Picked dwarf cherry tomatoes over full-size ones on my 4th floor balcony, and now I'm swimming in fruit
Back in 2021 I had a big cherry tomato plant on my balcony in Chicago and it got so tall it blocked the whole sliding door, so when I started over this spring I had to pick between dwarf cherry types or full-size ones in a smaller pot. I went with the dwarf seeds because I only have about 6 square feet of railing space and I was tired of fighting a plant that wanted to be 6 feet tall. The tradeoff is the fruit is tiny, like marble size, but I picked 40 of them last Saturday and they actually taste sweet instead of watery. My neighbor keeps asking why I don't just grow herbs instead, and some days when I'm hauling watering cans up the stairs I almost agree. Has anyone grown a dwarf variety that actually gives bigger tomatoes, or is small fruit just the price you pay for a plant that stays put?
Wait, 40 in one Saturday? That's wild for a plant that stays small. I had the same deal on my little patio setup, went with a dwarf last year and the first pick was maybe a dozen sad little marbles, but by August it was pumping out way more than I could eat. Mine never got big fruit though, just lots of small sweet ones. Honestly the trade felt fair to me since I wasn't dragging a monster plant off the door every day. Six square feet is tight too, so small and steady probably beats one giant slicer that eats all your space.