
★ Recommended for beginners
Our summers are too short for tomatoes to ripen well from an outdoor sowing, so start them inside. Sow 2 seeds per small pot 0.6 cm deep, 6 to 8 weeks before your last frost, keep them warm, and they sprout in 5 to 10 days. Plant out 1 to 2 weeks after the last frost, 45 cm apart, burying the stem up to the first leaves so it grows extra roots. Before planting out, set the pots outside in a sheltered spot for a few hours a day, a little longer each day for about a week, so they toughen up (this is called hardening off).
Cherry tomatoes are the easiest tomato for beginners and pots: they ripen earlier than big tomatoes and keep cropping until frost. They split when watering swings between dry and soaked, so steady water is the secret to a big, clean harvest.
When To Start
First chance to plant
42 Days Before Last Frost
Last chance to plant
60 Days Before First Frost
When should you plant Cherry Tomato?
Your planting dates depend on your local climate. Sign up and add your location to unlock personalized dates.
Your Cherry Tomato Planting Window
Start planting
May 15, 2026
Last chance
Sep 10, 2026
Your Cherry Tomato Calendar
Set your location to turn these into exact dates and reminders.
Start cherry tomato seeds indoors in a warm spot
7 weeks before your last frost· every year
Plant cherry tomatoes out deep, up to the first leaves
1 week after your last frost· every year
Pick cherry tomatoes often and water steadily
65 days after your last frost· every year· optional
Start hardening off your cherry tomato seedlings: an hour outside today, a little longer each day.
3 days before your last frost
Water your new cherry tomato plants well while they settle in. Deep and slow is best.
About 1 days after you plant it
How are your cherry tomatoes doing? Tie the main stem loosely to a stake or cage as it grows.
About 36 days after you plant it
Cherry tomato check! Water deeply and evenly so the fruit does not split.
About 62 days after you plant it
Picking time may be here: check your cherry tomato.
About 78 days after you plant it
The Journey Ahead
Cherry Tomato's Lifecycle
Seedling
Mature Plant
Seed Production
Step 1
Prepare Your Space
0.6 cm
Seeding Depth
45 cm
Plant Spacing
60 cm
Row Spacing
1
Plants / Sq Ft
Vertical Growing
Yes: Trellis
Method: Trellis
Succession Planting
Yes
Step 2
Planting & Sprouting
Expect sprouts in 5–10 days
Growing Tips
- 1Give cherry tomatoes your sunniest spot, with at least 8 hours of sun a day.
- 2Plant them in soil rich in compost, or in a pot at least 30 cm wide and deep.
- 3Water deeply at the base whenever the top 2 to 3 cm of soil is dry, and spread mulch to keep the moisture even so the fruit does not split.
- 4Feed with worm castings or compost tea every 2 weeks once the first fruits form.
- 5Tie tall types to a stake or cage, and pinch out the side shoots that grow between the main stem and a branch to keep them tidy, but leave compact types like Tiny Tim alone.
- 6Pick off the lower leaves that touch the soil and give the plants room for air to flow, which helps keep leaf spots away.
- 7Tomato leaves and stems can make cats and dogs sick, so keep pets from chewing them.
Seedling Phase
Step 3
Growth & Maturity
~78
Days to Maturity
120 cm
Mature Height
60 cm
Mature Width
Pests to Watch For
Diseases to Watch For
Mature Plant
Step 4
Harvesting
Harvest Window
60 days
When to Pick
Harvest cherry tomatoes when they are fully colored (red, yellow, or orange, depending on the variety) and firm with a slight give when gently squeezed. Gently twist or snip the fruit from the vine, ideally in the morning when temperatures are cooler. Regular harvesting encourages more fruit production.
How to Harvest
- 1Pick cherry tomatoes when they are fully coloured, shiny and give slightly when you squeeze them gently.
- 2Hold the stem with one hand and snap or snip the fruit off with the other so you do not break the branch.
- 3Pick every day or two in summer, because the more you pick, the more the plant makes.
- 4Before the first fall frost, pick the green ones too and let them ripen on the counter.
- 5Keep ripe tomatoes on the counter, not in the fridge, for the best flavour.
Step 5
Saving Seeds
How to Save Seeds
Tomato flowers pollinate themselves, so the seeds grow true as long as the variety is not a hybrid (hybrid F1 seeds will not), and keeping different varieties about 3 m apart is plenty. Squeeze the seeds and their jelly from a few ripe fruits into a jar with a little water. Leave the jar for 2 to 4 days, stirring once a day, until a thin layer of mould forms on top: this ferments off the jelly that stops the seeds from sprouting. Rinse the seeds in a sieve, spread them on a plate (not paper towel, which they stick to) and let them dry for about a week. Store them labelled in a cool, dark, dry place, where they keep 4 to 6 years.
Seed Production
Still have a question?
Ask your coach about your cherry tomato.
This page covers what we thought to write down. Your cherry tomato will do something it never mentions, and that is the day a coach beats a guide. Ask Coach Lumen one question right now, free, no account.
