8 Tips For Growing Grape Tomatoes

Discover eight delightful tips to encourage a bumper crop of grape tomatoes so you can enjoy a scrumptious bite-size harvest from your garden.

grape tomatoes

Grape tomatoes are a fantastic type of tomato to cultivate at home. They are tiny fruits that resemble cherry tomatoes because of their small size. However, they generally pack more flavor and are less watery tasting. They’re an excellent addition to fresh summer salads and pizzas, or you can even freeze your tomatoes for later.

Whether you love to cook with fresh ingredients, you’re expanding your container garden, or you are looking to store some fresh produce for winter, grape tomatoes are a superb choice. Learn eight tips for growing grape tomatoes, so you can cultivate a plentiful harvest to share with friends and family!

1. Consider Cultivars
Grape tomatoes growing on a plant

Before you hop in the garden with seed packets in hand, first you need to decide what tomatoes you want to plant. There are a number of excellent grape tomato cultivars to consider.

‘Gabrielle’ tomatoes have a bright ruby shade and sweet taste, weighing up to 3 ½ ounces.
‘Mini Charm’ grape tomatoes are tiny and sweet with a crimson hue and weigh about ¼ ounce.

‘Green Grape’ is a flavorful, sweet cultivar that stays green when ripe and weighs up to 2 ounces.

Although they look similar, grape tomatoes and cherry tomatoes are different. Grape tomatoes are typically more oval and look like grapes, while cherry tomatoes are round resembling the shape of a cherry. Grape tomatoes also usually have thicker skin, are less watery, and smaller.

2. Plant When It’s Warm and Sunny
Green grape tomatoes on multiple tomato plants

Tomato plants enjoy the heat and grape tomatoes are no exception. As a general guideline, wait until temperatures are in the range of 70 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit during the day and 60 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit overnight before you start planting. Tomatoes also need plenty of sunlight, so pick a location in your garden that gets six hours of full sun each day.

Some cultivars may have different growing requirements, so it’s always best practice to check your seed packet for specific cultivar information first.

3. Switch It Up With Containers
red cherry tomatoes hanging in a wicker basket inside a greenhouse

Growing tomatoes in hanging baskets or containers is an excellent way to expand your gardening space. Instead of taking up room in your vegetable garden, you can plant grape tomato seeds in pots or containers that at least 1 foot across and deep.

Fill your container with a potting mix blend that has a pH of 6.0 to 6.8 and contains equal portions of soil, perlite, and peat moss. Lastly, sow seeds of container-friendly varieties like ‘Green Grape,’ ¼ inch deep. Then, irrigate until water drips out the container or basket’s drainage holes, whenever the top 1 inch of the potting soil feels dry.

A top benefit of cultivating in containers is that you can grow tomatoes indoors. Encourage healthy tomato plants indoors by placing them in a sunny room or place growing lights 4 inches away from your pots and keep them on for 16 hours each day.

4. Irrigate Tomato Plants in the Garden
Watering tomato

If you grow grape tomatoes in your garden they need water just like your containers or hanging baskets. As a general rule, tomato plants in your garden need 1 inch of water every week. So if rain isn’t going to provide enough water it’s time to take out your watering can and irrigate the soil. Your tomato plants need water whenever the soil feels dry to the touch 3 to 4 inches down.

5. Don’t Forget to Fertilize
fertilize tomatoes

Fertilizing your grape tomato plants encourages them to produce scrumptious fruit. Amend the soil with fertilizer before you start cultivating. Apply 1 to 2 pounds of 10-10-10 fertilizer for every 100 square feet of your garden. Then, about a month after you transplant them, fertilize your tomatoes again. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of your 10-10-10 fertilizer to 1 gallon of water then irrigate the soil.

Make sure to follow package guidelines for fertilizing your grape tomato plants. Excessively fertilizing tomatoes encourages the plants to produce extra leaves instead of delicious tomato fruits and can prompt foliage to yellow or even fall off.

6. Prune Suckers

Pruning suckers encourages your plant to focus on growing and ripening your grape tomatoes instead of producing excessive foliage. Suckers look like miniature stems with foliage. You can spot them in between the main stems and branches. Typically, they grow between a ‘Y-shape’ on the plant. Remove the suckers by using your fingertips to pinch off the small green shoot at the base of the ‘Y’ or use a sharp pair of scissors.

7. Enjoy Your Harvest
Gardener picking a grape tomato from a plant

Don’t let their size deceive you, just because they are tiny doesn’t mean you’ll have a small harvest. About 65 to 70 days after you plant grape tomato seeds, you can look forward to delicious clusters of fruit. When the fruit is ripe, simply pick it with your fingertips to enjoy your harvest. Each cluster of grape tomatoes can produce up to 30 to 40 fruits, depending on the cultivar. So you’ll have plenty to share with friends and family!

8. Eat Fresh or Freeze Them
Bowl of grape tomatoes on a counter

You can eat your ripe grape tomatoes right away to enjoy a wonderful bite-size harvest or store them! To store whole tomatoes, gently wash and dry your produce and remove any foliage or stems.

Then get out a baking sheet and lay them all flat, and set them in the freezer until they freeze (about two to four hours). Place the frozen tomatoes in a freezer bag or container and store them until you are ready to use them. They will keep for about six months to a year.

Grow Gorgeous Grape Tomatoes

Grape tomatoes are delicious bite-size vegetables that you can cultivate in your garden or containers! They produce small tomatoes that are easy to pop in salads or even freeze whole. For best results, cultivate your grape tomatoes in full sun, warm temperatures, and provide a balanced 10-10-10 fertilizer. A few months after sowing seeds, you can enjoy your stunning harvest!

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