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Growing Sungold Cherry Tomatoes in the South

I am growing about half a dozen of heirloom and hybrid tomatoes in my garden this year, but Sungold deserves its own post. From my experience, Sungold is one of the best tomatoes to plant in the South. In areas with mild summer, tomatoes grow like weeds. We struggle to grow tomatoes here and Sungold makes it really easy.

 
Sungold cherry tomatoes on the vine
Sungold cherry tomatoes on the vine


Plant Profile

Sungold is an indeterminate hybrid cherry tomato. It is a fast growing plant and early producer. Although I started the seeds after other tomato varieties, Sungold was one of the first that I harvested. It can tolerate the heat and humidity very well. Below is a Sungold tomato plant in my garden during the peak of the summer. After a month long heatwave in Houston, it is the only tomato variety that still flowers and sets fruits. The other tomato plants just look stunted. The Sungold plant in the image is a 4-foot wide bush, growing next to an apple tree. I purposely wanted to give it partial shade. As you can see, there is no sign of tomato plant early blight. If you are going to grow it as a bush, I recommend at least 4 feet apart.

 
Sungold cherry tomato plant
Sungold cherry tomato plant in July, Houston, Texas


Taste and Characteristics of Sungold

The fruits that I harvested were small cherry tomatoes of 1 inch diameter. When the color was yellow, it tasted sour. The sweetness increased as the color changed to dark orange. The inside did not have a lot of seeds. Its texture reminded me of a yellow Rainier cherry. It is not the sweetest cherry tomato that I have ever had, but it is the best tasting. Overall, Sungold has a balance of tangy and sweet tomato taste; its texture is smooth and juicy. A major con about Sungold is that its thin skin cracks easily. Even with regular watering, the fruits always cracked after it rained. 


Cross section of Sungold cherry tomato
Cross section of Sungold cherry tomato, texture similar to a yellow Rainier cherry


Cracked Sungold cherry tomatoes
Cracked Sungold cherry tomatoes after a rain


Propagation

Because Sungold is a hybrid tomato, you would need to buy and plant hybrid seeds, produced from a well controlled environment. Another way to propagate it is to root the tomato sucker. A month ago, my four-year old dinosaur knocked over and caused a Sungold tomato plant to break. I removed the suckers and rooted them. This way, I can have more Sungold tomatoes in the fall and save the hybrid seeds for next year.


Rooted Sungold cherry tomato sucker
Rooted Sungold cherry tomato sucker


 

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Location: Houston, TX, USA

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