Are you lacking growing space? Want to boost your tomato production? Or maybe you want to get creative with new gardening techniques? Whatever your fancy, cherry tomatoes are the perfect plant to help you branch out into new growing possibilities. With the following techniques, you can use your space more creatively and enjoy an abundance of tasty tomatoes!Â
Who said you had to reserve your hanging baskets for flowers? They work just as well for fruit and vegetables. Cherry tomatoes will embrace their freedom and sprawl over the sides of the basket in cascades. Typically, you’d have to work to keep the precious fruits from touching the ground, but in a basket, they’ll hang freely in the air, getting lots of circulation to their leaves, and giving easy access to pollinators. Â
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If you want to create more garden space for yourself, containers are your best friend. Tomatoes, in particular, love the extra heat they receive as the sun heats the container. Being mobile, it’s also easy to move them to the ideal spot where the fruit ripens in the bright, full sun. Remember that anything in a pot will dry out sooner than it would in the ground, so don’t forget to keep your container and hanging basket of tomatoes well-watered. As a creative alternative, you can use a self-watering pot.Â
The vine varieties of cherry tomatoes, also known as indeterminate tomatoes, naturally like to climb. Rather than setting them up in a tomato cage, let them reach even higher heights by growing them on a trellis. A trellis made of sturdy wire is ideal, as it will give them enough support. You can prune off the bottom leaves as they climb, freeing up more growing space in your garden below. It’s a win-win for you and your tomatoes.Â
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Set up a pyramid with bamboo stakes around your vining tomatoes. Train them to climb the poles and tie them up to help them along. Each pole can have a different plant, and they don’t all have to be cherry tomatoes either; you can mix in some pole beans or cucumbers in there too! Soon enough, you’ll have a garden sculpture and a practical support for your tomatoes.Â
If you’re thinking about boosting the appearance, why not boost the flavor? Companion planting creates healthier plants and more nutritious vegetables, boosting the taste. Try growing cherry tomatoes with basil, nasturtiums, onions, beans, mint, cucumber, parsley, or sage. As a general rule, if they taste good together, then they likely make good companion plants.   Â
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As the weather cools in the autumn, you can wrap your cherry tomato cages with polyethylene to extend their growing season. You can also put rabbit fencing around them and then wrap that for a greenhouse effect. During the summer, the wrapping technique is not necessary, but it can boost production on the cool days of spring or fall.
When your vining tomato is flopping over in your garden, you may wonder why these plants can’t just grow stronger stems. But far from being a curse, the vining quality gives you more possibilities. Use it to your advantage by getting creative with your tomato growing. We often treat a vegetable plot like a utilitarian space, but it can be just as beautiful as the flower bed and offer just as much fun for the gardener.Â
One starting point is to shape your tomato plants around spiral stakes. To do so, carefully wind the main stem around the stake as it grows, and secure it with twist ties, string, or cloth. The result is delicious food and a unique work of garden art.Â
For more gardening tips on growing cherry tomatoes, or to see the tomatoes we have available, visit our garden centers in Lothian, Alexandria, and Belle Haven! Â
At Greenstreet Gardens, we take pride in the fact that our number one goal is to make our customers successful.
Equipped with a diverse wealth of information and a knowledgeable staff, Â we are confident that we are able to provide all of the right tools and plant material necessary to help make your gardening ideas become reality.
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