black cherry tomato
Solanum lycopersicum var. cerasiforme
Last edited by shiny on November 08, 2026. View history
Cherry Tomato
A variety of tomato
How to sow cherry tomato: Sow seeds indoors 6-8 weeks before the last expected frost
Sun requirement for cherry tomato: Plant in Full Sun
Cherry tomatoes range in size from a thumbtip to the size of a golf ball. Their shape ranges from spherical to slightly oblong to pointed at the bottom. They are often red, but can also be yellow, green, striped, and even black. More oblong cherry tomatoes often share characteristics with plum tomatoes, and are known as grape tomatoes. Cherry tomatoes can be quite sweet (such as the Sungold or Sunsweet yellow varieties), more traditionally acidic, or deep in flavor. They are delicious for snacking, in salads, lightly roasted or grilled, or baked. They require little to no pruning unlike larger tomato plants.
- 63
- plantings
- 38
- harvests
- 6
- seed packets
Cherry tomato facts
Lifespan
Annual
living and reproducing in a single year or less
20 weeks
median lifespan
First harvest expected
11
weeks after planting
Last harvest expected
12
weeks after planting
Height × spread
60cm × 45cmRow Spacing
60cmDays until maturity
98–112 days median of members' seed packetsGrown for
fruit harvested 38 times
Optimal temperature
20–27 °C
Absolute temperature
7–35 °C
FAO EcoCrop
Optimal rainfall
600–1300 mm/year
Absolute rainfall
400–1800 mm/year
FAO EcoCrop
Optimal soil pH
5.5–6.8
Absolute soil pH
5–7.5
FAO EcoCrop
Crop cycle
70–150 days
FAO EcoCrop
Max altitude
2400 m
FAO EcoCrop
Optimal light
clear skies
FAO EcoCrop
What are growing degree days?
A plant grows with warmth, not with days. A growing degree day is one day's worth of useful warmth: how many degrees the day's average temperature is above the lowest temperature the crop grows at. Add them up from planting and you know how far along the crop is, whatever the calendar says.
Say that lowest temperature is 10°C. A day averaging 17°C gives 7 growing degree days. A day averaging 8°C gives none, as it is too cold for the crop to grow. That is why the same lettuce takes about 50 days in a summer and 90 in an autumn: it needs the same total warmth either way.
For cherry tomato, the FAO EcoCrop database gives a lowest growing temperature of 7°C and a shortest growing cycle of 70 days at its best temperature, about 1155 growing degree days to a first harvest.
Where you've told us where your garden is, we use this and the weather there to predict when your cherry tomato will be ready to harvest. We don't use it for how long a plant lives or when it finishes: we go by what members have logged for that.
Growing cherry tomatoes
- Sow seeds indoors 6 weeks before planting out
- Harden off the seedlings 1 week before planting out
- Stake or cage the plants 1 week after planting out
- Water deeply 2 weeks after planting out every week
- Pinch out side shoots 3 weeks after planting out every 2 weeks
- Feed with tomato fertiliser 6 weeks after planting out every 2 weeks
- Check for first ripe fruit 1 week before first harvest
- Pull out finished plants 4 weeks after first harvest
How members grow cherry tomatoes
Sunniness
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Planted from
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Harvested for
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Varieties of cherry tomato
currant tomato
Solanum pimpinellifolium
dwarf Henry's bush cherry tomato
Solanum lycopersicum var. cerasiforme
Matt's wild cherry tomato
Solanum lycopersicum var. cerasiforme
Santorini tomato
Solanum lycopersicum var. cerasiforme
small sweet orange tomato
Solanum lycopersicum var. cerasiforme
super sweet 100 tomato
Solanum lycopersicum var. cerasiforme
tomaccio tomato
Solanum lycopersicum var. cerasiforme
Tommy toe tomato
Solanum lycopersicum var. cerasiforme
Plant cherry tomatoes with
borage
basil
carrot
chives
black beauty eggplant
Photos
Photos
Cherry tomato crops
Cherry tomato plantings
Cherry tomato harvests
Cherry tomato seeds
Video
Where cherry tomatoes grow
Only plantings by members who have set their locations are shown.
What people are saying about cherry tomatoes
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Who's planted cherry tomatoes
- CloCkWeRX 01 - Rosewater Backyard Left · Rosewater, South...
- shiny Rapunzel tomato North West bed · Wellington, NZ
- stipma Garden
- unhackerguard Garden
- Bridge4 Seedling Containers · Melbourne Australia
Cherry tomato harvests
-
CloCkWeRX harvested 10, weighing 0.25 kg.
11 months ago
-
Honksplosion harvested 5.
almost 2 years ago
-
Honksplosion harvested 5.
almost 2 years ago
CloCkWeRX harvested 10, weighing 0.25 kg.
View all cherry tomato harvests
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View all cherry tomato seeds
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Nutritional data
A summary of nutritional data per 100g for Tomato, cherry, raw.
| Energy | 90.0 kJ |
|---|---|
| Protein | 0.9 g |
| Carbohydrate | 3.5 g |
| - Sugars | 3.5 g |
| Fibre | 1.7 g |
| Sodium | 6.0 mg |
Time to harvest
If sown now, expect a first harvest in about 70 to 150 days.
From the growing cycle in the FAO EcoCrop database, which is the same wherever it is grown.
Ecological requirements
Data from the FAO EcoCrop database for Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.
| Family / Taxonomy | Magnoliopsida Asteridae Solanales Solanaceae |
|---|---|
| Life form | herb |
| Life span | annual |
| Habit | prostrate/procumbent/semi-erect |
| Optimal soil depth | shallow (20-50 cm) |
| Optimal soil texture | medium, organic |
| Optimal soil fertility | high |
| Optimal soil drainage | well (dry spells) |
| Optimal soil salinity | low (<4 dS/m) |
| Photoperiod | short day (<12 hours), neutral day (12-14 hours), long day (>14 hours) |
Learn more about cherry tomatoes
Resources outside Growstuff.
