Gardeners Delight

Gardeners Delight Tomatoes

A true classic and still one of the best cherry tomatoes you can grow! Gardeners Delight earns its name with long, heavily packed trusses of sweet, tangy, bite-sized fruits that burst with flavour. It’s incredibly reliable, super productive, and tastes a million times better than anything from a supermarket. If you love snacking straight from the vine, this is the tomato for you!

Best Time to Plant

• Greenhouse: April
• Outdoors: 3rd week of May, after all frost risk has passed
If young plants catch a late frost, leaves may turn blue — they usually recover unless the main stem collapses.

Harvest

Around 8 weeks after planting, once fruits are red, shiny, and fully swollen.

Growing Instructions

• Planting: Space 45cm apart in well-drained soil, a large pot, or growbag in a greenhouse.
• Hardening Off: If greenhouse-free, grow indoors until frost risk passes, then acclimatise outdoors over 4–6 days.
• Watering: Keep moisture levels steady — cherry tomatoes respond quickly to inconsistent watering.
• Training:
– Train plants clockwise up a 6ft string or cane.
– Pinch out all side shoots to keep the plant productive.
– When the plant reaches the top, loop it over and let it grow down while still removing shoots.
• Feeding: Only start feeding when 3–4 tomatoes per truss begin to swell.
• Maintenance: Remove yellowing or dead leaves. Pinch out the growing tip in mid-August to help remaining fruits ripen.

Top Tips

• Consistent Watering: Prevents split skins and keeps fruit sweet and juicy.
• No Manure: Avoid farmyard manure — it may contain herbicides harmful to tomatoes.
• Pick Often: Regular harvesting keeps trusses producing longer.
• Sweetest Flavour: Let fruits fully ripen on the vine — they taste incredible warm from the sun.