Purple tomatoes: types, variety description, cultivation features, care rules, advantages and disadvantages

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Recently more and more people are attracted to the exotic. She did not bypass the side and vegetables, and in particular tomatoes. Gardeners are very fond of unusual varieties and are just eager to grow them on their plots. What do we know about purple tomatoes? Are they really that good or is it just a fashion statement? After all, all exotic varieties, as a rule, require special care.

General information

Tomatoes with a purple color (as well as with black) require special attention. There is no exact instruction, but there are certain measures that are best followed. The purpose that purple tomatoes and all dark varieties of tomatoes have is diet food. Therefore, when growing them, you do not need to use chemicals, and it is better to apply organic matter as fertilizers, rather than minerals.

Tomatoes with a dark purple or blue color similar to eggplant are believed to be medicinal. These properties are due to a large numberanthocyanins, which determine their color. In terms of healing properties, such fruits are compared even with blueberries or red wine. This is an excellent anti-inflammatory agent, necessary for the treatment of diseases of the digestive organs and diabetes. In addition, the substances in such tomatoes have a beneficial effect on the human body as a whole.

If you taste these tomatoes, you understand that they favorably differ in taste from other varieties. Taste is most likely the main reason for the increased demand for dark and purple tomatoes, which are presented in quite a wide variety.

What's special?

Consider, for example, the "lilac lake". This is an early ripening tomato variety. It has the following characteristics:

• semi-determinant;
• medium height - from 130 to 150 cm;
• universal in purpose;
• color of ripe fruit is brown-burgundy;
• flat-round in shape;
• weight from 200 to 350 grams.

Dark varieties of tomatoes, especially purple tomatoes, can satisfy even the most demanding tastes. However, you should be careful, as unscrupulous entrepreneurs often invent hybrid varieties and pack everything in bags.

To avoid such tricks, you need to approach everything with skill and special attention. It is better to give preference to trusted producers and a well-known variety listed in the register.

BIn principle, purple tomatoes, like dark varieties, are no longer a curiosity. Today they are grown not only in greenhouses, but also on open ground. Both the skin of the fruit and its pulp are painted in an unusual color. Shade ranges from light chocolate to purple-black.

Thanks to what does such a color scheme exist?

Many gardeners, and even ordinary people, often have the question: "Why are tomatoes purple and why are they so good?". This shade in tomatoes is manifested due to the coloring pigments with which they were enriched in the process of creating the species. In red varieties, these are lycopene and carotenoids, and in blue ones, the very anthocyanins that were bred in tomatoes by a long selection process. As a result of complex manipulations, the tomatoes turned purple and acquired positive qualities:

• unusual and balanced taste;
• the ability to cleanse the human body of toxins (the merit of anthocyanins);
• great choice for sauces, pickles and tomato juice;
• mid-season varieties;
• high resistance to most diseases.

Cons

Are there any disadvantages? Hardly ever. These varieties are perfectly adapted to local weather conditions. It is able to withstand light frosts and bear fruit until late autumn. But there is one feature - after rolling into jars, dark tomatoes lose their shade and tend more towards red.

Highlighting some varieties of purple tomatoes, it is worth stopping at "purple cognac". These tomatoes are beautiful.crimson red fruit. The tomato is large and fleshy. Its weight reaches 400 grams. Bushes are tall, up to 1 meter in height. In terms of yield, the variety is recognized as one of the best. Ripening period: 108-115 days.

Knowledge and benefits

Western Europeans are no longer surprised by the color scheme of vegetables and do not ask why tomatoes are purple and whether the human body needs them. It is no coincidence that blue tomatoes are a must-have item on supermarket shelves, and special attention is paid to the selection of such species. The fact is that blueberries, rich in anthocyanins (useful protective substances), are rarely eaten by a person. And he won't eat much of it.

Tomatoes, as well as their processed products, can be consumed daily for therapeutic purposes.

Blue fruit variety Blue Tomato has dark purple or blue fruits, almost like an eggplant. He is of American origin.

These tomatoes also come in red-purple color. They have soft pink juicy flesh. The average weight is 130 grams. Tomatoes are great for salad dressing. They are also very fond of housewives to use in conservation. This variety has a high yield. The plant is tall and needs shaping, as it has one stem. In terms of ripening, this is an average tomato.

Our tomatoes

But there are varieties bred already on the territory of Ukraine and Russia. Interestingly, the purple color of a tomato of domestic origin varies from light purple to dark. Thesetomatoes are richer in composition and have different color saturation.

From American domestic varieties also differ in the type of bush. They are powerful, thick-stemmed standard or semi-standard. These are determinate plants with high yields.

Specially Notable Species

What a purple tomato looks like, the photo below illustrates this. However, do not forget about the large variety of varieties. So it is not possible to show everything in this article.

The most popular among them:

• "purple cognac";
• "Wessel";
• "fairy";
• "pumpkin".

Not a little known varieties such as "jasper", "cherokee" and "bumblebee" "blue dragon". For example, the last of them has an interesting structure of the bush. The fruits of the blue dragon tomato are similar to plums and are collected in clusters. Popular dark varieties include:

• "black cherry";
• "purple jasper";
• "idol".

"Black Cherry" appeals to those who love sweet, miniature cherry tomatoes. The fruits of this variety are similar to dark, purple berries. The mass of a tomato is barely 35 grams. The variety is absolutely universal, with high palatability, rich aroma, resistance to cracking during heat treatment. These tomatoes have a high yield, form many clusters and are indeterminate. Passing is a must for them. Need to leaveone stem. In terms of ripening, the variety belongs to the average.

"Purple Jasper" is bred in China and matures outdoors. The oriental variety has perfectly taken root in our latitudes. The fruits are like little watermelons. This tomato is suitable for salads, for decorating the table, for stuffing and, of course, for canning. The plant is tall and also requires the formation of a single stem. It needs to be tied up. The yield of the variety is high. He has an average maturity.

Most Popular Style

"Kumir" is the leader in the table of tomatoes. It is suitable for growing in greenhouses and outdoors. It has a high degree of productivity and disease resistance. In greenhouse conditions, it ripens somewhat faster than in open ground. The first fruits can get on the table already after two months after the dive. The average weight of tomatoes of this variety is 275 grams. From a bush you can get about 5 kg of tomato. On clean soil, regular chemical treatment is not required.

Fruit characteristics

As for the blue varieties of tomato, they are generally endowed with decorative properties. Their fruits are green at first, and then, due to exposure to sunlight, begin to turn blue. In some varieties, this color appears as if someone sprinkled blue snow on the berries, while in others, the fruits are fancifully decorated in the form of purple spots and geometric shapes.

Indigo Rose Tomatoes form blue in the place where the sun hit, and on the otherside they are green at first, and then acquires the color of burgundy. The flesh of this variety is red and sometimes dark pink. Tomatoes look very similar to plums. From a bush, you can collect a whole bucket, or even more.

Recommendations for gardeners

As for the peculiarities of growing purple tomatoes, after choosing a variety, they begin to prepare the ground. Good fruiting of tomatoes will depend on the composition of the soil mixture. You need to take humus, compost and earth in equal proportions, mix, add a little wood ash. After the soil mixture is prepared, it is sifted and disinfected. This is necessary so that no microorganisms remain in the soil. It is advisable to hold the soil for up to 10 minutes in a double boiler, then the fungal spores will be destroyed. Another such procedure will lead to the death of weeds.

To achieve the best result, tomato seeds are germinated before sowing. They are placed in a napkin moistened with warm water and placed on a plate. Then carefully cover the seeds with the free end of the cloth. A plate with planting material is placed in a bag and placed in a warm place. They will sprout in a few days. The napkin should always be damp. If necessary, then warm water is added to it (a little to moisten). After the appearance of sprouts, you can begin the process of planting.

Having made grooves in the soil, the seeds are laid out with tweezers at a distance of about 1.5-2 cm. After planting, they are sprinkled with earth. The soil is slightly compacted. After all, the soil is sprayed with a spray bottle. Watering strongjet is not possible. Now the seed container is covered with a film and after 7-8 days the first shoots should appear. Then it will be possible to remove the covering material and allow the seedlings to grow naturally, helping them with watering and lighting.

The purple color of fruits in tomatoes has nothing to do with the color of the seedlings. It should be normal green. After planting some varieties of tomatoes, many gardeners, noticing that the tomato seedlings are purple, begin to worry. This is typical of inexperienced farmers. They cannot understand why young tomato shoots are purple, what is the reason for this manifestation?

After all, a change in color is a signal that negative changes are taking place with the plant already at the initial phase of growth. Further, the seedlings of a purple hue begin to wither and emit an unpleasant odor.

What to do?

In general, the blue color of tomato leaves is a sign of a lack of phosphorus. Tomatoes do not perceive an excess of mineral fertilizers. The seedling is not yet a full-fledged plant, so it is very vulnerable.

Phosphorus is not absorbed at temperatures below 15°C.

If you put a thermometer next to the seedlings, and it shows the desired temperature, then you still should not calm down. The temperature of the soil is usually lower than that of the air. It is impossible for a box with tomato seedlings to stand close to the cold glass of the window.

If the leaves turn purple and are raised up, then the problem is in the low temperature. Then between the windowsill anddrawer set foil for additional protection and lighting. If this does not help, then you need to move the seedling box to a warmer place and provide illumination for up to 12 hours a day. To do this, use a phytolamp or a fluorescent lamp. After a while, the seedlings will become the usual green color without additional feeding.

But if the temperature of the content is normal, then the matter is the lack of phosphorus. Then it is necessary to spray on the seedling leaf with an extract from superphosphate. To get a solution, a tablespoon of superphosphate is poured with 150 grams of boiling water and infused for 8-10 hours. After the mixture is dissolved in 2 liters of water. Now you can spray and water the seedlings.