8+ Easy Tips for Growing Cherry Tomatoes Indoors

Cherry tomatoes are tasty garden treats with a vibrantly sweet flavor. They’re super easy to grow indoors under the right conditions. Growing cherry tomatoes indoors is a simple way to keep fresh veggies on your menu all year. Find out how to grow cherry tomatoes indoors so you can enjoy homegrown produce any time of the year.

Cherry tomatoes usually get cultivated as an annual plant, and they stop producing fruit and die back once cold weather arrives. It’s possible to extend your growing season by transplanting your cherry tomato plants into large containers and moving them inside for the winter.

However, you’ll get the best results by starting fresh tomato seedlings in early fall for your winter cherry tomato crop. Keep reading to discover indispensable advice about how to grow cherry tomatoes in containers to have a continuous supply of fresh homegrown tomatoes any time you’d like.

What to Know About Growing Cherry Tomatoes Indoors

Tomato varieties fall under two main categories. Determinate tomatoes have an upright, bushy growth habit and only grow to a specific size. Indeterminate tomatoes grow in a vining pattern and continue getting larger and producing fruit for as long as conditions are suitable.

Determinate varieties are easier to grow indoors because they’re less high-maintenance. The plants usually stay relatively small, reaching four to five feet tall. As such, they only require minimal staking. Determinate tomato plants mature quickly, and the fruit typically ripens at once.

Indeterminate tomato varieties require more consistent care. Most types of heirloom and cherry tomatoes are indeterminate. To control their sprawling growth habit, regularly pruning indeterminate cherry tomatoes grown as houseplants is critical.

How to Grow Cherry Tomatoes Indoors

Indoor-grown tomatoes must receive plenty of light and have adequate air circulation. They grow best with at least eight hours of bright light each day. When daylight hours are shorter, supplement natural sunlight with full-spectrum grow lights for optimal growth and fruit production.

Be sure to water and fertilize your tomato plants regularly. Using a container with several drainage holes at the bottom is vital to avoid problems with root rot and other fungal diseases. Catch the draining water in a large saucer underneath the pot.

Some tomato varieties will perform better than others when grown indoors. Here are some of the best cherry tomato varieties for growing in your house.

Best Varieties of Cherry Tomatoes for Growing Indoors

• Gold Nugget (determinate, heirloom, sweet flavor with low acidity, golden yellow fruits, 18-24 inches tall, 50-60 days to harvest)
• Micro-Tom (determinate, hybrid, bold flavor, tiny red fruits, 4-6 inches tall, 50-60 days to harvest)
• Red Robin (determinate, heirloom, sweetly tart flavor, bright red fruits, 8-12 inches tall, 45-55 days to harvest)
• Sungold (indeterminate, hybrid, super-sweet flavor, reddish-orange fruits, disease-resistant, 24-36 inches tall, 55-65 days to harvest)
• Sweet Million (indeterminate, hybrid, super-sweet flavor, bright red fruits, 24-36 inches tall, 55-65 days to harvest)
• Tiny Tim (determinate, heirloom, sweetly tart flavor, bright red fruits, 12-18 inches tall and wide, 45-55 days to harvest)

Choosing the Right Container

Keep your tomato plants healthy by providing them with enough space. For the best possible results, your tomato pot should be at least 12 to 18 inches deep and wide with drainage holes at the bottom. If you’re reusing nursery pots, look for a 5-gallon size or larger. Dwarf varieties like Micro-Tom and Red Robin can grow in smaller 1-gallon containers.

Overcrowding causes plants to compete for root space, nutrients, and water. This often leads to stunted growth and increases the risk of pest and disease problems. If you’re growing multiple plants in one large container, leave 12-24 inches between each plant.

How to Find the Best Location for Indoor Tomatoes

When selecting a location for your potted cherry tomato plant, temperature and light are the most critical factors. If possible, place it near a south-facing window that doesn’t have a cold draft. However, tomato plants don’t usually get enough natural daylight during short winter days. For best results, supplement with artificial light. If desired, use a timer to simulate midsummer day/night cycles.

The ideal temperature for growing cherry tomatoes is between 65-75°F. Provide sufficient airflow to minimize the risk of disease problems.

Ideal Soil and Fertilizer for Growing Cherry Tomatoes Indoors

High-quality potting soil is essential for growing healthy plants and harvesting flavorful cherry tomatoes. Your growing medium must be well-draining and contain plenty of nutrients and organic matter.

Choose a potting mix with a neutral soil pH and perlite for excess water drainage and peat moss or coconut coir for longer moisture retention. Maintain consistently moist soil, but be careful not to overwater. The soil should have a similar consistency to a wrung-out sponge.

From the time your seedlings sprout, fertilize cherry tomato plants regularly. Apply liquid fertilizer every two or three weeks. If you prefer using granular fertilizer, feed your plants every four to six weeks.

Look for a tomato fertilizer with more phosphorus and potassium than nitrogen. Phosphorus encourages strong roots and robust cell wall growth. Potassium supports flowering and fruiting processes. Nitrogen boosts green leafy growth. As such, excess nitrogen often results in more leaves and fewer tomatoes.

Yellow tomato leaves with brown, crispy edges usually indicate overwatering and/or over-fertilization. In this case, let the top several inches of soil dry out thoroughly and wait an extra week before fertilizing.

Growing Cherry Tomatoes from Seed

Fill a seedling tray, peat pots, or a cardboard egg carton with a rich potting mix. Plant your cherry tomato seeds a quarter-inch deep, then lightly cover them with soil. Place a saucer underneath to catch excess water.

During germination, keep the soil moist and warm. The ideal soil temperature for germinating tomato seeds is 75°F. Tomato seed germination usually takes five to ten days. Cover the soil with a humidity dome or plastic wrap to hold in moisture, and use a heat mat to maintain consistent warmth.

Once your seedlings sprout, move them to a sunny location like a south-facing windowsill. Keep the leaves from touching the windowpane, and ensure it isn’t drafty, so the seedlings stay warm enough. Warm air and soil promote faster growth and better flowering. If you don’t have a sunny spot available, place the tomato seedlings under a grow light.

When they’re about three inches tall and have well-developed root balls, transplant your tomato seedlings into four-inch pots. Remove the lowest leaves and bury about half of the stem when transplanting. Doing so produces a more robust root system because the buried portion of the stem will develop roots.

When you see roots emerge from the pot’s drain holes, transplant your tomato into a one-gallon pot. Allow the root ball to fill the entire pot before transplanting your cherry tomato plant into a larger container. It’s best not to increase the pot size by too much at once. Having more than one inch of soil on either side that the roots don’t touch can lead to stunted plant growth and fungal diseases.

Ideal Growing Conditions for Indoor Tomatoes

Cherry tomatoes grow best with six to eight hours of light per day. Providing supplemental light when growing cherry tomatoes in the winter helps to ensure that your plant is healthy and strong enough to produce fruit.

Plants reach toward their light source as they grow. If your cherry tomato plant is next to a window, rotate the pot a quarter-turn weekly to encourage a strong stem and upright growth. Curled tomato leaves might mean light and/or heat levels are too intense. In this case, move the plant further away from your grow light if you’re using one.

Maintaining the correct soil moisture level when growing cherry tomatoes in containers is essential. The plants often wilt and drop their flowers if they dry out too much. Drying out can also cause the fruit to crack from shrinking and then expand again once the plant rehydrates.

H​ow to Prune Cherry Tomato Plants

For the first few weeks, pinch off your cherry tomato seedling’s flowers until it reaches about two-thirds of its mature size. Doing so encourages the plant to grow larger rather than use its energy for flowering and fruiting.

Prune your indoor cherry tomato plants regularly, particularly if you’re growing indeterminate varieties. Pruning helps direct the plant’s energy toward fruiting and flowering, which results in higher yields and better flavor.

Using clean, sharp pruners, cut any sprawling branches back about a quarter-inch above where it meets the main stem. Removing the lowest branches is also beneficial, so water doesn’t splash the leaves. Trim away large leaves where they’re growing too densely to maximize air circulation. It’s best to make your cuts at a 45-degree angle so water doesn’t collect and cause rot or disease.

Remove the dead or yellowing leaves and any parts of the plant affected by disease or insects. If you notice any signs of fungus, mildew, or pests like aphids and mites, spray the plant with neem oil. If you’d like to learn more about pruning tomato plants, check out this article from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Horticulture Extension.

Growing Cherry Tomatoes in Containers

Potted tomato plants tend to dry out faster than when they’re in the garden. Covering the soil with several inches of mulch helps retain moisture. Bark chips, coconut coir, or moss are excellent mulch materials for indoor cherry tomato pots.

To avoid stem rot, keep the mulch away from the main stem. Leaving space around the stem’s base allows air circulation and prevents water from pooling.

Right after transplanting your tomato seedling into its final “home,” insert your tomato cage in the pot. Doing so later may damage the roots. Supporting the branches will help prevent breakage and encourage the plant to grow more evenly in all directions.

Pollinating and Harvesting Your Cherry Tomatoes

Tomato plants are self-pollinating, meaning that airflow transfers pollen, and they don’t need a second plant to produce fruit. When grown indoors, however, they do require a bit of assistance. To simulate the movement of a summer breeze, gently shake the flowers to spread pollen. Another option is placing a circulation fan on low near the plant. Or, use a paintbrush or cotton swab to transfer pollen between flowers.

Pick cherry tomatoes as soon as they’re ripe for the best flavor and to lessen the weight on the branches. Depending on the variety, cherry tomatoes ripen from green to red, yellow, orange, or purple.

Gardeners always look forward to the first summertime harvest of sweet, homegrown cherry tomatoes. Why not try bringing a burst of summer sunshine to your kitchen year-round? By following these easy tips for planting cherry tomatoes in containers, you can enjoy delicious fresh produce anytime you like. Growing cherry tomatoes indoors is a fun and easy way to get your gardening fix in the colder months. With the right growing conditions, your plants will produce an abundant harvest of fresh, homegrown cherry tomatoes in any season.

Do you have any questions or recommendations about growing cherry tomatoes indoors? Please share them in the comments! If you found these container gardening tips helpful, please feel free to share this post about how to grow cherry tomatoes indoors with your green-thumbed friends and family.