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uscjusto

Cherry tomatoes

uscjusto
10 years ago

My indeterminate cherry tomato plant has been producing quite a few cherry tomatoes. The picture shows the harvest from the past 2 days, but my question is why are they so small?

Is there anything I can do to increase the size of each tomato?
I planted the tomato in good soil and compost, and have been fertilizing with an organic slow release vegetable fertilizer and also a dose of fish emulsion with kelp.
The plant receives plenty of sunshine and is watered regularly.

Comments (15)

  • Moorlord
    10 years ago

    Can you show a picture of the plant? Im wondering with all that fertilizer if its growing tons of foliage and not producing a lot. That could mean too much N. But on the other hand it may just be the type of tomato, genetics plays a large part in what size the fruits are.

  • kathyb912_in (5a/5b, Central IN)
    10 years ago

    How big are they? (There's no scale for reference, like a quarter, dime, etc.) The size of a tomato depends on the variety, and cherry tomatoes are supposed to be ... well, about as big as cherries. :) Most cherry tomatoes I've grown are about 1-2 bites each -- bigger ones can be cut in half, while smaller ones are just popped in your mouth whole. Are they much smaller than that? What variety did you plant?

    You might get slightly bigger fruit as the season goes on (if this is an early harvest), but for the most part, this is probably exactly what that variety is supposed to look like.

    Kathy

    This post was edited by kathyb912_IN on Sun, Jun 16, 13 at 22:13

  • uscjusto
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    The problem with this tomato plant was I bought it as a seedling from the nursery. It was marked as an heirloom better boy tomato plant, but obviously this is not a better boy. Lol mismarked.

    I think the plant is producing enough flowers and fruit, it's just that each tomato is small.

    So I have no idea what the tomato is actually, and what it is capable of.

  • kathyb912_in (5a/5b, Central IN)
    10 years ago

    Whoops, definitely not a Better Boy, LOL. But as cherry tomatoes go, I think yours are right on track. Hopefully they're at least tasty!

    Just so you know, cherry tomato plants often get a lot bigger than regular tomato plants, so you might need to do some extra staking as it outgrows the cage.

  • uscjusto
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Lol it has already outgrown the cage. I might just let it grow crazy or put up more stakes. I haven't decided.

  • fcivish
    10 years ago

    Some cherries range from very tiny tiny tomatoes to 'Large' cherries. You definitely have a cherry tomato that is on the smallish side. Not sure if there is anything you can do, since this is probably determined by its genetics.

  • seysonn
    10 years ago

    Well, it is called "cherry"!!. In less than perfect world some may be smaller or larger than a cherry.

  • xFozzyx
    10 years ago

    You should also stick to a single or maybe double stem plant.

    If you leave all the suckers productivity and quality goes down. Its also impossible to manage.

    & i cant really tell because of the light but some of the lower leafs look yellow/chlorotic.

  • daveinco
    10 years ago

    Given you don't know which variety you have, I'd say they look fine. How do they taste?

    I'm no expert, but the foliage on your plant looks too light-green to me. I think you may need to apply some fertilizer.

  • uscjusto
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    They taste great. Again, the plant was mismarked so I don't know exactly what I'm growing.

    I agree on the light green color of the leaves. I gave another dose of fish emulsion with kelp plus laid down some granular organic slow release tomato food.

    I chose not to prune initially so I could get max blooms and fruit. Maybe I did that and sacrificed fruit size?

  • jadie88
    10 years ago

    I think the evidence suggests pruning has only a minor effect on fruit size, unless you are dramatically pruning to nurture one or two giants for a weight competition or something.

    These guys are certainly some small variety. Isn't Matt's Wild Cherry a small type? Enjoy what you've got I guess! :)

  • edweather USDA 9a, HZ 9, Sunset 28
    10 years ago

    It's starving for food. Agree with the "needs fertilizer" diagnosis. You'll see it green-up within a week.

  • edweather USDA 9a, HZ 9, Sunset 28
    10 years ago

    deleted double post

    This post was edited by edweather on Tue, Jun 18, 13 at 14:54

  • gnbaranco
    10 years ago

    I planted one row of cherry tomato seeds last year and they eventually took over the entire garden. This year I cleaned out everything and put new dirt down and planted nothing. Then the cherry tomatoes came back with a vengeance. What should I do? It's just June and they have out grown my plot by far.

  • edweather USDA 9a, HZ 9, Sunset 28
    10 years ago

    Set-up a roadside stand and sell tomatoes:-) That's what my wife would suggest anyway :-)

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