Cherokee Purple producing like mad this year....

15 years ago

...at least compared to my prior experience with the variety. This is my best producer so far this year, in terms of number of fruits (last year it was Brandywine Sudduth, also quite odd). I have grown it twice before, always delicious, but always small plants with poor production. One plant is just under 5 feet tall and has 24 great looking fruits (first one just starting to blush), that is more than all of the 5 plants that I had the other two years that I grew it. My other two plants are also doing very well, even though one was nearly destroyed by hail at the beginning of June. Hopefully taste lives up to production, will try my first one in a few days.

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Comments (8)

jrslick (North Central Kansas, Zone 5B)
15 years ago
ME TOO! I have 7-8 plants and they are producing 10-15 pounds every 2 days! They are crazy and I am selling them like crazy too! I just wish they wouldn't crack.

Did you start yours from seed, if so, where did you get it?

Jay
johnny_tomato_seed
15 years ago
I am so jealous. I had ONE great cherokee purple before it got stunt and some kind of wilt. Oh well, it's good to know I will grow it again next year.

Enjoy your harvest !!!!!!!
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Thanks for that timeline. Isn't it interesting how a variety can remain true for so long while in its native environs and then within ten years of introduction to the rest of the world, evolve so suddenly into other expressions? ***** Yes, I do think it's interesting and I'm trying to think of other comparable examples, but this is not the time of day that I do my best thinking. LOL I know Keith has said somewhere that that the CP and I think it was CG that Craig sent him have not been stable for him. But other than some wrong CP being sold all three have been genetically stable for me and quite a few other folks. And Craig also sent me CP right after he got the seeds from John Green and I've grown it many times since 1991 or so and it's still fine. However, I'm sure that Craig is more likley to see any changes b'c of the large number of plants that he grows to sell at the Farmer's Market and possibly feedback from those. But the CP to CC change occurred in his own toamto patch. Randomness at work? Why not. And the CC to CG change occurred in Darrell Merrell's patch and until recently Darrell was growing huge numbers of plants for retail sale. Aha, I did think of one other more recent example and that's all the variations of some of Brand Gates varieties. I keep telling him he's growing on top of a nuclear pile, LOL, but seldom have I see so many different varieties arise in such a short time. And since those are recent ones, I don't know how they'll stand up to time as well. All the color change ones I've known and experienced that were probably epidermis mutations have remained stable for me. I think I still have a pink Cuostralee and a pink Great Divide, and both should be red as in the original. But I don't send out seed that's not what the original should be. And flipping thru the Yearbook pages I see other color change ones, such as Amana Orange to I can't remember what. The question that usually comes to mind for me when instability is discussed is whether a variety was never stable in the first place and it's just continueing to segregate or whether a change was due to DNA mutation and that mutation was permanesntly expressed afterwards. Carolyn
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hybri
15 years ago
This is my first year growing tomatoes (or anything) and the purple cherokee is making tomatoes all over the place. I got the plant from a Meijer grocery store. A Brandywine from the same store is doing well also. I got those to add some variety and to serve as backups in case my Better Boy/4th of July seedlings didn't make it. The 4th of July's mostly died except maybe one which isn't a huge loss from what I've read but I think I have too many plants, maybe 12 or 15 for us 2 people. Who knew they would actually grow?

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holly-2006
15 years ago
Same here, Anthony. Last year, short little plant with maybe 3 or 4 toms produced. This year, 2 plants are putting out many more (didn't count), and 1 is starting to blush also. Should be ready maybe by the end of the week.

I've also noticed much less cracking this year than last.

Any problems with blight in your area?
raisemybeds
15 years ago
Last year I experienced the same thing with CP, and this year so far only a couple have ripened. But it's like you have observed, when one variety is a little sloer, something else is busy "gangbustering" for you, and you can never explain it. It all evens out. Love that CP, though.
anthony_toronto
Original Author
15 years ago
jrslick, I did start from seed (not many sellers of heirloom plant seedlings in my area, unfortunately).

Holly, the plant with 24 fruits has no cracking yet, another has 15 with no cracking, and the last one (which was reduced to a stem by hail at the beginning of June, but now has 4 large ones and more than a dozen little ones) also has no cracking yet. Given the bi-weekly downpours that we have been having I am surprised I have not seen more cracking, but very little on any plant so far. I am worried that some of my plants have a bit of blight, but not the CP's.

raisemybeds, this is 4th year growing, trying several varieties and eliminating half or so each year (have averaged 20 varieties with 8 to 10 coming back the following year). Have definitely seen large variation in varieties from year to year, which makes is very difficult to decide to eliminate something that everyone loves just because it did not work in my garden. Garden only big enough for 40 plants, have given several varieties second changes, some surprises but wonder if some that I eliminated just happened to make a bad first impression...
jel7
15 years ago
Anthony,

WHERE did you purchase the CP seed that have preformed so well.

John
duajones
15 years ago
My first 2 or 3 growouts of CP didnt perform very well either. Then last year I got 20 or so off of my lone CP. This year I had two plants that gave me 25 plus. Go figure

Cherokee Purple producing like mad this year....

Comments (8)

jrslick (North Central Kansas, Zone 5B)

johnny_tomato_seed

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Cherokee Purple producing like mad this year....

Comments (8)

jrslick (North Central Kansas, Zone 5B)

johnny_tomato_seed

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