Blog: Top compact varieties for taste, indoors and out
If you’re short on space, try these tomatoes and chillies for small gardens, and you too can grow tender crops this summer, even on a windowsill. I started growing mainly bush tomato varieties for the conservatory, so I don’t have to climb ladders to harvest them. The trusses don’t usually need support and fruit without having to have the side shoots removed, unlike cordons (intermediates).
Last year, I grew far too many chillies, which got decimated by caterpillars, so I’m going for the ‘less is more’ approach with only one variety, Etna. For more on how to sow tomatoes, see my in-depth page. There’s information on sowing chillies, too.
Tomatoes and chillies for small gardens – Bush tomatoes
Red Robin (Bush): The ultimate space-saving tomato! Perfect for a sunny windowsill, hanging baskets or patio containers measuring just 12cm. The bright red cherry-sized fruits weigh 10g with a sweet taste. Compact plants continue cropping until late September. Height 30cm.
Tumbling Tom Red (Bush): Performed so well last year, I’m growing it again. The first tomato to fruit successfully in my North-East garden. Delicious red cherry fruit and ornamental plants. Suitable for pots, troughs and especially hanging baskets (although they will need a lot of water). Height 30cm x spread 45cm.
The Amateur (Bush): Several ‘in-the-know’ gardeners have recommended this to me as the go-to outdoor bush variety in the UK. Before the advent of polytunnels and hydroponics, this was the favoured heirloom type for field-growing under cloches in market gardens. Reliable, early ripening and heavy cropping, the mid-sized red fruits (85g) have thick flesh and an excellent flavour. It can also be grown in a greenhouse. Height 90cm x 50cm.
Exceptions to the small rule…
One tomato I can’t do without is Rosella, so I grow that in my greenhouse, where it’s easy to pick. I should say, everything is at windowsill or shelf height in the conservatory, meaning cordon tomatoes literally hit the roof! Gary loves beefsteak tomatoes, so I’m trialling Burlesque from Suttons.
Rosella F1 (Cordon, RHS AGM): The dark, rosy-red, cherry-sized fruit have a unique ‘smoky’ flavour. They’re high in antioxidants with fewer seeds than most varieties. Read more on Rosella…
Burlesque F1 (Cordon): Large (400g) beefsteak tomatoes with a sweet, tangy taste (Brix 6 per cent). Ideal for the greenhouse in NE England or outside further South as they are blight-tolerant. Plants yield 40-50 tomatoes each. Fruits have thick, meaty, tender flesh with a thin skin that won’t crack or burst! Good for sandwiches, on a home-baked pizza or in a salad with mozzarella cheese and basil.
Tomatoes and chillies for small gardens – Etna
Etna (RHS AGM): A vigorous plant with bunches of upward-pointing chillies held above the foliage. A hybrid chilli from Italy, Etna scores 65,000 SHU (hotter than Cayenne, about the same as Thai and Chilpetin). The fruits are quite large, 15-18cm long and 2-2-5cm wide. The young smooth thick walls and green skin turn red when fully mature, with a long shelf life. Very popular in Thailand and Southern Asia. Height 45cm.
