Tomato Cherry (Sweet Million F1)
A popular variety producing huge numbers of deliciously sweet tasting cherry tomatoes. Perfect for use in salads or eating just as a snack. Loved by kids for their high sugar content and wonderful flavour, picking and eating the ripe fruit straight from the plant is a real delight and so much better than any tomato you can ever buy in the shops. Known as an indeterminate or a vining type, the plants are extremely vigorous and produce heavy crops, they will therefore require some support. Suitable for outdoor crops as well as growing in a greenhouse or polytunnel
Growing Advice
Sow indoors March to April. Sow 0.5cm deep into individual pots of compost. Water well and place in a warm, light position, away from cold draughts and out of intense, direct sunlight. Keep the compost just moist and be careful not to overwater, the compost should almost dry out before it is watered again. Seedlings should start to appear in approximately 7-14 days. In late May or early June, acclimatise plants to outside conditions. Place pots outside in a sheltered spot during the day and bring them inside again at night when the temperature falls. Do this for a week or two, until the plants have hardened off. Plant out to large patio pots or tubs and place in a sheltered, sunny growing position. Alternatively plant out into a greenhouse border or grow bags. Remove the growing tip of the plant when six or seven trusses have begun to develop and remove any side shoots that appear. This will help concentrate the plants energy where it is need most. Plants will require some support with a trellis or canes as they grow larger and the trusses begin to develop.
Top Tips About Seeds
- Once the seed packet has been opened, the seeds can be stored in an airtight container until required for further sowings.
- Tomato seeds will maintain their vigour for a good number of years.
Although large, tomato plants can be grown in patio pots, for the earliest and largest crops possible grow plants in a greenhouse or polytunnel.
Tomato blight can sometimes be a problem for outdoor crops. This first shows itself as dark patches at the base of the stems. Contaminated plants are best removed.
Harvest tomatoes as they turn red and ripen, from July to October.
Ideas on how to use your Tomato Cherry
For really large crops place the large pots in which the tomatoes are growing onto a grow bag with the top cut away. This way the roots can grow down out of the pot and into the extra compost below. Begin providing a regular liquid feed as soon as the first flowers begin to appear, this will significantly increase the size of the crop and help to maintain the health of the plants. Any tomato fertiliser will work well. Spraying the flowers with a fine mist of water or simply tapping the stems to shake the stems can aid pollination of the flowers and help the fruit to set. When harvesting whole trusses of tomatoes it is best to use scissors or secateurs, simply pulling them from the plant can easily break a stem or a branch.
David Domoney is a Chartered Horticulturalist, Broadcaster, and Author. David has worked with a number of the UK’s leading garden retailers as a plant buyer and strategic consultant. With more than 30 years experience, in horticulture, David is as passionate about plants now as he was when he bought his first plant at a village fete.
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