Sweet 100 cherry tomato

Sun

Full sun, ideally at least 6-8 hours daily; light afternoon shade can help in very hot climates.

Water

Keep the root zone evenly moist, watering deeply when the surface begins to dry. Containers may need daily watering in hot weather; avoid waterlogging and repeated drying out.

Soil

Fertile, well-drained soil enriched with compost, ideally pH 6.0-6.8. Use good-quality container compost or potting mix in pots.

Height

6-10 ft (1.8-3 m) with support; longer in an extended growing season

Spread

2-3 ft (0.6-0.9 m) when supported

Flowers

Small yellow flowers from late spring through summer and into autumn while temperatures remain suitable.

Foliage

Green, divided, softly hairy leaves with a strong tomato scent when handled.

Growth

Fast in warm weather

Care needed

Medium

• Pollinators
• Low allergen
• Edible

Northern hemisphere months. In Australia, shift them by six.

Difficulty

Moderate

Toughness

Fairly tough

Pick your zone, country, light and whether you have pets.

1. Planting day

   0.9 ft (0.29 m)

2. After 1 year

   8 ft (2.4 m)

   full size

Full size in one season.

From a typical nursery size, at an average rate for this kind of plant. A rule of thumb, not a forecast.

Cats and dogs

Toxic

Growth rate

Fast

• Plant out after frost danger has passed and nights are consistently above about 10°C (50°F); harden off indoor-raised plants first.
• Install a tall stake, strong cage or trellis at planting, then secure growing stems with soft ties.
• Water at soil level and mulch once the soil has warmed, keeping mulch clear of the stem.
• Feed with a tomato fertiliser according to its label once fruit begins to set; avoid excessive nitrogen.
• For containers, use one plant per pot holding at least 10 US gal (38 L), preferably larger, with drainage holes.

Pruning. For stake or cordon training, retain one or two main stems and pinch out unwanted side shoots regularly; caged plants can keep more stems if air can circulate. Remove yellowing lower leaves, and in short-season areas pinch out the growing tips about a month before the expected first frost.

Pick individual tomatoes when fully red, slightly yielding and easily released with a gentle twist; check plants every few days because ripe fruit can split. The first harvest often begins roughly 65-75 days after transplanting in warm conditions, with picking continuing until cold weather or disease ends the crop.

Late winter

Sow indoors about 6-8 weeks before your local planting-out date; provide warmth and strong light.

Spring

Prepare soil with compost and gradually harden off seedlings before planting.

Late spring

After frost risk has passed and nights are warm, plant out and install supports; adjust timing to your local climate.

Early summer

Mulch warm soil, tie in stems and begin tomato feeding when fruit sets.

Summer

Maintain steady watering, manage side shoots for your chosen support system and harvest ripe fruit frequently.

Autumn

Before frost, gather remaining sound fruit and remove finished plants; keep diseased material out of home compost.

• Train along the back of a sunny vegetable bed to add height without sprawling across smaller crops.
• Grow in a large patio container with a strong cage, placing fruit within easy picking reach.
• Use matching stakes or an espalier-style support in a potager for an orderly vertical crop.
• Combine with basil and low-growing flowers in an edible border, leaving space around the tomato for airflow.

Garden styles it suits: Potager (kitchen garden), Edible landscape, Cottage garden, Homestead, Family-friendly and Small-space.

Plant it with: Basil, French marigold, Sweet alyssum, Chives, Lettuce and Parsley.

Wildlife: Flowers offer pollen to bees, especially bumblebees, although tomatoes are self-fertile and do not require another plant to crop. Birds and small mammals may eat ripe fruit.

• Fruit splitting: sudden water uptake can split ripe cherries; keep watering consistent, mulch and pick promptly, especially before heavy rain.
• Late blight: rapidly spreading dark lesions and collapsing foliage are especially troublesome in cool, wet weather; improve airflow, keep foliage dry and remove affected plants promptly.
• Aphids and whiteflies: inspect leaf undersides and growing tips; dislodge small infestations with water or use a labelled insecticidal soap, avoiding flowers and hot sunshine.
• Poor fruit set: extreme heat, cold nights or poor pollination can cause flowers to drop; maintain even moisture, ventilate greenhouses and gently tap flower trusses to help release pollen.

Ripe tomato fruit is not known to be toxic to people, cats, dogs or horses in ordinary food quantities, although it may cause digestive upset in pets. Leaves, stems and unripe green fruit contain glycoalkaloids and should not be eaten or fed to animals; ingestion can cause vomiting, diarrhoea and weakness, with serious poisoning possible after substantial amounts. Contact a poison service or veterinarian if symptoms occur.

• Super Sweet 100 tomato (Solanum lycopersicum 'Super Sweet 100')

  A separate hybrid sold with improved disease resistance, but its red cherry fruit and vigorous vines look very similar; rely on a trustworthy seed packet or plant label rather than appearance.

• Sweet Million tomato (Solanum lycopersicum 'Sweet Million')

  Another indeterminate hybrid with clusters of small red tomatoes; fruit and foliage overlap too closely for dependable identification without a label.

The name Sweet 100 refers to the sweet fruit and abundant clusters, rather than guaranteeing a particular number of tomatoes.

Propagation. Raise from purchased F1 hybrid seed, sowing indoors about 6-8 weeks before planting out. Saved seed will not reliably reproduce Sweet 100; healthy side shoots can also be rooted as cuttings during the growing season.

Accepted botanical name

Solanum lycopersicum

In the US and Canada

Introduced in Alaska, Hawaii, the lower 48 states, Pacific Basin, Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands.

Native range

Peru.

Measured

Soil pH 7 to 7.5. Average height 19 cm.

Sources: GBIF (CC BY 4.0), USDA PLANTS and Trefle (CC BY 4.0). The care and design notes are LandscapeGPT's own.