Dwarf Johnson's Cherry Tomato
Price: $3.95
SKU: 3404991'Dwarf Johnson's Cherry' got its start when Craig LeHoullier crossed 'Rosella Crimson' with 'Everglades', thus creating the "Zelly" family. Susan Oliverson did the selection and naming, as well as all development work, with Bill Minkey growing out the first distribution for the Dwarf Tomato Project. It was introduced by the Victory Seed Company for the 2021 gardening season. The variety is mostly stable, but it occasionally produces slightly larger, ribbed fruit on perhaps 1% of the plants grown. We are continuing to stabilize this variety with each generation we grow.
Fruit Color: Pink
Fruit Color: Purple
Special Groups: Container Friendly
Special Groups: Dwarf Tomato Project
Harvest Timing: Early/Short Season
Full light and cooler temps (60° to 70°) will help to prevent the seedlings from becoming too leggy. If plants become rootbound before you can safely set them into the ground, transplant them into larger pots.
Harden off plants before planting outside. Young plants are very susceptible to frost and sunburn damage. Avoid too much nitrogen. Water evenly but not in excess.
Click here to view our full tomato growing guide.
Customer Reviews:
By Ben (Sandy Springs, GA) on October 7, 2024
The one plant grown in ground to about 4' and needed support. Heavy producer of one inch red tomatoes with good, heirloom flavor (hint of tartness). As with four other dwarfs grown for the first time, they started slower than regular heirlooms but produced longer. Will recommend it as a good alternative for those who want an heirloom cherry but don't have the space. Will be sharing seedlings with friends interested is trying a dwarf red cherry. A fifth star is for tasted equal to a Cherokee Purple.
By Dinah (Harmony, NC) on June 27, 2024
This is a keeper for me just a classic old fashioned taste. These plants just held up and kept blooming and setting fruit during a heat wave 100 + degrees for a week no problems at all. I love them!
By Barbara Peterson (Illinois Zone 5b) on October 22, 2023
Dwarf Johnson's Cherry has been an easy to grow dwarf that has high yields of ping pong ball size full flavor orange fruit. It's pretty disease resistant and I've grown it in a 15-20 gallon Smartpot. It's still producing fruit in October and I'm going to bring it in to grow under LED lights. I'm going to take cuttings and grow these hydroponically too so I'll have fresh, good tasting tomatoes during the winter and spring.
Wonderful addition to the Dwarf Tomato Project!
By Christiana Mayfield on July 12, 2022
Mid-summer in South Carolina, any most other dwarf tomato varieties have reached the end of their viability. Not these, they still have mostly healthy foliage and are still productive. Theyre also a little taller than 5' now. The flavor and texture is good, but not quite what we look for in a cherry tomato. They dont have much pop or zing when you bite into them. Still good enough that well try them again next year.
By Marisa Martin on September 14, 2021
These have a flavor I associate with larger heirloom varieties. Theyre not super sweet like a lot of cherry tomatoes. They have a full, rich flavor with enough acid to assure you youre eating a tomato. Im getting some 1 oz fruits, but most are in the 1/4 - 1/2 oz range. They are pink. The texture gets a little mealy if you wait for them to darken to a more red color, so eat them while theyre pink. Most of the fruits are round, but Ive gotten a few with the fun irregularities of a beefsteak. My plants are about 4 ft tall and very sprawling in raised beds. Maybe the plants would be smaller if grown in containers, but I wouldnt necessarily say theyre good for small spaces. Other than a weekly watering and tying them up when they go through another growth spurt, these have been very low maintenance plants. Ive been picking regularly, and theyre still loaded with fruit. I will definitely grow these again.
