Sweet pickings

What are the best cordon cherry tomatoes to grow? Lucy Chamberlain tested a dozen varieties to find the sweetest, juiciest and heaviest cropping options for the season ahead

- Lucy Chamberlain

Cherry tomatoes are the ultimate 'pop-in-the-mouth' treat for gardeners keen to grow their own delicious edibles. If you're feeling bewildered by the hundreds of varieties listed in seed catalogues and are wondering which are the best varieties to choose, let us help you! This trial takes all the hard work out of selecting the top performers, because we've compared those that claim to produce the sweetest-tasting crops, to see if they really do live up to expectations. What's more, we'll guide you through training them as high-yielding cordon plants, taking up little room yet cropping phenomenally.

Tomato sweetness is measured on the 'Brix scale', which records the percentage of soluble sugars within the fruits. All our trialled varieties claim high Brix ratings, yet some fell short of the mark.

Other key traits for eating enjoyment such as skin thickness, fruit size, skin-splitting tendencies and overall yield have all been scrupulously recorded, so that you can confidently start sowing the very best varieties now. Red, orange, yellow, black and even green-fruited varieties have been placed under the spotlight, allowing you to enjoy the full spectrum of fruit colours.

Plus, we've given you a month-by-month total care plan to enjoy your most vibrant, abundant and sweet harvests of cherry toms, ever!

'Sugar Gloss'

Produces multi-branched trusses of tiny fruits, ripening in small batches rather than in large gluts. Has pleasantly crunchy skin, juicy flesh and a very rich, sweet flavour with an acid hit. The fruits split when very ripe.

■ Fruits per plant 570
■ Yield per plant 2.3kg
■ Brix sweetness rating 11%

'Black Cherry'