🌱 Origin & Story
Super Sweet 100 was introduced in 1982 by the Northrup-King Seed Company (now part of Syngenta) as an improvement on the original Sweet 100, which debuted in 1978. The original was already a sensation — a cherry tomato that produced absurd quantities of small, intensely sweet fruit. But it lacked disease resistance, and in humid climates it could struggle.
Super Sweet 100 solved that problem. Northrup-King bred in resistance to Verticillium, Fusarium, and nematodes (VFN) — real, practical resistance that makes the plant hardier and more reliable across a wider range of growing conditions.
The variety earned AAS recognition, validating what home gardeners already knew: this was a cherry tomato that delivered more fruit, more reliably, than almost anything else available.
The numbers are real. A single healthy plant can produce clusters of 20 to 100+ fruits, with each fruit about 0.75 to 1 inch across. Over a full season, the total count per plant can reach into the hundreds. It's not unusual to pick a gallon at a time during peak production. The name isn't marketing — it's a conservative estimate.
🍴 Flavor & Fruit
Small cherry, 0.75–1 inch — bright red, perfectly round, thin-skinned, and bursting with juice. They grow in long, cascading clusters that can hold 20 or more fruits at various stages of ripeness.
The flavor is clean, bright sweetness — higher sugar content than most cherries, with just enough acid to keep it from being one-note. There's a reason this has been the go-to cherry tomato for over 40 years. It's not the most complex tomato you'll grow, but it is the most addictive.
Thin skins mean they pop in your mouth. Best eaten fresh, the day you pick them. They don't store well — but you won't need them to. There's always more tomorrow.
🌿 From Our Garden
Every year we tell ourselves we don't need to grow Super Sweet 100 because we have so many interesting cherries now. And every year we plant it anyway, because nothing else matches the sheer output. It's the workhorse of our cherry section — the one we count on when everything else is being temperamental. Forty years of gardeners can't all be wrong.
📅 Your Oklahoma Season
Plant after mid-April, or May 1 for extra caution (last frost averages early April in Tulsa). Expect first ripe fruit by early-to-mid July. Once production starts, it does not stop — you will be picking every two to three days through the entire season.
Strong harvests run continuously from July through October. The season often extends into early November before first frost. Super Sweet 100's hybrid vigor and disease resistance keep it producing well into fall when open-pollinated varieties are fading.
Flower drop begins when daytime temps push above 85-90°F and nights stay above 72°F. It gets severe above 100°F. Hybrid vigor means faster recovery — expect a quick rebound when temperatures moderate.
💧 Care for Optimal Health
Water deeply twice a week at the base, never overhead. Consistent moisture is critical — thin-skinned cherries crack badly with moisture swings, and Super Sweet 100 is no exception. Mulch 2-3 inches to keep soil moisture stable.
Feed balanced through early growth, then shift to phosphorus/potassium-forward once flowering begins.
DIY mix: 2 tbsp fish emulsion + ½ tsp kelp per gallon, every two to three weeks.
This plant is a heavy feeder. The volume of fruit it produces demands consistent nutrition. If lower leaves yellow mid-season, feed it — it's telling you it needs fuel.
These vines get big. Plan your support accordingly — a flimsy cage will not survive August. Use a heavy-gauge cage, tall stakes, or a trellis system. You'll thank yourself later.
☀️ Oklahoma Heat
Super Sweet 100 handles Oklahoma summers about as well as any cherry tomato — which is to say, better than most tomatoes. Small fruit size means sunscald is rarely an issue. Hybrid vigor provides genuine heat resilience compared to open-pollinated varieties.
The main heat concern is watering. Higher temperatures mean faster transpiration, and a plant producing hundreds of fruits needs water. Don't let it dry out. Deep morning watering before the heat builds is more effective than evening watering.
🛡️ What to Watch For
Super Sweet 100 carries VFN resistance — Verticillium, Fusarium, and nematodes. That's a meaningful practical advantage, especially in Oklahoma soils where nematode pressure can be significant.
Still, stay ahead of these:
• Cracking — the number one issue. Thin skin plus moisture swings equals split fruit. Water consistently and pick promptly when ripe. Don't let ripe fruit sit on the vine.
• Early blight — even resistant plants can develop foliar issues in late summer. Remove affected lower leaves at the stem. Copper fungicide applied preventively after wet stretches (follow your product label for exact rates).
• Hornworms — check leaf undersides weekly. Hand-pick or apply Bt (1 tsp/gallon, evening spray).
• Aphids — 2 tbsp neem oil + 2 tsp dish soap per gallon.
• Overload — this is a real thing. If you don't pick regularly, ripe fruit drops, attracts pests, and the plant redirects energy. Stay on top of the harvest.
🍽️ In the Kitchen
Fresh: By the handful. Off the vine. Standing in the garden. This is the way.
Snacking: Fill a bowl and put it on the counter. It will be empty within the hour. Refill. Repeat until frost.
Salads: Halved into any salad for reliable sweetness and color. They're the supporting player that makes everything else taste better.
Roasted: Toss whole clusters — stems and all — with olive oil and roast at 425°F until they burst and caramelize. Spoon over pasta, onto pizza, or eat straight from the sheet pan.
Preserved: If you actually have surplus (a big "if"), they make a beautiful bright-red cherry tomato sauce. Also excellent dehydrated into chewy, sweet bites.
🪴 Why Our Starts?
Six weeks of professional growing before they reach you — proper lighting, careful watering, the right timing, hardening off. Super Sweet 100's hybrid vigor means it takes off fast once transplanted — a well-grown start translates directly into earlier and heavier harvests.
You plant when the ground is ready and skip straight to the most productive cherry tomato season of your life.
