The Orange Hat is a small but mighty cherry tomato variety. It produces a shocking amount of sweet orange fruits despite growing no more than 9 inches tall. Tasty, pretty and prolific, all in one!
Orange Hat Tomato
I was immediately intrigued by the Orange Hat when I saw a photo of it.
These are an extra dwarf cherry tomato variety that reach just 6 to 9 inches in height, but are wildly prolific. It’s easy to get upwards of 30 cherry tomatoes on one 6 inch plant, so they’re the perfect variety to grow indoors or in a hydroponic system like the Aerogarden.
Here’s everything I’ve learned from growing Orange Hat cherry tomatoes indoors!
How to Grow Orange Hat Tomatoes
The Orange Hat is a popular micro tomato variety because it’s super small. If you live in an apartment or condo, or just have limited garden space, you likely won’t have the means to grow many (if at all) full sized tomato plants.
But, something micro like the Orange Hat is perfect!
Believed to have originated in Russia, this tomato plant is a bush variety that grows quickly and productively, with a shocking amount of tomatoes per plant. The bright orange color makes them eye catching and their output makes them the perfect snacking ornamental.
You could also try these in small 6 inch clay pots, containers or to border a garden bed or walkway.
Buy orange hat seeds: Etsy
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Growing Orange Hat Tomato
| Plant | Solanum lycopersicum |
| Determinate or Indeterminate | Determinate |
| Mature Size | 9 inches tall |
| Days to Harvest | 60 days |
| Light | full sun |
| Soil Type | fertile, well drained soil |
| Soil pH | 5.8 to 7.0 |
The Orange Hat produces sweet, tender cherry tomatoes in a vibrant orange color. They are an F1 hybrid with very dense foliage.
All cherry tomatoes are packed with vitamin C and lots of other vitamins and minerals. These add a punch of colorful sweetness to any salad and also make for a healthy, low calorie snack!
Read more: The Best Dwarf Cherry Tomato Varieties for Small Space Gardening
Growing Orange Hat Tomatoes Hydroponically
Since I don’t have outdoor space, I grow everything indoors! I’m a big fan of hydroponic gardening, which uses just water to grow plants and veggies (no soil).
Here’s a Youtube video that covers my experience growing Orange Hat cherry tomatoes in the Aerogarden.
Because the Orange Hat is a micro dwarf cherry tomato, it’s perfect for indoor hydroponic systems like the Aerogarden where you’re limited to 1 to 3 feet of growing height.
Typical tomato plants can grow anywhere from 5 to 15 feet tall, so a compact variety is essential.
I’ve grown this variety multiple times now and am always amazed by how much fruit it produces for such a tiny plant.
You could easily fit this in the 6-pod Harvest model or a kratky mason jar setup, but I’ve had the best results growing this in the Bounty Elite.
For more tips on growing tomatoes in the Aerogarden, check out my post here.
Seed Starting
The Orange Hat has an excellent germination rate.
I typically plant 1 seed per pod in my Aerogarden using their grow your own kit. Seeds germinate in about a week and grow quickly from there!
Read more: How to Grow Anything in the Aerogarden
more hydroponics + recipes on tiktok @shershegrows
Pollination
Cherry tomatoes are self pollinating plants, with both male and female pollen.
The Orange Hat produces tiny yellow flowers in clusters roughly 30 days from seed.
If growing these indoors, you’ll want to give them a hand with pollination by either using a tool like Aerogarden’s Be the Bee wand, adding a clip on fan or simply shaking the plant gently.
Pruning and Staking
I’ve experimented with both pruning and not pruning the Orange Hat.
It’s so compact that there’s really no need for heavy pruning and the Orange Hat doesn’t produce vines like indeterminate varieties.
But I do suggest slight pruning to encourage low, bushy growth (especially in hydroponic systems) and have found that the Orange Hat is easy to train to grow low and wide, as opposed to tall.
I also recommend pruning to remove excess foliage as this tomato produces tons of dark green leaves that can easily overlap and cover the fruits. Pruning extra foliage helps create airflow and allows the fruit to get better access to the grow lights.
There’s no need to stake or support this variety. Orange Hats are extremely prolific, sturdy and self pollinate quite easily.
These are one of the best low maintenance cherry tomato varieties that I’ve tried!
Harvesting
The fruit starts small and green, and gradually ripens to yellow, orange and then deep orange.
I like to harvest them when they turn light orange in color so that the plant can focus its energy on creating new cherry tomatoes.
The plant can also get weighed down by so much fruit, so harvesting anywhere from the yellow to orange stage can help the plant prioritize its focus on developing new tomatoes.
If any of the fruit falls off when still green or light yellow, don’t worry! You can leave them on your kitchen counter and they’ll continue to ripen.
Just don’t wait too long – the smooth orange flesh is pretty tender, so it will pucker and split if left to over-ripen.
Orange Hat Tomato Recipes
Orange hat tomatoes make the perfect snack!
I pop off a ripe cherry tomato whenever I see them, so I don’t have any particular recipes to share. But these are the perfect snacking plant. They taste so sweet and juicy.
After growing these, I’ll never buy cherry tomatoes from the grocery store again.
You can also use them in salads. They’re small enough to eat whole, but you could also quarter or half them if you like.
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