Varieties of purple tomatoes
If earlier purple tomatoes were considered a curiosity, and it was very rare to find them, today they are found quite often not only in greenhouses, but also in open ground. Purple and black tomatoes have many advantages over red and yellow varieties. Not only the skin is painted in an unusual color, but also the pulp. The shade can range from light chocolate to purple, almost black.
Varieties of purple tomatoes
What provides the color gamut
Purple tomatoes take on their unusual hue thanks to red and purple pigments. The pigment production process is provided by lycopene, carotenoids (found in red varieties) and anthocyanins (found in eggplant and blue cabbage). In tomatoes, anthocyanins were found by long-term selection.
Positive sides
Purple tomatoes have many advantages:
- have an unusual balanced taste;
- able to cleanse the body of toxins, due to the high content of anthocyanins;
- great for making various pickles, sauces, tomato juice;
- mid-season varieties;
- are highly resistant to most diseases.
disadvantages
The black tomato was bred as a result of a long selection in China, and adapted to Russian weather conditions, so that it has practically no drawbacks. It is resistant not only to many diseases, but is also able to withstand even small frosts, bears fruit until late autumn. There are only a couple of disadvantages that gardeners distinguish: not as bright a taste as in the descriptions and in the can after rolling it becomes the usual red color. In comparison with all the pluses, these cannot be called disadvantages either.
Purple Cognac
Variety Violet Cognac gives beautiful raspberry-red fruits, large fleshy, each tomato weighs about 400 g. The plant is tall, about 1 m in height. Recognized as one of the best in terms of yield. The ripening period is 108-115 days.
Dark varieties of tomatoes bear fruit for a very long time, until the very frost. In order to prolong the fruiting of a cognac tomato, the harvest should be done correctly. The ripe tomato must be immediately removed from the bush in order to enable all the ovaries to fully develop.
The modified tomato tends to retain its original appearance and taste for a very long time after being plucked from the bush. This is provided by all the same anthocyanins. They make vegetables immune to Botrytis cinerea mold, which affects all plucked fruits. A blue or purple colored tomato is great for preserving all kinds of pickles and is often used for commercial purposes.
Purple Wessel
Wessel's purple pride is an early ripening variety. Bushes are indeterminate. Wessel violet produces black-purple fruits, elongated in shape, with a pointed tip. It has an unusual taste with sweet notes.
Tomato fruit tastes sweet
To make it easier for the seeds of Wessel's pride to pass the earth barrier, it is recommended to plant them interspersed with the seeds of crops such as oats, radishes or lettuce. The best food for black tomatoes is granulated superphosphates. Despite all the hassle of growing seedlings, purple tomatoes are disease-resistant crops. Even the harsh Russian climate does not frighten them.
Transplanting into open ground is carried out when there are 8-10 strong leaves on the stem. Hardening of seedlings is carried out gradually. A month before planting, pots with sprouts are placed in a room where the air temperature does not drop below 10-12 ℃. In direct sunlight, the sprouts should also be removed gradually so that the deciduous part does not get burned. You should not plant a blue variety in areas where potatoes grew last year.
Purple fairy
The Purple Fairy is a mid-season tomato. The plant is tall, up to 2 m. Fruits are purple with green veins, the inside is burgundy with green chambers for seeds. It differs from other varieties in its fruity aroma and high taste. The walls of the fruit are thickened, sugary, the flesh is very juicy.
All tomatoes grow from seeds. Before planting, the seed should be soaked in water with the addition of potassium permanganate. Keep the seeds in a glass of water for 10-15 minutes. This process allows the seeds to be disinfected and also to separate empty seeds from full ones. Seeds that have sunk to the bottom should be wrapped in a damp cloth and left in this form until the first shoots appear.
The fabric should not be too wet to prevent the seeds from becoming moldy. When the sprouts reach 3-5 mm, they can be planted in cups. To do this, use peat pots or ordinary plastic containers. Seeds with sprouts begin to be planted in mid-March. The pots should be filled with soil a little more than a third, and after placing the seeds, cover them with a layer of soil of 2 cm.
Glasses with seeds are placed in a room with an air temperature of 22 ℃. The first shoots appear in about a week. It is necessary to transplant seedlings when a stem with 2-3 leaves appears.
Jasper
Jasper is another early ripening variety that can reach a height of 2m. It grows in 1 or 2 trunks, is characterized by high productivity. Delicate pulp, very pleasant on the palate with sweet-fruity notes. Planting young Jasper shoots is carried out a couple of months after sowing the seed. Description of the main requirements for caring for young Jasper tomato sprouts:
- watering once a week;
- 2 months before planting in the ground, the seedlings must go through 3 stages of feeding, starting from the moment of picking;
- one of the main factors affecting the growth and productivity of plants in the future is the hardening of seedlings, you should not plant the shoots immediately in direct sunlight;
- the greenhouse must be equipped with a good ventilation system;
- temperature regime 15-18 ℃, with a relative humidity not higher than 70%, ideally 60-65%.
Blue dragon
The variety needs a mandatory garter
The Blue Dragon variety grows in bunches of 6-8 pieces, it looks like a plum, the structure of the fruit is smooth, glossy. The fruits are distinguished by their fruity-spicy taste, without acid. Purple varieties are very hardy tomatoes and the Blue Dragon is no exception. First of all, you should take care of the seedlings. This stage is considered the most important in the cultivation of the Blue Dragon tomato variety and is the key to their good immunity in the future. No fertilization is required before picking.
The ideal site for the Blue Dragon planting is the former legume habitat. Before planting in open ground, you should dig it up and apply fertilizer with superphosphates. To provide protection against fungal diseases, it is recommended to put chicken manure in each hole. The Blue Dragon has a high growth of 1.8 m, so the bushes must be tied up.You can form bushes in 1 pillar or 2-3, it all depends on the area in which the crops will grow.
Cherokee
Cherokee purple heart belongs to the mid-season varieties. The fruit is heart-shaped, black-purple in color, juicy with a sweet note. Their unusual appearance allows the culture to be used for landscaping, which many gardeners do.
Every lover of unusual cultivated plants, having once seen purple Cherokee tomatoes, thinks about getting an outlandish vegetable. The main advantage of such a culture is its high resistance to diseases, however, no matter how much purple tomatoes are praised, with improper care, they can still be attacked by whiteflies and spider mites, and are susceptible to pathogens of fusarium and black leg. Greenhouse representatives will be less resistant to infestations than those growing in the open field.
The most dangerous for the Cherokee is the invasion of the whitefly, it is quite difficult to get rid of it because the moth is not sensitive to many chemicals. The main reason for the development of fungal diseases is waterlogging of the soil. Warm, humid environments are also favorable for the spread of pests. With proper care and adherence to the humidity regime, problems with the cultivation of this variety are not observed.
Purple Pumpkin and Bumblebee
Purple Pumpkin is a tall variety, medium ripeness, fruits are dark lilac in the form of pumpkins. Fruit weight reaches 250 g, tomatoes are juicy, with a sweet taste. The Bumblebee variety is a low-growing plant, the fruits grow in clusters of 2-4 tomatoes, raspberry-pink with green stripes.
Among the reviews of those who grow blue tomatoes, and especially Pumpkin and Bumblebee, there are practically no negative ones, the main difficulty is caring for the planting material in the first stages. In order for tomatoes to acquire a beautiful shade, it is necessary to maintain the acid-base balance of the soil. If the soil is not rich in vitamins and minerals, the plant loses anthocyanins and then the fruits will not be purple, but pink or red. To increase disease resistance, Pumpkin and Bumblebee are fertilized with ash and chalk once a month. You can increase the acid balance of the soil with the help of chicken manure or nitrogen.
Waterlogging of the soil should not be allowed, seedlings should be watered once a week, adult plants in dry weather - once every 4-5 days. It is recommended to mulch the soil to retain moisture in it. To prevent a whitefly from starting on the site and in the greenhouse, ladybirds and lacewings should not be removed, they are the worst enemies of the moth.
findings
Purple tomatoes look attractive and unusual. Varieties of violet-black color are distinguished by a high content of nutrients, resistance to the most common diseases, as well as high yields and a long fruiting period. As a result of long-term experiments, it has been proven that the use of these varieties of tomatoes has a beneficial effect on the human body affected by oncological diseases.
Some people think that the unusual color of the fruit is the result of genetic modification, but the varieties were developed through conventional breeding. Many forums write that tomatoes, when grown, did not turn purple, but remained pink or red. This fact is due to improper care. The purple color is provided by anthocyanins, the amount of which decreases if the soil is insufficiently fertilized, and the acid-base balance is reduced.
In general, nothing bad can be said about the varieties. All around there are only pluses. Often tomatoes of purple varieties are grown for decorative and aesthetic purposes in greenhouses and apartments.