What's your favourite small tomato to grow in pots?

Mander

I bought a packet of mixed cherry tomato seeds at Lidl last night but I'm sure there are better varieties that I could look out for.

For the last few years I've grown them in pots on the SE facing patio as I don't have a lot of open garden to plant things in. This seems to have worked ok but I don't get that much of a harvest and it seems that they are usually quite slow to mature. Would a specific variety be better? 

Fairygirl

It comes to personal preference unfortunately. I might like one because it isn't too sweet, but someone else will hate that because it isn't 
Sungold is generally popular, and I've grown that in pots. I also saved seed from a tomato my daughter bought - Piccolo. Had a brilliant harvest last year. It's obviously a successful, easy commercial variety, but it was great. 
I tried Sweet Millions which is popular, but I wasn't keen on it, and it didn't germinate terribly well. Small crop on the ones that did, which was the opposite of the impression it gives! 
Mine are grown undercover, due to the climate here, and that can also make a difference.

Mander

I do usually put them in a plastic grow house as well but it's totally unheated. It's not particularly warm here either although it's not too terribly cold. 

JennyJ

I only grow small-fruited types because I only have outdoor space in pots. I grow them as cordons though, a cane to each pot, tied in to horizontal wires on the garage wall which faces south-ish, and stop them when they get up to the top of the wall which is usually around six trusses of fruit. Last year I grew Gardeners' Delight, Rosella, Yellow Pear and Sungold. Sungold's too sweet for my taste so it's on its last warning this year (I have a few seeds left) with less water and feed to see if that makes a difference.

B3

Sweet millions germinated well last year. Had to give a load of plants away. Fruited well until it got blight. Not particularly impressed with flavour. Supermarket ones were better.

Fairygirl

No - they don't need heat as such @Mander, as long as the temps overnight are high enough once they're growing away, but when they're undercover, it makes them warmer and tastier when you're out there picking them and eating them...

Taste must come into it too - I don't find Sungold very sweet @JennyJ. Maybe that's the temperatures too. 

Pete.8

If you want to try something that doesn't require support try Maskotka.
It's a bush variety (so no pinching out of side shoots) that gets to about 3ft high.
I liked them

JennyJ

Fairygirl said:

No - they don't need heat as such @Mander, as long as the temps overnight are high enough once they're growing away, but when they're undercover, it makes them warmer and tastier when you're out there picking them and eating them...

Taste must come into it too - I don't find Sungold very sweet @JennyJ. Maybe that's the temperatures too. 

Perhaps "too sweet" isn't quite right. To me it's a bland sweetness without the sharp juicy tang that a really nice tomato has. People's taste buds vary, and also expectations of what a nice tomato taste is.

I start mine on the windowsill indoors and they go into a frame with a high-ish plastic cover sometime in May depending on the weather, then outside around the end of May, but I'm a good bit further south than Gateshead, and further from the east coast.

Fairygirl

Yes - mine go out in May  too @JennyJ -depending on temps etc, but they stay in there.
It's too wet and cold here through most summers, so the climate just isn't consistent enough to have a reliable crop.
There are summers where it would have been fine- like last year - but you can't rely on it. Very disappointing to go to the bother of sowing, potting on etc, and just when you might get a crop appearing, there's gale force winds and rain annihilating them 

I'd agree - we all have different tastes, so it's quite difficult to make a judgement. Same as with all food, I suppose 

Hostafan1

Sungold was the variety I couldn't walk past in the polytunnel without eating one. 

purplerallim

As I'm not a huge tomato eater, I like the mild flavour of sungold ( the seeds are in already) but the husband liked Sunchocola better, another cherry. I had a  Yellow Pear for a tryout last year ( bought plant) and had 50 fruit from one plant, loved the taste. Also tried Tigerella with similar results. All my tomatoes are grown cordon as it takes up less room ( except for my cooking tomatoes Roma, which take up a huge amount of space 3ft square)