Cold hardiness & minimum temperature

Is Sweet 100 Cherry Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum 'Sweet 100')cold hardy? Hardiness zone & min temp

Also called Sweet 100 tomato, Sweet 100 cherry.

More about sweet 100 cherry tomato

About Sweet 100 Cherry Tomato

Solanum lycopersicum 'Sweet 100' · also called Sweet 100 tomato, Sweet 100 cherry · edible

'Sweet 100' is a vigorous indeterminate cherry tomato famed for very high sugar levels and enormous yields of small, round, intensely sweet red fruit borne in long branching trusses of a hundred or more. The tall vines crop prolifically from midsummer until frost. A frost-tender warm-season annual needing full sun, support and steady moisture.

Cold limit: USDA Grown as a warm-season annual (frost-tender; perennial only in zones 10-11) · RHS H1C (18-29°C)

What sweet 100 cherry tomato's hardiness rating actually means

Sweet 100 Cherry Tomato is not cold hardy. It is a tropical houseplant that dies if it is left out through frost — there is no zone where it overwinters outdoors in a UK or cold-US climate. Its RHS rating of H1c means: Warm-temperate — can summer outdoors but must come in well before the first frost. On the US scale that maps to USDA Grown as a warm-season annual (frost-tender; perennial only in zones 10-11) — the zones where it can be left outdoors year-round.

New to these scales? The USDA hardiness zone map explained covers how the zone numbers work, and you can find your own zone with the zone finder.

Minimum temperature — and what happens below it

Minimum survivable temperature is roughly about 5 °C (and never frost). Sweet 100 Cherry Tomato has no frost tolerance at all — it is an indoor plant in any climate with a real winter.

Concretely, for sweet 100 cherry tomato as it gets too cold:

Below about about 5 °C, growth stalls and the leaves start to show cold stress — dark, water-soaked, or yellowing patches.
A single light frost blackens the foliage; a hard freeze kills the whole plant, roots included, and it does not recover.
Even a cold, draughty windowsill or an unheated porch in winter can be enough to damage it permanently.

Can sweet 100 cherry tomato go outside or overwinter — and where?

It can holiday outdoors in summer once nights are reliably above 5 °C, in shade or dappled light, hardened off gradually.
Bring it back indoors well before the first autumn frost — do not wait for a frost warning, move it when nights drop toward 10-12 °C.
It will never overwinter outside in a temperate climate; the indoors is its winter home, full stop.

Work back from your local frost dates with the frost-date calculator: the last spring frost and first autumn frost are what really decide when sweet 100 cherry tomato can be outside. US growers can check USDA zones; UK growers should use the RHS hardiness ratings, which match the H1c figure above.

Sweet 100 Cherry Tomato hardiness — frequently asked questions

Is sweet 100 cherry tomato cold hardy?

Sweet 100 Cherry Tomato is not cold hardy. It is a tropical houseplant that dies if it is left out through frost — there is no zone where it overwinters outdoors in a UK or cold-US climate. Indoor-only in almost every home. Sweet 100 Cherry Tomato can only live outside year-round in genuinely frost-free climates (roughly USDA Grown as a warm-season annual (frost-tender; perennial only in zones 10-11)); everywhere else it is a houseplant that summers out at most.

What is the minimum temperature sweet 100 cherry tomato can survive?

Minimum survivable temperature is roughly about 5 °C (and never frost). Sweet 100 Cherry Tomato has no frost tolerance at all — it is an indoor plant in any climate with a real winter.

What hardiness zone is sweet 100 cherry tomato?

Sweet 100 Cherry Tomato is rated USDA Grown as a warm-season annual (frost-tender; perennial only in zones 10-11) and RHS H1c — Warm-temperate — can summer outdoors but must come in well before the first frost.

Can sweet 100 cherry tomato survive winter outside?

It can holiday outdoors in summer once nights are reliably above 5 °C, in shade or dappled light, hardened off gradually. Bring it back indoors well before the first autumn frost — do not wait for a frost warning, move it when nights drop toward 10-12 °C. It will never overwinter outside in a temperate climate; the indoors is its winter home, full stop.

What happens to sweet 100 cherry tomato below its minimum temperature?

Below about about 5 °C, growth stalls and the leaves start to show cold stress — dark, water-soaked, or yellowing patches. A single light frost blackens the foliage; a hard freeze kills the whole plant, roots included, and it does not recover. Even a cold, draughty windowsill or an unheated porch in winter can be enough to damage it permanently.