Growing the Chocolate Sprinkles variety of Tomato

Good morning everyone!

Today I thought I would share with you one of my tomato plants 🌿that I'm growing on my patio. The variety I'm talking about today is the "Chocolate Sprinkles Cherry Tomato". I thought I would give you some growing information about this plant and share my experience of growing it.

Let me start off by saying "I just love it."

This tomato has proven to be very easy to grow in a pot and produces many tomatoes on the vine. In fact it's considered a high yield plant. This plant is also considered indeterminate and I have never been without tomatoes on this plant. Every week I get more and more and more tomatoes. And the best part is.... it produces fruit all the way up until frost. Yep it's a high yield plant for sure.

The beautiful color of the fruit:

The fruit of this tomato is several different shades of red and orange. It has what's kind-of a chocolate color stripe on the skin but actually it's a green tone stripe that just looks chocolate when it's up against the other orange and red colors. The tomatoes are so colorful that they look very nice displayed in a flower pot. I just love the color pattern.

The Size of the tomatoes:

This tomato is considered a cherry tomato but not at all the size of the tiny little "sweet 100" varieties that are so popular. Nope this tomato is twice the size of that but still a small tomato that you could put whole on top of a beautiful salad.

Plant Groth:

This tomato will take full sun or at least 6 hours of sun. It grows to be 5 to 7 feet tall. My plant that I have is already 7 feet tall and just beautiful. I don't expect it to grow any taller but if it does I'm going to keep it topped. (cut) So it stays thick and doesn't get leggy.

Another great part about growing this tomato is the fact that it never splits. I love how all the tomatoes turn out perfect.

Fruit

The fruits are firm and is considered a full bodied tomato. It has a sweet tomato flavor with a high brix level. Brix level simply means it's the level of the sugar content in the tomato.

The Chocolate Sprinkles variety produces it's fruit in trusses.

Trusses are the clusters of stems on the vine where the fruit develops. You can see a good view of the trusses on the video I created about it. So be sure to watch and get a better view.

► Here's is the video I made about it: https://youtu.be/cqXSSOEtNrk

In Closing:

Growing the "Chocolate Sprinkles" variety of tomato in a flower pot has been a no brainer. lol! I really couldn't ask for an easier plant to grow or a prettier tomato to grow. So far I have not experienced any bug or disease problem at all. And.... I'm very happy with the look of the plant.

Thanks for visiting everyone! Love Pam

► You may also want to watch: My other "Gardening Videos." https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKVnpA8j_rjfkD6zYvYPcnkDizrEcrsZc 🍅 TOMATO HOLIDAYS TO REMEMBER
June 1 / National Tomato Day October / National Tomato Month April 6 / Fresh Tomato Day

► Chocolate Sprinkle Tomato Seeds / https://amzn.to/3N3Y8T7

Many Herbs are great Companion Plants for Tomatoes

 

Planting companion plants with my tomatoes

I've always known companion planting was best when growing a tomato in a flowerpot and I have to say it was one of the best things I ever learned when I took Horticulture in school. You really don't understand just how much of a difference it makes unless you do an experiment like I did to find out if it really makes a difference. 

I have to tell you.... YES it makes a difference

Some plants just naturally love each other and thrive to live with each other. They are no different than us as humans. I took 2 of the same variety of tomatoes and planted one as a stand alone in a flower pot and I took the other one and planted companion plants with it. I placed them both side by side in the same sunny location and started my experiment.

There is no dough in my mind / Here's my results

• The tomato with the companion plants tasted much sweeter or sharper in flavor.
• The tomatoes with the companion plants grew bigger
• The plant with the companion plants looked bigger and healthier
• The tomato with the companion plants were richer in color
• The tomato with the companion plants had no white fly problems at all. Come to think of it... I haven't seen any black fly's either.
• Oh.... and horn worms.... none attacked but I did have to pick them off the tomato that wasn't planted with companions.

What Companion Plants did I use?

Look at the photo above... do you see the pretty purple plant on the right hand side? Well this is a purple basil. This is a garden herb and any variety of the basil family is great to plant in the same pot with a tomato. I have 4 different basil varieties planted among my tomatoes in pots. Eash one is a different color and looks just beautiful in the pot. Basil is know to repel insects, improves the growth of the tomato and enhances the flavor of the tomato. 

Basil Smell repels mosquitoes:

I really love how the smell of basil repels mosquitoes and flies especially since I have it on my patio where I sit all the time. Yep, it not only helps my tomatoes to grow but it helps protect me from getting mosquito bites too.

🌱I use many herbs as Companions Plants for Tomatoes in pots

To sum it up... I like to plant all herbs in the same pot as my tomatoes. I use all varieties of basil, chives, parsley, sage and.... so on. 😀 I like using these herbs because not only are they good for the tomato but they grow short and flat which is perfect for plants under a tomato in a decorative flower pot. I've been known to stick a few marigolds around too but that's not an herb now is it. LOL.... but you can eat the flowers. Ha!

Both the basil and tomato enjoy the same nutrients, water & sun.

A tomato plant grows up right and tall and a basil plant grows low and short. The two planted together is perfect because the basil plant help to shade the soil and keeps the tomato roots cooler. They help keep the tomato from drying out. They work great together.

List of Companion Plants for Tomatoes planted in the garden / in alphabetical order

• Amaranth
• Asparagus
• Basil
• Beans
• Borage
• Calendula (marigold)
• Carrots
• Celery
• Chives
• Cleome (spider flower)
• Cosmos
• Cucumber
• Garlic
• Lemon Balm
• Lettuce
• Mint
• Nasturtium
• Onion
• Parsley
• Sage
• Squash

In Closing:

Plants bring me so much joy; even vegetable plants that are not known for their beauty. But when you combine them with beautiful herbs of all colors... it's just so darn beautiful! Really! I hope this encourages readers to try growing tomatoes and herbs in a flower pot. It's the best choice for small space gardening and so rewarding to watch them grow. Give it a try.

► Shop Herb Seeds / https://amzn.to/3m1IBre

Thank you for visiting today. Pam