Cherokee Purple Tomato

7 Review(s)

Your Price: $2.95

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Part Number:3400251

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Large (12-16 ounces), dark pink with darker purple shoulders with an outstanding flavor.

Cherokee Purple

80 days, indeterminate — 'Cherokee Purple' was one of the earliest heirloom varieties to find its way out of seed saving circles and into the awareness of mainstream gardeners. The vines have relatively dense, regular leaf foliage that have a tendency to curl upwards. Although now relatively commonplace, 'Cherokee Purple' was one of the first varieties publicly available with dark, dusky, purplish hues.

Its fruits are large (twelve to sixteen ounces), dark pink with darker purple shoulders and have an excellent, full, complex flavor, with a slightly sweet aftertaste. It is a perfect slicer for tomato sandwiches or chunked in salads. As you can tell from some of the photographs, it is one of Mike Dunton's favorite tomatoes from summertime meals.

Originally given to author and tomato authority Craig LeHoullier in 1990 by John "J. D." Green of Sevierville, Tennessee. Mr. Green reported that he had been given the seeds by a neighbor named Jean Greenlee of Rutledge, Tennessee in 1986-1987. Her grandfather had received them from Cherokee Indians some hundred years prior. Craig named the variety, introduced it to the gardening community, and the rest is history. Each packet contains approximately 20 seeds, and there are about 85 seeds per gram.

Ideal

Excellent germ, as expected from Victory; no pest or disease problems at all; I will say that again: at all. I am the only person in the neighborhood whose 'maters did not blight out. I've never seen the like. These are not tomato vines, these are tomato trees, complete with bark at the bottom; dark green foliage so heavy they had to be pruned. Started setting a bit earlier than expected, but those fruits were not the biggest, about a pound. Those that started on sched easily went 2 lbs, and they kept on coming until frost-kill; slight tendency to crack after ripening begins. Purples being new to me, I did let the first few over-ripen, but there were more than enough others to cover my shame. Best flavor ever, perfect on a nice fat burger; dehydrates and reconstitutes perfectly. This is the tomato for my area, bar none.

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Reviewed by: (Verified Buyer) David Emigh from NW PA. on 12/1/2013

Great taste and very vigorous

I have a small garden where disease problems are inevitable--please keep that in mind when reading. Now, on to the review: I grew these, Amish Paste, Goliath, and Old Brooks in containers in the only sunny spot on my patio, which is unavoidably close to where I grew peppers last year. These did the best of the four. All were affected by early blight, but in Cherokee Purple it was barely noticeable (they were eventually killed by late blight, which is typical around here). Cherokee Purple was not affected by the anthracnose which affected the others, or by the Septoria leaf spot which affected the Amish Paste. They also had very good flavor. There was some cracking even though they were in self-watering containers, but I don't mind that. Only down side is that friends, and even one family member, were put off by the "strange" color and did not want gifts of these tomatoes. Well--more for me! Overall, these gave us heirloom taste with better than hybrid-level robustness--very impressed!

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Reviewed by: (Verified Buyer) Alison Dvorak from zone 6b. on 12/30/2016

One of my favorites

Under normal circumstances, Cherokee Purple is a favorite in my garden. I love its sweet flavor and the fruits are super meaty so they are great for sweet sauces like catsup and BBQ sauce. They can also take a good bit of abuse as far as temperatures go although did struggle this year in my garden but temperatures have been right at the 100F mark most all summer where normally we're about 5F below that. My only complaint about Cherokee Purple is I find I have to be really careful and make sure they get consistent water or they do crack. I still love them.

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Reviewed by: Regina Coffelt from Idaho Desert. on 9/3/2013

Really big!

Really large tomatoes, sweet, a bit too sweet for some tastes. Very attractive when sliced - sort of purple and green and pink. Very productive plants.

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Reviewed by: Ruth Lestina from Wexford, PA. on 9/3/2011

One of my favorite varieties...

The seeds had a good germination rate. I didn't experience the large fruits but the plants produced well into the later part of the growing season. They have a well balanced flavor that complements a nicely grilled burger. I introduced them to my father in-law and now he waits for me to grow them every year.

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Reviewed by: (Verified Buyer) Vinny Hall from Livonia Michigan . on 8/28/2013

Great taste and production

These are some of my favorite tomatoes! I saved seeds from last year and they came back true and bountiful this year.

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Reviewed by: (Verified Buyer) James Haddan from Dayton Nevada. on 8/22/2020

Winner!

Fantastic flavor and vigorous plant! Nearly 100% germination this year. Thank you!

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Reviewed by: (Verified Buyer) Mary Kellogg from Monroe, CT. on 8/30/2020

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