Cherokee Purple Tomato
Solanum lycopersicum
Certified Organic
Like BBQ and whiskey, Cherokee Purple Tomato tastes like Tennessee. Its perfect balance of sweet and acid, savory and smoky is like sitting in a rocking chair and listening to the wise words of an old timer. Originally grown by members of the Cherokee nation, it was shared with one Tennessee family who passed the precious seeds from generation to generation for nearly one hundred years. The seeds eventually found their way into the hands of tomato connoisseur Craig LeHoullier, who named it in honor of its origins.
For the perfect embodiment of an "heirloom tomato," look no further Cherokee Purple is your dream tomato. A reddish fruit with stunning dark-colored shoulder-top striations or marbling, the Cherokee Purple also boasts legendary taste and heavy production. It's happily indeterminate and will give you tasty, massive fruit all summer long.
Cherokee Purple is part of Slow Foods US Ark of Taste, a catalog of over 200 delicious foods in danger of extinction. By promoting, sowing, and growing Ark products we help ensure they remain in production and on our plates. Indeterminate.
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Growing instructions
Product Details
| Days to Maturity | 80 days from transplant |
|---|---|
| Height at Maturity | 60" |
| Sun Conditions | Full Sun (8+ Hours Sun) |
| Planting Depth | 1/2" |
| Row Spacing | 36" |
| Plant Spacing | 24" |
About the artist
These tomatoes are my favorite and are gorgeous! They are super juicy and have a savory taste but pair well with anything. They held up against the drought and grew well even when I was constantly out of town and couldn’t water them well (hence the cracks in the tomato picture). They also were happy in a XL fabric pot on my porch, lived slightly past the first frost. My tallest was over 5 ft tall. I will absolutely be buying these again!
Cherokee Purple and Berkeley Tie Dye are my absolute favorites. They are bold in flavor.
A friend of my recommended this particular selection for flavor and deepness of color.
I’m excited to watch these grow!!
Great seeds; almost all of the seeds I planted germinated! Can't wait to transplant them into my garden after last frost date...
Yummy but it was finnicky for me
This is my first year gardening so take my review with a grain of salt! These tomatoes are delicious but they just haven't been as easy as some of my other varieties. I had quite a few get blossom end rot early in the season. I've had almost every tomato but a couple split/get cracks. I understand that some of these issues can be due to inconsistent watering or needing calcium, but this was the only variety that I planted to have issues. I did start adding a different fertilizer with calcium and that seems to have taken care of the blossom end rot, but the splitting is still an issue. So all in all - a very yummy tomato but perhaps a little finnicky for a first timer! I will probably choose something else next year.
Western suburbs of Chicago, IL (zone 5b)
Deep flavor, good growing, good yield.
Coastal north of Boston. This is everything it should be. A rustic-looking tomato full of a deep flavor. Grown from seed for two years. Mine have been imperfectly shaped, but are large and fruitful. Good yield. At first, I was inclined to think the fruit had bad spots or splits, with lots of crevices -- but not really. You can't make nice slices with that part, but cut into chunks for roasting and it's all the same. I have roasted and frozen them and it has been worth the effort in the winter, especially enjoying them in dishes without much embellishment -- straight up pureed on pizza, or sauteed and mixed with basil and spinach in a simple pasta. Highly recommend. They are heavy and will need staking or tying up.
What a Beauty
First time I've ever planted this variety and I LOVE these ! A very good sized tomato with the best taste ever. Sweet and Smokey . Great on a fried bologna sandwich or BLT, but delish just sliced with salt and pepper. Next year I will have several Cherokee purple plants !