Purple Haze is a hybrid tomato. Basically, it's a cross between a stable parent line originating in Brandywine x Cherokee Purple crossed with another open pollinated variety, Black Cherry. The result is a large, dark, tasty cherry tomato. The breeder released the seeds to a couple of plant vendors (SelectedPlants.com and Laurel's Plants) with the understanding that part of the proceeds of sales will go towards autism research or assistance. SelectedPlants.com may still have a few F1 Purple Haze plants available this spring, but you'll have to check with him on that. Beyond that, several people are growing out segregating and recombining variations of Purple Haze and may have gotten to the F3 or F4 generations by this time. There have been some size differences expressed in the recombinants that are larger than the original Purple Haze. Hope that helps a little. Surely there is more to learn. Bill

We start seeds in cups with Walmart brand potting soil. Starting seeds and gardening isn't complicated. Start the seeds, repot, harden, plant, till/weed/feed/spray, eat and enjoy..rinse/repeat http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/tomato/msg1116545016871.html Half way down the page I planted 6 plants last year in three holes to try it. I got good results and besides I have to dig half the holes and planting this way takes up half the space. Think about it, there's no downside to planting two in a hole. When planting seeds we use 12oz cups. We buy clear cups at Walmart. I take a stack of 6 or 8, turn them upside down and poke five holes in them with an ice pick. We fill them with potting soil about 2/3rds full and plant two tomatoe seeds about 3/4" apart about 1/4" deep ..no more. As the plants grow keep filling the cup up with potting soil to cover the exposed stem. The hairs on the stems will grow roots. The more roots the better. I built mom two grow lights. She also has a wood/coal burner in the basement utility room where the plants are. That room is generally 80*. The perfect temp for growing new plants. Plants love the good light and warmth to grow. Another thing..never feed new plants plant food..just plain water and not to much..just keep the soil lightly moist. The clear cups will aid in looking at the moisture and you can also watch the root growth. We let the plants grow to 9 to 12" before we pot them. I go to restaurants and ask them for or to save their plastic mozzarella containers. These are great for potting. These pots are I believe 1.5 quart containers 6"X6". I have about 150 of them I keep on hand. Store them away from sunlight when not in use and they will last several years. I stack them about 5 deep upside down and poke about 6 holes in them with a ice pick. To prepare the pots, I take a 12oz cup and fill hit hard packed with real damp dirt. I enclose the top with duct tape. I take the large pots and fill the bottom with a good one inch of dirt. I place the 12oz enclosed cup and place it in the middle and fill and pack dirt around the cup..pull out the cup. When we are ready to repot we just take the plants out of the 12oz cups and drop them into the large pots..compress them in, fill to top and lightly water then we put them into the greenhouse I built. I buy shish kabob sticks at Walmart for supports..98C for 100..tie them with knitting yarn. Remember ther are two plants in each pot. When planting to the garden we try to bury at least three inches of the stem for good roots and we prune off any branches touching or near the ground. As the plants grow I prune off the bottom of the plant up about 12". I start pruning off bottom sucker, not all, as the plant grows and towards the top after they start reaching five feet. If you prune alot you get fewer but larger tomatoes..limited pruning gives you more but smaller tomatoes. I take a middle ground. We had plants this year that I punned off the tops at near seven feet. If I wouldn't have they would have easily been eight feet or more. Two years ago we had a cherry tomato plant that reached 9'4" and was just loaded with tomatoes all summer. Hope this helps.

Trudi, Greetings from someone who spends a lot of time at Exit 57 of the L.I.E. I am growing 2 Purple Haze plants this year. One is from an original F1 plant from Laurels last year, that I have been nursing by taking cuttings of, then taking more cuttings from the cuttings over the Winter to then have an original F1 plant for this season. The other Purple Haze plant that I am growing this year as well came from an F2 plant that I grew last year, and saved the seeds from that one. Hence, that is the source for my F3 plant this year. Make sense? Raybo

Cindy asked, "I probably missed this - but with what did you cross NAR?" Cindy, NARX refers to Brandywine x Neves Azorean Red, a cross that was done in 2007 in Indiana and the F1s and subsequent generations being grown out in several locations including Indiana, Germany, New Jersey, Delaware, Mississippi, Texas, New York and I think Virginia. Ray got his seeds from the New Jersey participant but I don't know whether he received F1 or F2 seeds originally or at what generation he is growing it out in 2009. You will see the various recombinations of the original cross more frequently referred to as Brannar or BWxNAR.