Growing Micro Dwarf Tomatoes in a Kiddie Pool- Nearly 50 Varieties of Container Tomatoes Growing This Year!
Growing Micro Dwarf Tomatoes in a Kiddie Pool: Tomato Varieties Perfect for Urban, Apartment Gardening!
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| Growing micro dwarf tomatoes in a kiddie pool! |
I'm growing some adorable, tiny micro dwarf tomatoes in a cheap, $7 kiddie pool this year!
Micro dwarf tomatoes are great for balconies, windows, and pots, as they grow to be 6 to 12” tall tomato plants typically. Some are a little bigger!
This year, I planned for around 35 varieties of itty bitty micro tomatoes, and I have approached 50 different varieties now.
The Goal: Variety Trials, Taste Tests, and Seed Crops for the Seed Shop
Some of these are incredibly rare and very hard to find.
Most were obtained through trade, others were obtained via Tomato Eden, a vendor in Europe. I'll link my review post of that Tomato Eden order (and yes, most varieties sprouted very well and are thriving in the garden already!)
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| Bottom: Mini Marzano Micro Dwarf, Crow Eye Micro Dwarf Tomato, Balcony Miracle Micro Dwarf. Next row: Curly Fire Micro Dwarf, Curly Sugar Micro Dwarf. |
I do lots of grow outs every year, as I love collecting and trying tomatoes. I'm VERY about my tomato collection, obsessive even!
Naturally, that has evolved into trading for rare varieties, growing them out, trialing the plants, tasting them to see whether they're worth growing or not, and taking note of plant habits or production. I'd love to do more tomato reviews, like the ones I did for Napa Chardonnay Cherry Tomato. This then turns into seed saving, which is utilized for future grow outs, seed trading, and for stocking my Etsy shop.
Almost all of these varieties will be added to my Etsy shop once I save the seeds, so follow my Etsy shop for updates- they should drop later this summer.
I'll also share updates to my Facebook account!
Why The Kiddie Pool as a Garden Bed for Growing Micro Tomatoes?
Why did I plant these adorable tiny tomato plants in a blue kiddie pool, you ask?
Well, I have several reasons for that!
Overall, these tiny plants should do very, very well in the pool- you might want to consider this method if you're growing on a budget!
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| Micro dwarf tomato collection planted into a cheap, budget friendly $7 kiddie pool turned into a raised garden bed. |
Size & Weed Competition
First, the plants are impossibly small.
Most reach 6-12” in height, with a few climbing to 18”.
Therefore, weeds and the tall grasses here will swallow them whole even at maturity.
Not a good time for anyone.
This garden soil won't sprout weeds until later in the year, giving my little micro tomato plants the upper hand this season.
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| Micro Tom Tomato flowering at just a few inches tall! |
Drought & Root Troubles
Secondly, small plants mean a smaller root system.
We are currently in a severe drought, and clay becomes hard as a rock when it's dry- especially in the upper 2-3”.
Therefore, the shallow roots of these micro varieties will suffer during fruiting.
The soil in this pool will remain fluffy, and I can better control the moisture and sun exposure in this particular area.
Even my bigger tomato plants are struggling significantly during this drought, requiring irrigation. I'm so glad that I plant my tomatoes in trenches, just in case of drought to be safe.
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| Tennessee is currently in a severe drought, May 2026. The clay is hard, dry, and cracking. I'm having to irrigate my larger tomato plants, which is almost unheard of in spring. |
Most Budget Friendly Solution
Third, All in all, I probably spent less than $20 between the soil and pool.
I already had a large pot on hand, so I added some of the leftover soil to that pot to use it as an overflow. My rare curly varieties are in that overflow, along with several others.
You can't get a filled raised bed cheaper than that! The tower from my other micro tomato video was cheap as well, costing just $1 per level plus soil ($1.50 now I believe.)
They're a little crowded, absolutely.
However, my priority was getting them all in there. It'll pan out- I'm not attempting record harvests.
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| I probably spent less than $20 for the soil and pool combined for the micro dwarf tomato bed; the pool itself was only $7! |
The Alternative Planting Method: Individual Pots
The alternative would be individual pots; but those will dry out far more quickly when we roast in late July, potentially giving rise blossom end rot issues due to inconsistent moisture.
In previous years, I've grown in a stacking planter tower, and I had great results; but I wanted to be able to water less and fit more plants this year.
I have the videos for those micro dwarf towers on my Youtube channel, in case you want to check those out!
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| Micro Dwarf Tomato Tower I grew in a previous season. I fell in love with the micros and began collecting them! |
What Some of You Are Waiting for: THE GROW OUT LIST!
This grow out list of micro dwarf varieties is mostly accurate, for the very moment, anyways!
As the season goes on, I'll likely accrue and grow even more varieties.
Some of these may fail without providing flowers or fruit, so you just never know which plants will provide you with a seed crop for the year.
Others may have quit early; but I'm pretty sure that all of these are growing and thriving, with no quitters.
2026 Micro Dwarf Tomato Growout List for The Aberrant Gardener
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