Katxena's Sungold Cherry Tomato
Solanum lycopersicum

My average first frost date is in two weeks, and this plant is still putting out new growth, new flowers, and new fruit. Whatever the sungold is bred from, it has resulted in a pure growing machine.

Silly plant.

I picked off several flowers this morning. I didn’t have time to cut it back, but I will be doing that in the next day or two. It’s time to get what I can out of it.

I just saw a small rodent-type thing climbing my sungold cherry. It was about a foot off the ground, scrambling around a branch that had a lot of tomatoes on it. I ran outside to scare it away, and I didn’t get a good look at it. It’s brown and about the size of my fist. One of my tomatoes was half-chewed.

Short of calling an exterminator, I don’t know what to do. Ideas? I didn’t plant this garden for rodents.

I harvested the first tomato of the year yesterday, from this plant. It was orange and juicy and sweet and warm from the sun — and so, so delicious.

The picture is blurry because I was so excited to eat it that I didn’t take time to focus the camera! There are many more tomatoes on this plant that are ripening. I love how fast cherry tomatoes ripen.

This sungold is out of control. I love it, but I have sadly neglected my pruning responsibilities.

So this morning, I grabbed my shears and attacked it. I pruned out some lower branches that didn’t have flowers or tomatoes on them, so that the tomatoes down there would get light. I pruned out some middle branches that were just adding weight to the plant. And I topped off one of the top three stems that was headed over the the neighbor’s side of the fence.

Yes, that’s right — three top stems. Despite my best efforts, this plant has branched several times. I think there might even be a fourth branch, but I’m not sure. Since the sungold is next to my Early Girl, the two plants are becoming very friendly. It’s hard to tell where one starts and the other begins!

The sungold is loaded with fruit already, and it’s full of flowers still. I can’t wait until they ripen!!

My sungold is growing fast. It’s a good foot taller than all my other tomatoes. My yard faces west-southwest, so I think the two plants on the southwest side of the yard (where the sungold is) get slightly less sun than the tomato plants on the opposite side of the yard. Also, I think the sungold may be shading the tomato next to it and stunting its growth a bit. Still, I am delighted with the sungold’s progress.