There is something uniquely gratifying about cultivating your garden, mainly when it involves growing your food. Among the variety of vegetables that amateur and professional gardeners enjoy growing, tomatoes – specifically, cherry tomatoes – are a popular choice. These bite-sized fruits not only add a burst of flavor and color to your meals but also bring a certain charm to your garden.
Cherry tomatoes come in a dazzling array of colors, sizes, and, most importantly, flavors. The sweetness of a cherry tomato can transform a simple salad into a gourmet delight, make a pizza pop with flavor, and even serve as a delicious snack right off the vine. This guide presents you with the 15 sweetest cherry tomato varieties you can grow in your garden, ranging from heirloom varieties to modern hybrids. Each of these cherry tomatoes has been selected for its exceptional sweetness and flavor, and all are well-suited to home gardens.
Whether you’re a seasoned gardener or a beginner looking to cultivate your first tomato plants, this list of sweet cherry tomatoes will help you choose the perfect variety for your garden.
Let’s explore these sweet delights that can make your home garden a true tomato haven!
Factors to Consider When Choosing Cherry Tomatoes
When you’re selecting the perfect cherry tomatoes to grow in your garden, several factors can influence your decision. Let’s explore some key considerations that can help you choose the right variety for your specific needs.
Flavor Profile
The flavor profile is arguably the most essential factor to consider. While this guide focuses on the sweetest cherry tomatoes, it’s worth noting that sweetness isn’t the only flavor characteristic of a tomato. Some varieties offer a balance of sweet and tangy flavors, while others might have a complex taste with smoky, fruity, or even spicy undertones. It’s important to choose a variety that matches your taste preferences and culinary needs.
Growth Characteristics
Different varieties of cherry tomatoes have different growth habits. Some are “determinate,” which means they grow to a specific size, produce all their fruit at once, and then stop growing. This type is ideal for those with limited space, such as patio or balcony gardens. On the other hand, “indeterminate” varieties keep growing and producing fruit throughout the growing season until killed by frost. They often require more space and support but can yield a larger harvest over a longer period.
Disease Resistance
Tomatoes can be susceptible to a variety of diseases and pests. Some varieties, however, have been bred to resist specific common tomato ailments like blight, fusarium wilt, or tobacco mosaic virus. If you’ve struggled with tomato diseases in your garden in the past, choosing a variety with built-in disease resistance can save you a lot of trouble.
Climate and Growing Season
Tomatoes are heat-loving plants, but different varieties have different heat tolerances and growing season lengths. Some varieties, like the ‘Power Pops,’ mature quickly and are great for areas with shorter summer seasons. Others require a longer growing season to fully develop their flavors. It’s essential to choose a variety suitable for your local climate and the length of your growing season.
Use in Your Kitchen
Think about how you plan to use your tomatoes. If you enjoy fresh salads, consider varieties that hold their shape well when sliced. If you’re a fan of grilled vegetables, look for meaty varieties that won’t fall apart on the grill. Some tomatoes are perfect for snacking straight from the vine, while others excel in salsas, pasta, or pizza.
Considering these factors, you can select the cherry tomato varieties that will thrive in your garden and cater to your culinary preferences. Let’s move on to our list of the 15 sweetest cherry tomatoes you can grow in your garden!
Detailed Description of Each Variety
1. Black Cherry
If you’re looking for an heirloom variety with a complex, sweet flavor and firm texture, ‘Black Cherry’ is an excellent choice. This cherry tomato variety has one-inch fruits that ripen to a deep mahogany brown and are produced consistently throughout the hot summer. The plants grow to approximately 60 inches and mature in 64 days. Besides being delicious and exotic, they’re also naturally disease-resistant, an excellent advantage for gardeners.
2. Sweetheart of the Patio
‘Sweetheart of the Patio’ is a compact but vigorous variety that ripens abundant fruit clusters in 68 days. It grows 24 to 36 inches tall and is tolerant of late blight. This variety is particularly well-suited for container growing in patios, hanging baskets, or directly in the garden, making it a versatile option for various garden setups.
3. Tiny Tim
‘Tiny Tim’ is an early-maturing heirloom variety that produces many deep red, four-ounce fruits. The compact plants grow to a mature height of 12 to 16 inches, making it ideal for container growing on the patio or in hanging baskets. This variety tolerates a little shade and its fruit matures in just 55 to 60 days, making it perfect for those looking for an early harvest.
4. Black Pearl
‘Black Pearl’ cherry tomatoes have a beautifully rich, deep mahogany color, and its heirloom heritage as a hybrid cross of ‘Black Cherry’ provides a delightful, complex flavor – sweet with a rich, tangy bite. The plants grow to 60 inches and require cages or stakes for support. The fruits are tasty for snacking and mature in 65 days.
5. Green Envy
The hybrid ‘Green Envy’ offers sweet, juicy fruits that ripen to a deep, translucent emerald green. The plants produce continuously until fall and grow 63 to 67 inches. The firm and meaty tomatoes are well suited to grilling or roasting and add a light, fresh flavor to salads and salsas. They mature in 60 to 70 days.
6. Italian Ice
‘Italian Ice’ is a prolific hybrid plant with large clusters of one-inch fruits in a soft, creamy yellow hue. This variety is sugary sweet with a mild, low-acid taste, making it an excellent option for those who prefer a less tangy tomato.
Delicious chilled for a cooling salad or snack, the fruits pair well with pasta or can be made into a mild green relish. The plants grow 60 to 72 inches, and fruits can be harvested in 65 days.
7. Midnight Snack
‘Midnight Snack’ is one of the tastiest purple tomatoes. The fruit features dramatic purple-black shoulders with an olive-purple underside when grown in full sun. The deep coloring comes from the presence of anthocyanin pigments – healthy antioxidants that make for a tasty, guilt-free snack.
The high-yielding hybrid plants produce one-and-a-half-inch fruits with a pronounced, balanced taste and meaty texture that are ideal for salads and the grill. The vines grow 72 to 84 inches and fruit can be harvested in 65 to 70 days.
8. Mirabelle Blanche
‘Mirabelle Blanche’ is known for its stunning one-inch globes that ripen to a translucent pale yellow with a blush of pink. Growing in substantial clusters, these tomatoes offer a unique sweet flavor punctuated by a pleasing acidic bite.
Their versatile taste profile makes them excellent for dehydrating, grilling, or adding a fresh component to salads. You can successfully store their seeds for future propagation as an open-pollinated heirloom variety. These plants typically reach 40 to 48 inches and mature for 75 to 80 days.
9. Orange Sunsugar
The ‘Orange Sunsugar’ lives up to its name by bearing orange one-inch fruits that sparkle like mini setting suns. Counted among the sweetest cherries available, these tomatoes are tasty and rich in vitamin A.
Their thin skin yet excellent crack resistance are notable characteristics. The robust hybrid vines can grow up to 84 to 108 inches and require caging for support. The fruits mature in 62 days.
10. Power Pops
If you want an early harvest, ‘Power Pops’ is your go-to variety. It produces bright red one-inch fruits that ripen two weeks earlier than other cherry types. As part of Burpee’s Boost Collection, these tomatoes are bred for their higher antioxidant content, boasting 40 percent more carotenoids and 55 percent more lycopene than your typical commercial tomato.
Despite growing only 9 to 12 inches high, this hybrid cultivar has a cascading habit making it perfect for patio pots and hanging baskets. Expect a short 45-day wait until the fruits ripen.
11. Sunchocola
The ‘Sunchocola’ is a hybrid variety that charms with its deep brick red one-inch fruits. The taste is a full-bodied blend of smoky and sweet flavors, making every bite a delight. This variety is also known for its productivity, setting large clusters of fruit throughout the summer.
12. Baby Boomer
Get ready for an impressive harvest from the ‘Baby Boomer’ tomato plant, a variety that remains productive until the frost finally claims it.
This small but mighty plant promises an extraordinary yield, generating an impressive count of around 300 vibrant, one-inch tomatoes throughout its growing season.
This high-yielding hybrid boasts fruits with a rich, sweet flavor, making them the perfect choice for both fresh snacking and grilling.
Expect ‘Baby Boomer’ to start bearing fruit within a swift 50 to 55 days, with the plants reaching a moderate height of 20 to 25 inches.
13. Sungold
Counted among the most beloved cherry tomatoes, the hybrid ‘Sungold’ features tangerine-orange fruits with a robust texture. These fruits grow in substantial clusters on highly productive vines that continue to yield until the arrival of fall.
Each one-inch globe of ‘Sungold’ carries a uniquely delightful, sweet tropical flavor.
These tomatoes are a delight to eat fresh off the vine, make an excellent addition to salads, and are perfect for grilling. They will ripen in just 57 days.
The plants reach a height of 48 to 60 inches and resist fusarium wilt, nematodes, tobacco mosaic virus, and verticillium wilt. To accommodate their vertical growth, a cage or stakes are recommended.
14. Yellow Pear
A cherished heirloom variety, ‘Yellow Pear’ is notable for its high productivity and the distinctive one to two-inch bright yellow fruits it produces.
The fruits, shaped like miniature pears, boast a gentle, sweet flavor and are plentiful throughout the summertime.
These fruits take approximately 80 days to ripen and are a treat whether eaten fresh, grilled, or transformed into preserves. The vines can stretch up to 90 inches and necessitate cages or stakes for adequate support.
15. Supersweet 100
Rich in flavor and offering a long harvest season, ‘Supersweet 100’ yields extensive, weighty clusters of bright red one-inch fruits from summer into autumn.
Perfect for grilling, salsa, salads, and snacking, this bountiful plant can tower between 90 to 144 inches and demands robust caging—vines will ascend, crest over the top, and descend back down the other side.
This hybrid is resilient against fusarium wilt, nematodes, and verticillium wilt. The fruits mature in about 65 days and are versatile, suitable for drying, snacking, salads, and even juicing.
Final words
In conclusion, the array of cherry tomatoes available for home gardeners to grow is as diverse as it is vibrant.
From the bright red fruits of the ‘Power Pops’, which mature earlier than most cherry tomatoes, to the unique pear-shaped fruits of the heirloom ‘Yellow Pear’, there’s a cherry tomato variety to suit every palate and garden condition.
Whether you’re after the unique taste and color of the ‘Black Cherry’ and ‘Black Pearl’, the high vitamin A content of ‘Orange Sunsugar’, or the compact nature of ‘Sweetheart of the Patio’ and ‘Tiny Tim’ ideal for small spaces, the choice is abundant. The ‘Italian Ice’ offers a mild, low-acid taste, while the ‘Sunchocola’ provides a deep brick red fruit with a smoky sweet flavor.
Many of these varieties are resilient to common diseases such as fusarium wilt, tobacco mosaic virus, and verticillium wilt. So, whether you’re a seasoned gardener or a beginner, a cherry tomato variety is ready to thrive in your garden and offer a delicious and bountiful harvest.