Growing Red Alert Tomatoes

Red Alert is one of the more difficult cherry varieties to grow.

It requires a good amount of light to stop it becomming "leggy" (over-watering adds to this problem) and it needs a larger container than most other cherry varieties for it to produce a good crop.

However, it is one of the earliest varieties I have grown, it produces a huge crop when grown in a large pot or container and its tomatoes are among the finest tasting - given a reasonable amount of sun during the season!

As an open pollinated variety (not F1) its seeds are cheap and you can save them for the following season.

Red Alert is very similar to Tumbler in size and taste, but Tumbler is an F1 variety with expensive seed.

Here is a typical seed packet description. I don't recommend growing Red Alert in a hanging basket but Tumbler will do well with limited root room.

A superb flavoured, outdoor bush tomato which is very early to mature and heavy yielding. The size of the fruit depends partly on the amount of root space. If grown in a hanging basket, the fruit will be slightly smaller than if grown in a large container. You can expect weights of 4-5lb (1.8-2.25kg) per bush. 55-60 days from transplanting.

It is a good idea to limit the amount of tomato plants in a hanging basket - one or two will be enough.

One well grown plant with plenty of room will produce as many tomatoes as two or three plants that are over-crowded in a limited space.