Description

CHEROKEE PURPLE TOMATO (Solanum lycopersicum) is a North Carolina heirloom that quickly gained my attention and affection when I moved here! Flavor that rivals, and some say surpasses, Brandywine -- extremely sweet and complex! Productive plants -- even in our drought-plagued heat waves -- producing large crops of juicy 12 oz fruits. Beautiful green shoulders on deep rose to purple bodies. Top of CherryGal favorites that I grow every year! and it is an Ark Of Taste selection. Indeterminate. 80 days from transplant. 10 seeds.

GROWING TIPS: Tomatoes and Tomatillos are heavy feeders with specific food requirements. So put a lot of attention to bed preparation both when you plant your seeds inside and out. Tomatoes love organic fertilizers so I routinely save my coffee grounds and ground up eggshells for the soil in my tomato beds. The combination not only enriches the soil but prevents blossom end rot. Regular watering, except early in the season when you are fighting pests, should be done from the bottom only. Manure teas are an excellent continual food supply and they benefit from kelp/seaweed supplements. My tomatoes love the comfrey tea I routinely make in my garden using nothing but large buckets and clippings from my comfrey plants soaked in water (cover so mosquitoes don't breed there). They love warm weather - don't stress out your seedlings by planting too early you will only set back fruiting. Plant flowers nearby to encourage pollination. Even those plants that say they don't need staking should be given some support.  If growing the taller indeterminate tomatoes you need to discipline your plants by pinching out the leaders. This will cut down on the fruit initially, but the fruit you get will be of better quality and ultimately more because if you do not pinch the leaders I have found the plant stops producing flowers. Tomatoes often attract aphids - don't be horrified. Use a hose and your hand to wash away daily and you will find they disappear after a few days-weeks once their breeding cycle is completed. Give tomatoes plenty of space. Don't let them touch each other, especially if growing different varieties, as it will help stop any disease problems from spreading. Did you know that nicotine spreads a terrible virus among tomatoes? So if you smoke, don't touch your tomato plants without using gloves, and don't grow certain nicotine related plants near tomatoes. Keep the fruit picked so production continues. As the season end nears, you can store whole branches of tomatoes by hanging them inside where they can continue to slowly ripen.