Cherry Tomatoes

The sweetest, most prolific tomatoes you can grow, perfect for kids, pots and snacking

Cherry and grape tomatoes are the sweetest tomatoes you can grow, and the easiest. They crop in huge numbers over months, they are the first to ripen each summer, and they shrug off conditions that would stop a fussy beefsteak in its tracks. If you want a plant that rewards a beginner, fills a pot or hanging basket, and turns children into gardeners, this is it.

This guide covers why cherry tomatoes are so good, how to grow them in the ground or in pots, how to stop them splitting, and which varieties to pick for sweetness, colour and containers. Use the picker below to match a variety to what matters most to you.

Cherry Tomato Picker

Tell the tool what you care about most and, if you like, a colour, and it will suggest a proven cherry tomato to grow. Every variety below is a real tomato sold in Australia as seed or seedlings.

Which cherry tomato should I grow?

What matters most?

Colour (optional)

For a calendar tuned to your exact spot, use Find My Region or open the Planting Season app and pick your variety from the dropdown.

Why Grow Cherry Tomatoes

Cherry tomatoes win on sweetness. Small fruit concentrates its sugars, so cherry and grape types consistently top the charts for flavour, with Sungold the one most gardeners name as the sweetest of all. They also out-crop everything else in the patch, throwing out long trusses of fruit again and again over months.

On top of that they are the earliest tomatoes to ripen, so you are eating home-grown fruit weeks before the big slicers are ready. They are forgiving of heat, dry spells and beginner mistakes, they thrive in pots, and they are bite-sized and sweet enough that children will graze straight off the plant. For all those reasons they are the best tomato to start with.

Growing Cherry Tomatoes

Cherry tomatoes want full sun, at least 6 to 8 hours a day, and rich, well-drained soil with plenty of compost dug in before planting. Plant seedlings deep, burying the stem up to the first set of leaves so the plant roots strongly, water in well, and mulch thickly to keep the soil moisture even.

Most cherry tomatoes are indeterminate vines. They grow tall and keep fruiting over a long season, so they need a tall, sturdy stake or frame of at least 1.8 m put in at planting time, with the main stem tied up as it grows. The one exception is Tumbling Tom, a trailing dwarf bred for hanging baskets that needs no staking at all. Keep water up evenly through the season and the plants will reward you for months.

Growing in Pots and Hanging Baskets

Few crops suit containers as well as cherry tomatoes, and a couple of varieties are made for it.

Tumbling Tom is bred for hanging baskets. It cascades over the edge with masses of small sweet-tart fruit and needs no staking, so it is perfect for a balcony or a sunny verandah.
Tommy Toe, the Australian heirloom, is a productive, forgiving choice for a large tub on the ground, where you can give it a stake.
Use a pot of at least 40 cm across so the roots have room and the mix does not dry out too fast.
Water daily in summer. Pots dry out far quicker than garden beds, and uneven watering causes splitting and blossom end rot.
Use a good quality potting mix and feed weekly with a potassium-rich tomato fertiliser once the plant is flowering.

Watering

The main problem with cherry tomatoes is splitting, and it is almost always caused by irregular watering. When heavy rain or a big soak follows a dry spell, the fruit takes up water faster than the skin can stretch and the skins split. Water evenly and consistently, mulch well to buffer soil moisture, and pick fruit promptly once it is ripe, especially before forecast rain. Sweet Million is bred to be more crack-resistant if splitting is a regular headache in your garden.

Harvest

Pick cherry tomatoes fully ripe and warm off the vine for maximum sugar. The flavour of a sun-warmed cherry tomato eaten in the garden is a long way ahead of one picked early and chilled. A healthy plant will crop prolifically over months, so pick little and often to keep the trusses producing, and keep up with the harvest before fruit over-ripens and splits or attracts fruit fly.

Tip: Grow one cherry tomato for snacking and a slicer or paste type for the kitchen and you have both ends covered on one plan. The cherry will be feeding you weeks before the bigger tomatoes are ready.

Best Cherry Tomato Varieties

These are the proven cherry and grape tomatoes for an Australian garden. All are real, widely grown varieties.

Variety	Colour	Habit	Days	Note
Sungold	Orange / gold	Indeterminate	65	The sweetest of all. Glowing orange cherry, heavy cropper, eaten by the handful straight off the vine.
Sweet 100	Red	Indeterminate	65	Long trusses of small, very sweet red cherries. Reliable and prolific, a classic snacking tomato.
Sweet Million	Red	Indeterminate	65	Improved Sweet 100 with crack resistance and even sweeter fruit over a long season.
Yellow Pear	Yellow	Indeterminate	75	Mild, sweet, pear-shaped yellow cherries. Pretty in salads and very heavy cropping over months.
Tommy Toe	Red	Indeterminate	70	Australian heirloom. Tangy-sweet, incredibly productive, with strong disease resistance. Great for beginners and pots.
Black Cherry	Dark	Indeterminate	70	Dusky purple cherry with a deep, complex, almost smoky flavour. A standout for fresh eating.
Tumbling Tom	Red	Determinate / trailing	70	Trailing dwarf bred for hanging baskets and pots. Cascades of small sweet-tart fruit in a small space.

Region and Season Notes

Cherry tomatoes are frost-tender, so plant them out after the last frost has passed and the soil has warmed. Your window depends on your climate.

Cool temperate (Melbourne, Hobart, Canberra): plant out from October to November once frost is gone. Start seed indoors in late winter for an early crop.
Temperate (Sydney, Adelaide, Perth): plant out from September to November for a long summer harvest.
Subtropical (Brisbane, Northern NSW): a long planting window from late winter through spring. Watch for fruit fly as fruit ripens.
Tropical (Darwin, Far North QLD): grow through the dry season, roughly April to August, when humidity and disease pressure are lower.

For a planting calendar tuned to your exact location, see our full tomato growing guide or use Find My Region.

Plan Your Cherry Tomatoes in the App

Add a cherry tomato to your garden, pick the variety from the in-app dropdown, and get reminders for sowing, transplanting, feeding and harvest tuned to your region.

Open the App →

Plan Your Varieties in the App

This guide helps you choose the right cherry tomato. The Planting Season app helps you grow it. When you add a tomato to your garden you can choose Sungold, Sweet 100, Tommy Toe, Black Cherry, Tumbling Tom and more from the in-app variety dropdown, and the app tracks each one from sowing through to harvest with reminders tuned to your region. Pair a cherry tomato for snacking with a paste tomato for the kitchen and keep them all on one plan.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the sweetest cherry tomato?

Sungold is the cherry tomato most gardeners name as the sweetest of all. It is a glowing orange cherry with an intense, fruity sweetness that is eaten by the handful straight off the vine. Sweet Million and Sweet 100 are close behind among the red cherries, and the Australian heirloom Tommy Toe is a tangy-sweet favourite.

Are cherry tomatoes easy to grow?

Cherry tomatoes are the easiest and most forgiving tomatoes to grow. They are vigorous, very productive, the earliest to ripen, and they shrug off conditions that knock back fussier beefsteaks. That makes them the best choice for beginners and for kids, and Tommy Toe in particular is famously reliable with good disease resistance.

What is the best cherry tomato for pots and hanging baskets?

Tumbling Tom is bred specifically for hanging baskets and pots. It is a trailing dwarf that cascades over the edge with masses of small sweet-tart fruit. For a large tub, the Australian heirloom Tommy Toe is a productive choice. Use a pot of at least 40 cm and water daily in summer.

Why are my cherry tomatoes splitting?

Cherry tomatoes split when they take up water unevenly, usually when heavy rain or a big soak follows a dry spell and the fruit swells faster than the skin can stretch. Water evenly and consistently, mulch well to buffer soil moisture, and pick fruit promptly once it is ripe, especially before forecast rain. Sweet Million is bred to be more crack-resistant.

What is the difference between cherry and grape tomatoes?

Both are small, bite-sized tomatoes. Cherry tomatoes are round and juicy with a thinner skin and very sweet flesh. Grape tomatoes are smaller and oval with a firmer, meatier, less juicy flesh and a thicker skin that holds up well in lunchboxes and salads. They are grown the same way, so the choice comes down to texture and shape.

Are cherry tomatoes good for kids?

Cherry tomatoes are perfect for kids. They are sweet, bite-sized, prolific over months and easy to pick, so children can graze straight off the plant. Sungold and the Australian heirloom Tommy Toe are top picks for young gardeners because they are sweet, productive and forgiving.

Are cherry tomatoes determinate or indeterminate?

Most cherry tomatoes are indeterminate vines that grow tall and keep producing over a long season, so they need a tall stake or frame. The exception is Tumbling Tom, a trailing determinate dwarf bred for hanging baskets and pots, which needs no staking and cascades over the edge instead.