Juliet
Solanum lycopersicum
Juliet is a hybrid determinate tomato that matures in 60 days, producing small, elongated cherry tomatoes with deep red coloring. These bite-sized fruits are exceptionally sweet with concentrated flavor and a firm texture that resists cracking, making them ideal for fresh eating and salads. The compact plant habit suits container gardening and small spaces while delivering prolific yields throughout the season. Juliet's combination of superior flavor, disease resistance, and reliable production makes it a favorite among home gardeners seeking a premium cherry tomato variety.
Harvest
60d
Days to harvest
Sun
Full sun
Zones
10–10
USDA hardiness
Height
1-10 feet
Planting Timeline
Showing dates for Juliet in USDA Zone 7
All Zone 7 tomato →Zone Map
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Juliet · Zones 10–10
Growing Details
Zone-by-Zone Planting Calendar
| Zone | Indoor Start | Transplant | Direct Sow | Harvest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zone 3 | April – April | June – July | — | August – October |
| Zone 4 | March – April | June – June | — | August – October |
| Zone 5 | March – March | May – June | — | July – September |
| Zone 6 | March – March | May – June | — | July – September |
| Zone 7 | February – March | April – May | — | July – September |
| Zone 8 | February – February | April – May | — | June – August |
| Zone 9 | January – January | March – April | — | May – July |
| Zone 10 | January – January | February – March | — | May – July |
| Zone 1 | May – May | July – August | — | September – August |
| Zone 2 | April – May | June – July | — | September – September |
| Zone 11 | January – January | January – February | — | April – June |
| Zone 12 | January – January | January – February | — | April – June |
| Zone 13 | January – January | January – February | — | April – June |
Complete Growing Guide
A larger sister variety of Santa, Juliet is one of the most disease-resistant in our trials. Deep red shiny fruits avg. 2-2 1/4" x 1 3/8-1 1/2", weighing 1 1/2-2 oz. Typically 12-18 fruits per cluster. Delicious, rich tomato flavor for salads, great salsa, and fresh pasta sauce. Good crack resistance, vine storage, and shelf life. AAS Winner. Indeterminate. According to Johnny's Selected Seeds, Juliet is 60 days to maturity, annual, hybrid (f1), indeterminate growth habit. Disease resistance includes Late Blight, Early Blight. Notable features: Easy Choice, AAS (All-America Selections) Winners.
Light: Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day). Soil: Clay, High Organic Matter, Loam (Silt), Sand. Soil pH: Acid (<6.0), Neutral (6.0-8.0). Drainage: Good Drainage, Moist. Height: 1 ft. 0 in. - 10 ft. 0 in.. Spread: 1 ft. 0 in. - 4 ft. 0 in.. Spacing: 3 feet-6 feet. Growth rate: Rapid. Maintenance: High. Propagation: Seed. Regions: Coastal, Mountains, Piedmont.
Harvesting
Juliet reaches harvest at 60 days from sowing per Johnny's Selected Seeds. Expect 2-2 1/4" at peak. As an annual, harvest continues until frost ends the season.
The fruits are smooth, shiny, glossy, and are classified as berries. The size, shape, and color will vary depending on the variety or cultivar. The color of the fruits may be red, yellow, orange, green, purple, or pink. The fruits may contain over 100 yellow to light brown seeds.
Color: Gold/Yellow, Green, Orange, Pink, Purple/Lavender, Red/Burgundy, Variegated. Type: Berry. Length: > 3 inches. Width: > 3 inches.
Garden value: Edible, Showy
Harvest time: Fall, Summer
Edibility: The fruits or berries of the tomato are edible. They may be eaten raw, cooked, dried, or processed. They are a rich source of Vitamin A, Vitamin C, folic acid, and antioxidants. Lycopene is an antioxidant that gives the tomato its rich red color. Many plants will drop fruit when ripe or the fruit will come off easily. Tomatoes will continue to ripen once picked. Store them at room temperature.
Storage & Preservation
Store freshly harvested Juliet tomatoes at room temperature, away from direct sunlight, in a single layer on a breathable surface like a cardboard box or wooden crate. Keep humidity moderate to prevent rot, and maintain temperatures between 68–72°F for optimal ripeness development. Ripe fruit will keep for 5–7 days this way before softening noticeably.
For longer preservation, these tomatoes excel at drying due to their firm texture and concentrated sweetness. Halve them, remove excess moisture, and dry in a low oven (around 200°F) for 6–8 hours, or use a food dehydrator. The resulting fruit has intense flavor perfect for winter cooking. Canning whole or as sauce works well; their meaty structure holds up during processing. Freezing is also reliable—simply core and freeze whole on trays, then transfer to bags for winter pasta dishes and braises. The firm flesh means these tomatoes won't turn to mush like juicier varieties when thawed.
History & Origin
Juliet is an F1 hybrid developed through controlled cross-pollination. Listed in the Johnny's Selected Seeds catalog.
Origin: Peru
Advantages
- +Exceptional disease resistance makes Juliet reliable across most growing conditions
- +Abundant 12-18 fruits per cluster maximizes yield on indeterminate vines
- +Sweet, concentrated flavor with firm texture ideal for fresh eating
- +Excellent crack resistance and long shelf life extend harvest enjoyment
- +AAS award recognition confirms superior quality and performance
Considerations
- -Requires consistent watering to prevent splitting despite crack resistance
- -Indeterminate growth demands regular pruning and sturdy staking support
- -Susceptible to early blight in humid or wet climates
- -60-day maturity still requires long growing season in cool regions
Companion Plants
Marigolds and nasturtiums are the two companions that pull actual weight next to Juliet. French marigold (Tagetes patula) produces alpha-terthienyl in its roots, which suppresses root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne spp.) in the surrounding soil — but only if you plant them densely at the bed edge, not scattered as single-plant garnish, and let them run the full season so the root exudates have time to accumulate. Nasturtiums work differently: they draw aphids away from your tomato foliage and give you an easy-to-monitor trap crop you can pull before populations get out of hand. Basil is a fine neighbor for airflow and harvest-table reasons; I'd be skeptical of the pest-repellent claims, but it's not taking up much real estate.
Carrots and chives are low-conflict gap-fillers — their fine, shallow roots don't compete with Juliet's deeper system, so you can tuck them in at 6–8 inches without fighting over water or nutrients. Borage is worth planting if you want to attract predatory insects and pollinators; just deadhead it aggressively or it will reseed into every corner of your garden by the following spring.
Fennel is the one to relocate entirely. It releases allelopathic volatile compounds that stunt the growth of most vegetables, tomatoes included — give it at least 3 feet of buffer, preferably more. Brassicas are a pest-management problem: co-locating them with tomatoes doesn't create a chemical conflict so much as it concentrates shared insect pressure — whiteflies in particular move freely between the two — in one spot. Separate beds are the simpler fix.
Plant Together
Basil
Repels aphids, whiteflies, and hornworms while potentially improving tomato flavor
Marigold
Deters nematodes, aphids, and whiteflies with natural compounds
Carrots
Loosens soil for tomato roots and doesn't compete for nutrients
Parsley
Attracts beneficial insects like hoverflies that prey on tomato pests
Chives
Repels aphids and may help prevent fungal diseases
Nasturtium
Acts as trap crop for aphids, whiteflies, and cucumber beetles
Oregano
Repels many insects and may improve tomato growth and flavor
Borage
Deters hornworms and attracts pollinators and beneficial predatory insects
Keep Apart
Black Walnut
Produces juglone toxin that causes tomato wilt and stunted growth
Fennel
Inhibits growth through allelopathic chemicals and attracts harmful insects
Brassicas
Compete for similar nutrients and may stunt tomato growth
Corn
Both attract corn earworm/tomato fruitworm, increasing pest pressure
Nutrition Facts
Per 100g serving. % Daily Value based on 2,000 calorie diet. Source: USDA FoodData Central (FDC #321360)
Pests & Disease Resistance
Resistance
Early Blight (Intermediate); Late Blight (Intermediate)
Common Pests
Tomato hornworm, aphids, whiteflies
Diseases
Early blight, fusarium wilt, bacterial speck
Troubleshooting Juliet
What you'll see, why it happens, and what to do about it.
Lower leaves developing dark brown bullseye-patterned spots, starting around day 40–50 after transplant, often after a stretch of wet weather
Likely Causes
- Early blight (Alternaria solani) — a soil-borne fungus that splashes onto lower foliage during rain or overhead watering
- Crowded planting with less than 24 inches between plants, restricting airflow
What to Do
- 1.Strip affected lower leaves immediately and bag them — don't compost them
- 2.Lay 3–4 inches of straw mulch around the base of each plant to stop soil splash
- 3.NC State Extension's IPM guidelines recommend rotating nightshades out of the same bed for at least 3–4 years; for some tomato diseases that window stretches to 5–7 years
Entire plant wilting suddenly in mid-season despite adequate soil moisture, with no visible mold or lesions on stems
Likely Causes
- Fusarium wilt (Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici) — a soil-borne fungus that colonizes the vascular system; slicing the stem near the base will reveal brown internal discoloration
- Southern bacterial wilt (Ralstonia solanacearum) — more likely if the collapse is rapid and the stem oozes a milky strand when cut and submerged in water
What to Do
- 1.Dig up and destroy the affected plant including as much root mass as you can reach — do not compost it
- 2.Because both pathogens persist in soil for years, NC State Extension recommends relocating the bed or growing in containers where the container soil has zero contact with native soil
- 3.If bacterial wilt is confirmed, look into grafted tomato rootstocks for future seasons — NC State notes grafting is one of the few practical management tools available
Fruit developing sunken, leathery black or brown rot on the blossom end, typically showing up on the first heavy set of fruit
Likely Causes
- Blossom-end rot — calcium deficiency in the developing fruit tissue, almost always caused by inconsistent soil moisture rather than absent calcium in the soil
- Wide swings between dry and saturated soil that interrupt calcium uptake through the roots
What to Do
- 1.Water on a consistent schedule — a drip line or soaker hose on a timer does more here than any foliar spray or amendment
- 2.Mulch with 3–4 inches of straw to buffer moisture between rain events
- 3.Test soil pH and keep this bed in the 6.2–6.8 range; calcium availability drops off below that, and a lime adjustment may be all that's needed
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does Juliet tomato take to grow from seed to harvest?▼
Can you grow Juliet tomatoes in containers?▼
Is Juliet tomato good for beginners?▼
What does Juliet tomato taste like compared to other grape tomatoes?▼
When should I plant Juliet tomato seeds?▼
How much space does a Juliet tomato plant need?▼
Growing Guides from Wind River Greens
Where to Buy Seeds
Sources & References
External authority sources used in compiling this guide.
- BreederJohnny's Selected Seeds
- USDAUSDA FoodData Central
See the Methodology page for how this data is sourced, what's AI-assisted, and known limitations.