How to Make Cherry Tomato Plants More Productive

Select a planting location for cherry tomato plants with full sun and well-drained soil. Start preparing the soil in the spring after the last chance of frost has passed.

Add a 3-inch layer of organic matter, such as compost, aged manure, leaf mold or peat moss. Add 1 pound per 100 square feet of a fertilizer, such as 6-24-24 and 8-32-16, or 2 pounds per 100 square feet when using a fertilizer with a ratio of 5-10-10 or 5-10-5. Mix the organic matter and fertilizer into the top 6 inches of the soil in the planting bed using a mechanized tiller or hand garden tools.

Purchase 8- to 10-inch tall, hefty-stemmed, dark green cherry tomato plants. Choose a disease-resistant variety, such as Super Sweet 100, Sweet Million and Mountain Belle. Choose determinate varieties if you want to harvest most of the cherry tomatoes at the same time, or select indeterminate varieties for a long continuous harvest period.

Plant the cherry tomato transplants deep enough to bury all but the top two sets of leaves. Roots will form along the lower portion of the plant’s stem. Space the plants 24 to 36 inches apart in rows spaced 4 to 5 feet apart. Fertilize each plant with a water-soluble starter fertilizer.

Install individual tomato cages around determinate cherry tomato plants that typically only grow 3 to 4 feet tall, or install trellises for indeterminate varieties that continue to grow beyond 6 feet. Bury 8-foot-long steel stakes 18 inches deep every 4 feet along the row and then attach wires that are spaced 12 inches apart going up the stakes. Tie the plants to the wires as they grow taller.

Water the cherry tomato plants well at planting and continue to supply 1 to 2 inches of water weekly to them through supplemental watering in the absence of rainfall. Add a 2- to 4-inch layer of mulch around the base of each plant to deter weeds and retain moisture.

Side-dress the cherry tomato plants when the first fruits appear with 1 tablespoon of ammonium nitrate per plant, or 3 pounds of 10-10-10 per 100 feet. Mix this into the top inch of soil and water well. Repeat this application three and six weeks later.

Prune indeterminate cherry tomato plants controlling size and shape, if needed. Remove shoots emerging between stems or from the base of the plants making the plants more productive. Trim off the tops of plants, preventing them from becoming overly tall. Most determinate plants don’t require pruning.

Harvest the cherry tomatoes every day or two as they ripen on the vines.