If you live in an apartment or have a small yard, you can still grow tomatoes! Here is a list of some of the most popular dwarf tomato varieties. Some are small enough to grow indoors on the kitchen countertop!
7 Best Dwarf Tomato Plants
If you’ve been skipping home-grown tomatoes due to lack of space, there are many dwarf tomato varieties available that just might fit in your garden or in a container on your balcony. Micro tomatoes are small enough to grow indoors!
You can buy dwarf tomato seeds if you like to start from scratch. Just check your local nurseries and garden centers or buy them online from reputable seed companies. If you are ready to get growing, you can buy dwarf tomato transplants wherever you buy your vegetable starts.
“Dwarf” refers to the height of the plant, not the size of the fruit. Dwarf tomatoes are bred to come in at under 5 feet (1.5 m) tall. Look for midget, dwarf, patio, micro, or compact varieties of tomatoes. Cherry tomato fruit is small but the plants can get large. Look for dwarf cherry tomatoes such as “Tiny Tim.”
Tomatoes are either determinate or indeterminate. Determinate tomatoes produce for a certain period of time, whereas indeterminate tomatoes continue to produce till the first frost.
Counting Down The Smallest Dwarf Tomatoes
Here are seven of the best dwarf tomatoes in descending order of plant size. They are all suitable for container planting.
- Dwarf Chocolate Lightning is a determinate tomato with medium-sized fruit and a balanced, rich flavor that matures in 85 days. The fruit’s color is chocolate with green and gold stripes on a vigorous plant growing 3 to 5 feet (1 to 1.5 m) tall. Good for slicing and sandwiches.
- Uluru Ochre is an indeterminate tomato that produces medium-to-large-sized tomatoes with a sweet and sometimes smokey flavor. The color is unusual, considered black/orange but it is more of an amber-orange-green. It matures early in 65 days on 4 foot (1.2 m) tall plants.
- Dwarf Rosella Purple is an indeterminate, purple-pink tomato that is much like ‘Cherokee Purple’ in size and flavor. Matures in 75 days on 3-to-4 feet (1 to 1.2 m) tall plants that can be grown in a large container.
- Bush Early Girl is a determinate tomato with excellent flavor and good yields that grows 18 inches (46 cm) tall. The red fruits are 4 inches (10 cm) across and should be ready to harvest in 63 days. It is a good slicing tomato.
- Tiny Tim is a determinate, disease-resistant tomato that grows about 10 to 12 inches (25 to 30 cm.) tall. Red fruit is one-half inch (1.3 cm) in diameter and should be ready to harvest in 45 days. Good for snacking or is perfect for salads. Heavy producer despite its small size.
- Red Robin is a determinate, sweet, micro tomato that is small enough to grow indoors on the kitchen countertop. It is a prolific producer at only 6 to 12 inches (15 to 30 cm) tall. Red fruits measure about 1-inch (2.5 cm) in diameter. Harvest in 55 days.
- Micro Tom is a cherry-red, determinate tomato that grows 6 to 8 inches (15 to 20 cm) tall and is the smallest dwarf tomato. Even so, it is a prolific producer. Micro Tom is suitable to grow indoors with sufficient light such as under grow lights. Harvest in 85 days. Micro Tina is a newer and sweeter variety.
Here are a few more to try: Candyland Red, Cherry Cascade (good for hanging baskets), Cherry Gold, Sweet Million, Sungold, Patio Princess, Summer Sweet Gold, Hannah’s Prize.
