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Last edited on November 29, 2025. View history
Sunray Tomato
solanum lycopersicum
Also known as
yellow tomato (EN)
A variety of tomato
How to sow sunray tomato: Direct seed indoors, transplant seedlings outside after hardening off
Sun requirement for sunray tomato: Plant in Full Sun
Sunrays or Sungolds are a cherry tomato variety that produce small, round golden to orange tomatoes. They have deeply sweet, delicious, fruity flavor. Harvest when they are at their deepest hue for the most intense flavor. Cherry tomatoes do not need to be pruned. Trellis and staking is optional.
- 3
- plantings
- 6
- harvests
- 0
- seed packets
Sunray tomato facts
Lifespan
Annual
living and reproducing in a single year or less
21 weeks
median lifespan
First harvest expected
17
weeks after planting
Last harvest expected
19
weeks after planting
Height × spread
300cm × 45cmRow Spacing
90cmGrown for
fruit harvested 6 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 sunray 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 sunray 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 sunray 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 sunray tomatoes
Sunniness
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Planted from
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Harvested for
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Plant sunray tomatoes with
Photos
Sunray tomato plantings
Sunray tomato harvests
Video
Where sunray tomatoes grow
Only plantings by members who have set their locations are shown.
What people are saying about sunray tomatoes
New website features (release 55)
by shiny,
lettuces
sunray tomatoes
Te Māori taewa potatoes
eggplants
radishes
Read more
New look, new features
by shiny,
If you notice any bugs or think of new features please let us know on our github or comment here.
We've got new crop cards on browsing crops or a [planting](https://www.growstuff.org/plantings/shiny-indoors-tomato-75b2e492-9f71-42f6…
lettuces
sunray tomatoes
Te Māori taewa potatoes
eggplants
radishes
Read more
Who's planted sunray tomatoes
- shiny behind the feijoa · Wellington, NZ
Sunray tomato harvests
-
shiny harvested not specified.
over 6 years ago
-
shiny harvested not specified.
over 8 years ago
-
shiny harvested not specified.
over 8 years ago
shiny harvested not specified.
View all sunray tomato harvests
Sign in or sign up to track your sunray tomato harvests.Find sunray tomato seeds
There are no seeds available to trade on Growstuff right now.
- Purchase seeds via Ebay
- Sign in or sign up to list your seeds to trade.
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 sunray tomatoes
Resources outside Growstuff.
