The Demo Garden Blog

I alluded to this in a brief post last week, but there are a lot of interesting, new hanging basket tomato varieties out there. So many, in fact, that we may have to try some of them out next summer. Here are the varieties that I’ve seen in catalogs so far (and it isn’t even 2012 yet!).

Tomatoes for hanging baskets are almost always some type of cherry/grape tomato, and the plants usually have some type of dwarfing characteristic that makes them perform well in a hanging basket. The “trailing” characteristic is also touted widely, but I’m not sure how much that is breeding versus the natural habit of the tomato vine.

Most of these varieties are available from more than one catalog, so you don’t have to buy them from any particular one.

Tomatoes for Hanging Baskets/Containers

• Cherry Falls (red cherry) – Grows only 6″ tall, but cascades for 36″ of vines. Indeterminate.
• Red Rambling Stripe (red with green stripes cherry) – trailing, 14″ tall and 36″ vining; high yields
• Gold Rambling Stripe (gold with green stripes, cherry) – trailing, 14″ tall and 36″ vining; high yields
• Little Sun (yellow cherry) – 10″ tall and 14″ wide; dwarf determinate, not trailing; early (50 days)
• Lizzano (red cherry) – 2011 All America Selections Winner; semi-determinate; disease resistant; trailing 20″ long and 20″ wide; yields late into the season
• Terenzo (red cherry) – 2011 All America Selections Winner; compact determinate, 16″ tall and 20″ trailing; crack resistant; yields all season
• Sweet ‘N Neat Scarlet Improved (red cherry) – 10-12″ tall; compact determinate; very high sugar content

Also of interest, but more for a larger container than for a hanging basket would be the Container’s Choice Red tomato which is a 6-8 oz beefsteak tomato that is a compact determinate.

I can’t believe I’m talking about tomatoes again only 2 months after we gave up and pulled our tomatoes out after this horrible summer!