Imported Cherry Color Tomato Seeds (5 Seeds)

These imported cherry tomatoes are prized for their small, bite-sized fruit and a bright, sweet flavour that is noticeably sweeter than larger slicing tomatoes. Because this is a colour mix, the cluster ripens into a cheerful blend of shades, so the same plant gives you several colours of glossy, round fruit on one vine. Their sweetness and snack-size make them ideal for popping straight off the plant, scattering through salads, roasting whole, or simply using their mixed colours to dress up a plate. As a warm-season, frost-tender tomato, it rewards a sunny spot with a long, generous run of fruit.

Planting

Start the seed indoors about 5-8 weeks before the last spring frost, and only move plants outside once frost danger has passed and the soil has warmed, since this is a warm-season, frost-tender crop. Sow about 0.6 cm deep in a sterile, soilless seed-starting mix. Kept warm at roughly 24-29 C, the seeds usually sprout in about 7-10 days, and a heat mat helps hold that temperature until the seedlings break through (a minimum of around 18 C is enough to germinate). Once true leaves appear, thin or move the seedlings to about 5 cm apart, then harden them off over roughly a week before planting out. Set the plants deep at transplanting so only the top 2-3 sets of true leaves sit above the soil, because the buried stem grows extra roots. Give them full sun, at least 6 hours of direct light a day and ideally 8-10 hours, in a warm, sheltered spot. Space the transplants about 45-90 cm apart in the row with roughly 90-150 cm between rows; vining types need the wider end of that range while bush types can sit closer.

Fertilizing

At transplanting, use a starter fertiliser with an NPK ratio under 10, and go easy on nitrogen, because too much produces leafy plants that are slow to set fruit. Side-dress with nitrogen once the first fruits begin to enlarge, or about 3-4 weeks after planting, using a nitrogen and calcium source such as calcium nitrate (15.5-0-0). If you are growing in containers, feed every 10-14 days with a high-potassium liquid feed once the first fruits start to swell.

Care

Keep the moisture steady and even, aiming for about 2.5 cm of water per week from rain and irrigation combined, and avoid swinging between wet and dry, since that uneven watering causes fruit splitting and blossom-end rot. In hot weather, container plants may need watering every day. Watch for common pests such as tomato hornworms, aphids, flea beetles, cutworms, Colorado potato beetles and whitefly, along with diseases like early blight, late blight, Septoria leaf spot, bacterial spot, tomato viruses and grey mould; the disorders blossom-end rot (linked to calcium and uneven water) and fruit splitting can also appear. Harvest when the fruit reaches full size and the colour begins to change or is fully coloured for the variety, leaving the stalk attached for the best flavour; the first ripe fruit usually comes about 52-90 days after transplanting depending on the cultivar, and any green fruit can be ripened indoors at about 21 C.

Best time to plant in Egypt

Tomato is a warm-season, frost-tender crop that germinates best at roughly 18-29 C and is killed by frost. Egypt's mild winters and hot summers open several planting windows. The main summer crop is sown or transplanted in late winter to early spring, roughly February-March once frost risk passes; this is the highest-production window and uses warming spring temperatures for fruit set before peak heat. In the cooler Nile Delta and around Cairo, wait until February-March, since earlier transplanting risks frost injury. An autumn or winter crop is transplanted around October-November, which suits warmer Upper Egypt where mild winters let the crop continue, with some warm-region planting also in January-February. A mid-summer planting (July-August) is done commercially for winter markets but suffers high-temperature injury and poor fruit set above about 32-35 C, so it is the hardest window for a home grower and is best avoided or protected. As a practical rule, in the Delta prioritise a February-March transplant (start seed indoors about 5-6 weeks earlier, in December-January) plus a secondary September-October planting; in hotter Upper Egypt, shift toward autumn (October-November) and late-winter (January-February) plantings to dodge the extreme summer heat while making the most of the mild winter.