Have you ever tried growing cherry tomatoes in a hanging basket before? If not, I'm here to tell you to try it!
So let's get into why you should, and also how to grow cherry tomatoes in hanging baskets.
Why Grow Tomatoes in a Hanging Basket
![Tumbling Toms in a Hanging Basket]](https://patientgardener.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Tumbling-Toms-in-a-Hanging-Basket.jpg)
Hanging baskets give you a new spot to grow tomatoes, leaving bed space free for regular tomatoes or other crops.
A few varieties of cherry tomatoes have also been bred and selected just for growing in hanging baskets.
Varieties like tumbling tom will spill over the edges of your basket, and both look great and provide a huge bounty.
Varieties To Grow
Tumbling tom is the classic hanging basket tomato and is well worth growing, but many others work well too.
Hundreds and thousands is another great basket tomato.
Other notable cherry tomatoes that are great in baskets are:
- Cherry falls
- Lizzano F1
Planting Up The Basket
So how do you go about planting up a cherry tomato hanging basket?
To start with, you want one that will hold moisture well.
A plastic hanging basket with a solid bottom is an excellent place to start.
If you want to use a coir basket, then add a lining of plastic to it. Some cut-up plastic from an old compost bag works well.
This is because tomatoes are very thirsty, and when you water a coir basket without a lining, a lot of your water drips through and is lost.
- Step 1 - Fill halfway with multi-purpose potting compost.
- Add some slow-release fertiliser.
- Plant the tomato in the centre of the basket, only one plant per basket.
Feeding
Tomatoes are hungry beasts, and cherry tomatoes are no different.
They will require regular feeding when in a hanging basket because they will deplete the limited nutrition in the soil quickly.
A good idea is to add a slow-release fertiliser to your compost mix as a first step.
- Use Fish, Blood and Bone to provide your plants with a natural food source that feeds plants nutrients slowly
- Fish, Blood and Bone can be used to feed flowers, fruit, trees, shrubs and vegetables
- Apply fish, blood and bone every 4 -6 weeks to sustain good soil fertility
- Fish Blood and Bone has an NPK fertiliser of 3 - 9 - 3
Ongoing feeding
You can keep renewing the fish blood and bone every four weeks by mixing more into the soil.
When flowers appear, you want to use a tomato fertiliser to maximise your harvest.
Stuart Jackson says
Great seeing this as I've just sown some red cherry hanging basket seeds today .
Now just bought x2 of the plastic hanging baskets , I will follow this tip & see what happens .
Thanks hopefully I'll be showing picture of my crop later in the summer 🍅🍅
Daniel says
Fingers crossed for you!
Decking Uk says
I purchased a basket with a reservoir below (as used by councils for displays). From a Derby based company, worth the extra paid as you have 4-5 days of water available to prevent watering problems. My only word of caution, basket +compost + water + plant = very heavy, strong bracket required.
Mary says
I've just come across this page, while looking for hanging basket+tomato ideas. I'm going to follow your tips and hang the baskets in my indoor garden room! Great site.
Daniel says
thank you!
Aileen says
Can you please advise how much of the watered down liquid fertiliser I should add to each basket as I’m never sure whether I’m feeding the plants enough or too little
Daniel says
I give them a good soak (a little more than you would if you were just watering) and then move onto the next one