Tiny Tomatoes

Early spring is a great time to think about planting tomatoes. Many of us have memories of abundant tomato bushes sprawling around wooden stakes in our grandparent’s garden. The wonderful smell as the leaves of a tomato plant are brushed against evokes such images, as well as the amazing taste and texture of tucking into a fully vine-ripened tomato. It is rare to find this sight now in suburban backyards as most of us do not have the time or space to have a traditional vegetable plot with its neatly regimented raised beds. There is also the issue of pests and diseases that can reduce the best-laid tomato plant to ruin.

Do not despair if you want to bring a little touch of tomato magic into your garden, as there is a simple and easy answer – tiny tomatoes. As well as being more compact plants that can be more easily grown in pots, varieties with smaller fruit are far less prone to the pest and disease problems that make it a chore to grow the large fruited types.

The simplest option for getting started is to purchase a seedling plant either as part of a group in a punnet or as a somewhat larger plant in an individual container. Various varieties of tiny tomatoes are available in Australian nurseries, with some to watch out for being ‘Cherry Ripe’, ‘Sweetie’, ‘Tiny Tim’ and ‘Small Fry’. All bear abundant fruit and one plant will yield enough to keep a couple supplied with fruit throughout late spring, summer and autumn.

A handy tip to enhance your production is to prune the lateral shoots (the ones that arise from the main stem where a leaf joins it) from the plant and stick those into a separate pot as a cutting. Simply put the cutting(s) into a sheltered position where the pot will receive filtered light and usually it will strike roots within a couple of weeks giving you a new plant that will extend your tomato harvest even further.

A fun activity for kids is to raise a tomato plant from seed and then follow its progress through to munching on the finished product. It will normally require an adult to keep an eye on the plant as young gardeners may forget the water occasionally. Seed packets can be purchased or even better, harvest your own seed from some tiny tomatoes by squeezing them out onto some tissue paper. Spread them out evenly so there is a centimetre between seeds and then fold the tissue over to cover the seed. Then simply lay the tissue over some potting mix and just cover it with more potting mix and water it gently, After a couple of weeks seedlings should emerge which can be transplanted into individual pots when they are large enough to handle.

Tomatoes are very rapid growers and as such require plenty of feeding as well as a reasonably well-drained soil. If you are growing them in the ground dig in a 5-10cm layer of well-rotted animal manure or compost. Otherwise pot culture is a perfect option and for best results choose a potting mix that conforms to the premium Australian standard, as this will have the extra fertiliser that tomatoes require to thrive. For best results it is desirable to liquid fertilise your plant every couple of weeks with a product such as Powerfeed™ or Aquasol™. Another excellent way to give your plants a regular and gentle feed is by saving the water that is left over after boiling vegetables in the kitchen. The slightly green tinge it carries indicates a lovely mild dose of nutrients that have leached out during the boiling process (this water can be used on any plants in your garden that need a pep up in fact).

Tomatoes grow through the warmer months of the year and will not withstand frost so make sure you allow for this in colder climates when deciding when to plant. Starting plants off in a pot grown against a sunny wall will not only minimise any chance of frost, but the radiant heat at night-time will give your new planting an extra kick along. Once all danger of frost has passed it can be either transplanted into a larger container again or into a final position in the garden. Do not be afraid of pruning your tomato plant if it starts to become too rampant as cutting the plant back will cause it to branch out and produce more branches.

A final tip is to let the tomatoes ripen fully on the vine to develop their best flavour and pick them just before you are ready to eat them. Remember that the greatest advantage of tiny tomatoes is that they do not generally require any pesticides and so you can enjoy them even more knowing that they are completely poison free.

Further reading

• Growing your own food (quick guide)
• Tomatoes
• Chilli peppers
• Vegetables from seed

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