Plant Care Library

Group/Class:  Cherry/Grape-Determinate

Description:

A beautiful compact variety ideal for patio containers, hanging baskets and small gardens; produces a prolific yield of small, bright red cherry tomatoes; mild and sweet, great for children to snack on, salads or dried

Edible Qualities

Patio Choice Red Tomato is an annual vegetable plant that is typically grown for its edible qualities. It produces small yellow round tomatoes (which are technically 'berries') with yellow flesh which are usually ready for picking from mid summer to early fall. This is a determinate variety, which means it bears a full crop all at once. The tomatoes have a mild taste and a firm texture.

The tomatoes are most often used in the following ways:

• Fresh Eating
• Eating When Cooked/Prepared
• Cooking
• Baking
• Pickling

Planting & Growing

Patio Choice Red Tomato will grow to be about 18 inches tall at maturity, with a spread of 20 inches. When planted in rows, individual plants should be spaced approximately 12 inches apart. This fast-growing vegetable plant is an annual, which means that it will grow for one season in your garden and then die after producing a crop.

This plant can be difficult to integrate into a landscape or flower garden, and is best grown in a designated vegetable garden. It should only be grown in full sunlight. It does best in average to evenly moist conditions, but will not tolerate standing water. It is not particular as to soil pH, but grows best in rich soils. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. Consider applying a thick mulch around the root zone over the growing season to conserve soil moisture. This is a selected variety of a species not originally from North America.

Patio Choice Red Tomato is a good choice for the vegetable garden, but it is also well-suited for use in outdoor containers and hanging baskets. It is often used as a 'filler' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination, providing the canvas against which the larger thriller plants stand out. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.