Cherokee Purple Slicing Tomato - Organic

seeds

Solanum lycopersicum
(77 days) Open pollinated.

Indeterminate. but with relatively short vines. No list of the best-tasting heirloom tomatoes would be complete without Cherokee Purple, an unusual variety from Tennessee said to have originated with the Cherokee Indians. Fruits are globes to slightly oblate, averaging 10–13 oz, with dusky brownish-purple skin, dark green shoulders and brick-red flesh. The real attraction is their rich taste, described as “sweet rich juicy winey,” “delicious sweet,” and “rich Brandywine flavor” by aficionados maintaining it in the Seed Savers Exchange. Tied with Amish Paste for our top-selling tomato. Expect some concentric cracking. In an unprecedentedly short growing season, Cherokee Purple frosted to an inch of their roots in late spring but then rebounded to produce ripe fruit before an early September freeze. Now that’s resilience! Amy LeBlanc suggests the vines should not be pruned because the delicate fruits sunburn easily. Indigenous Royalties.

Supplier Transparency:
① Small seed farmers including Fedco staff

ships year-round

This item is certified organic

4059 Cherokee Purple - Organic

A: 20 seeds

$2.50

B: 40 seeds

$3.15

C: 100 seeds

$4.25

D: 500 seeds

$10.00

E: 5,000 seeds

$57.00

Quick Details

Open pollinated?: open pollinated
Days to Maturity: 77 days

Compare

Compare with other Slicing Tomatoes

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Oregon Spring Organic	seeds	open pollinated	58 days
Cosmonaut Volkov Organic	seeds	open pollinated	65 days shell, 90 days dry
Pink Berkeley Tie-Dye Organic	seeds	open pollinated	68 days
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Pruden’s Purple Organic	seeds	open pollinated	72 days snap
Bizhiki Organic	seeds	open pollinated	75 days
KC 146 Organic	seeds	open pollinated	75 days
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Goldie Organic	seeds	open pollinated	75 days
Rutgers 250 Schermerhorn Organic	seeds	open pollinated	70 days
Green Zebra Organic	seeds	open pollinated	77 days
Cherokee Purple Organic	seeds	open pollinated	77 days
Paul Robeson Organic	seeds	open pollinated	78 days
Black Krim Organic	seeds	open pollinated	80 days
Chocolate Stripes Improved Organic	seeds	open pollinated	75 days
Golden Jubilee Organic	seeds	open pollinated	80 days
Rose de Berne Organic	seeds	open pollinated	80 days
German Johnson Organic	seeds	open pollinated	80 days
Soldacki ECO	seeds	open pollinated	80 days
Pink Brandywine Organic	seeds	open pollinated	82 days
Yellow Brandywine Organic	seeds	open pollinated	82 days
Pineapple Organic	seeds	open pollinated	85 days
Aunt Ruby’s German Green Organic	seeds	open pollinated	85 days
Mark Twain ECO	seeds	open pollinated	85 days
Weisnicht’s Ukrainian Organic	seeds	open pollinated	85 days
Weaver’s Black Brandywine ECO	seeds	open pollinated	85 days
Weaver’s Black Brandywine Organic	seeds	open pollinated	85 days
Tiffen Mennonite Organic	seeds	open pollinated	86 days
Lillian’s Yellow ECO	seeds	open pollinated	88 days
Ruby Gold ECO	seeds	open pollinated	90 days
Heirloom Tomato Blend Organic	seeds	open pollinated
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Shipping

From early May through October 31, items shipping from our garden seeds warehouse ship twice a week, usually Tuesday and Thursday. For quickest turnaround time order online by noon Monday or Wednesday.

Additional Information

Tomatoes

Days to maturity are from date of transplanting

Culture: Usually started indoors Feb–April. Minimum germination soil temperature 60°, optimal range 75–90°. Transplant after frost danger has passed. Avoid using fresh manure as it causes lush foliage with few ripe fruits. Instead use generous amounts of well-rotted cow or horse manure or compost to boost plant vigor, and crushed eggshells or gypsum at the bottom of each hole for calcium. Heavy phosphorus needs. Responds well to foliar sprays.

Determinate (Det.) bush varieties may be staked, should not be pruned.
Indeterminate (Ind.) climbing varieties are customarily staked and pruned. Tomato experts Carolyn Male and Kokopelli’s Dominique Guillet both oppose pruning, arguing more abundant foliage provides more photosynthesis.

Organically and sustainably grown seed was rinsed with a sodium hypochlorite solution to reduce risk of seed-borne disease. This treatment poses no health risks.

Saving Seed: Saving tomato seed is easy! Remove stem-end and crush the fully ripe fruit into a container. Ferment uncovered for a few days until the slurry forms a moldy cap. Rinse in a fine strainer and dry seeds on a coffee filter. To ensure true-to-type seed, grow open-pollinated varieties and separate by 50 feet.

Diseases:

ASC: Alternaria Stem Canker
EB: Early Blight
F: Fusarium
GLS: Grey Leaf Spot
LB: Late Blight
N: Nematodes
SEPT: Septoria Leaf Spot
TSWV: Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus
TMV: Tobacco Mosaic Virus
V: Verticillium

Pests and Disease Remedies for Tomatoes

Early Blight shows up as drying and dying leaves at the bottom of the plant. EB can be managed culturally; should not result in significant crop loss. Mulching deters EB by reducing rain splash on foliage. Do not compost affected plants as EB can overwinter even on dead tissue.
Cultural controls: Rotation, avoid stressing plants, staking, minimize leaf wetness, mulching, indeterminate varieties are more resistant/tolerant, disinfect stakes & cages.
Material controls: Regalia, Cease.

Late Blight usually starts on the foliage of the plant. Early in the season, late blight infection shows as roundish lesions on leaves that uniquely will cross the center vein of the leaf. Later, blotches appear on stems. Still later, hard crusty lesions form on fruits. LB on tomatoes is not seed-borne and does not survive on dead tissue. Letting plants freeze on soil surface kills LB spores.
Cultural controls: Destroy cull potatoes & potato volunteers, avoid overhead irrigation.
Material controls: Regalia, Copper, Cease.

Septoria Leaf Spot can appear almost overnight. It is characterized by yellowing and small circular spots on older leaves. It can eventually spread to the entire plant in conditions of high humidity and temperatures. It can be spread by wind or carried on clothing and tools. Septoria can live over the winter on live tissue, so don't compost affected plants.
Cultural controls: Space plants for good air circulation.
Material controls: Regalia, Copper, MilStop.

Anthracnose
Cultural controls: Rotation, mulching, minimize plant wetness, staking, use compost.
Material controls: MilStop, Copper, Regalia, Cease

Tomato Hornworm
Cultural controls: Look for frass (droppings) and handpick. Eeeuww! Use a blacklight to find them. See if you can get the chickens to eat them.
Material controls: Bacillus thuringiensis subsp.kurstaki, Monterey Garden Insect Spray.

Tarnished Plant Bug
Cultural controls: Floating row covers, good weed control.
Material Controls: Pyrethrin.

Bacterial Canker, Spec and Spot
Cultural controls: Disinfect greenhouse materials & cages, farming tools & gloves, avoid overhead irrigation, don’t work crop when wet, rotate crops, use compost.
Material controls: Copper.

Open-pollinated Slicers

250–650 seeds/g unless otherwise noted.

Preventing Late Blight

Dry conditions spare us some years, but late blight is here to stay, especially for field-grown crops. Cool temperatures, moist conditions, still air and lack of sunshine favor sporulation; spores can occur and advance in any condition of high humidity. LB might spread quickly... or not; wind-borne spores can travel hundreds of miles on storm fronts, but also can be baked into submission by the hot sun. Once LB lesions develop on your plants take immediate action to halt the disease in hopes of salvaging a crop. Our recommendations:

Where possible, use resistant varieties.
Try to find tolerant cultivars—use anecdotal evidence and experiment.
Grow your own tomato plants or buy locally grown seedlings. Avoid big-box seedlings. Know your farmer!
Do not use saved potatoes as seed stock. Purchase only new certified disease-free seed potatoes. Click here for more potato-related late blight info.
Plant in areas with full sun and few wind blocks. Avoid shade and moist environments. Facilitate air movement. Maintain high soil fertility.
If you choose to spray, have a plan and materials on hand, so you can make quick and timely application(s) when conditions indicate. Order supplies from Organic Growers Supply
Most market growers and many home gardeners now grow at least a portion of their tomatoes in high tunnels, which greatly reduces vulnerability though still requires vigilance.

Information Sources

See the Cornell Vegetable Resources website for excellent photos and info.
University of Maine Cooperative Extension: Potato IPM bi-weekly tells where LB infections have been confirmed in Maine or the eastern United States, umaine.edu/potatoes, 1-888-USE-UMCE.
Or use the forecast model uspest.org/risk/tom_pot_map to assess potential for spore germination and lesion formation in your area.

Germination Testing

For the latest results of our germination tests, please see the germination page.

Our Seeds are Non-GMO

All of our seeds are non-GMO, and free of neonicotinoids and fungicides. Fedco is one of the original companies to sign the Safe Seed Pledge.