ONLY AVAILABLE as Local Pickup or Local Delivery in Northern and Central New Jersey, Metro New York City, Westchester, Rockland, Southern Orange Counties.
Bonnie Plants Cherokee Purple Tomato is heirloom from seeds passed down from Native Cherokee Americans. A good producer & always ranks very high in taste tests for rich, dark color and unmatched sweet, richness on sandwiches or in salads.
Beautiful dusky pink with a deep, rich-red interior. Cherokee Purple grows well in most regions of the U.S. Let the fruit ripen on the vine for the best flavor. This one is a consistent taste test winner at tomato fests around the country. In our Alabama test garden, where conditions are ideal and the season is long, we harvest and average of 20 or more fruits from each plant. Vigorous vines benefit from strong staking or caging.
Light Full sun
Fruit size 10 to 12 oz
Matures 80 to 90 days
Plant spacing 36 inches apart
Plant size 4 to 6 feet
Plant type Indeterminate
How to Plant and Care for Tomatoes
Tomatoes run on warmth; plant in late spring and early summer except in zone 10, where they are a fall and winter crop.
Devote a prime, sunny spot to growing tomatoes. Tomatoes need at least 6 to 8 hours of sun to bring out their best flavors.
You will need to stake, trellis, or cage most tomato plants to keep them off the ground. Decide on a support plan before you set out your plants, then add that support directly after planting.
Give each plant enough room to grow. Space robust, long-vined, indeterminate varieties about 3 feet apart. Stockier determinate plants can be grown 2 feet apart. Improve the planting area by mixing in a few inches of high quality garden soil, like aged compost-enriched Miracle-Gro® Performance Organics® All Purpose In-Ground Soil, with the top layer of existing soil. If growing in containers, you’ll need at least a 24-inch pot for an indeterminate variety, or an 18-inch pot for a determinate variety. Be sure to fill containers with premium potting mix, such as Miracle-Gro® Performance Organics® Container Mix, for best growth.
Tomatoes take up nutrients best when the soil pH ranges from 6.2 to 6.8, and they need a constant supply of major and minor plant nutrients. To provide needed nutrients, mix a continuous-release fertilizer with calcium, like Miracle-Gro® Performance Organics® Edibles Plant Nutrition Granules, into the soil as you prepare the planting holes. Continue feeding during the growing season as the label directs. This will help protect fruit from blossom end rot, a problem that can occur when the plant isn’t getting enough calcium.
At the same time, mix in 3 to 4 inches of compost, which will provide minor nutrients and help hold moisture and fertilizer in the soil until it is needed by the plants.
To grow a really strong tomato plant, we recommend burying two-thirds of the stem when planting. This crucial step will allow the plant to sprout roots along the buried stem, so your plant will be stronger and better able to find water in a drought. Please note that this deep-planting method only works with tomatoes (and tomatillos), not other veggies.
Immediately after planting, water seedlings to help settle them in.
You can combine fast-maturing varieties with special season-stretching techniques to grow an early crop, but wait until the last frost has passed to plant main-season tomatoes.
Cover the ground with 2 to 4 inches of mulch to minimize weeds and help keep the soil evenly moist. Straw and shredded leaves make great mulches for tomatoes.
Water regularly, aiming for at least an inch of moisture per week (through rain or watering), more in the summertime. Feel the soil; if the top inch is dry, it’s time to water.
