PRUDEN'S PURPLE TOMATO SEEDS

Solanum lycopersicum

ORGANIC

For some inexplicable reason, Brandywine is heralded as THE heirloom tomato to grow. But it isn't easy to grow in every garden. It demands a long hot season to produce good ripe fruit and it's just too bad if you can't provide that. No soup for you!

Pruden's Purple is the superior choice for short seasons and cool maritime climates. Big potato leaf plants produce dark pink slicers with perfect “heirloom" flavor. Rich and sweet and tangy. Solid fruits have very few seeds. Perfect for sandwiches.

Start tomato seeds indoors, about 6-8 weeks before the last spring frost. Sow seeds just below surface of moist soil, pressing to keep seeds snug. Mist generously with warm water and cover with plastic to maintain moisture and temperature. Kept consistently warm (around 70°F) in bright light, seeds will begin to germinate in about a week. Uncover promptly. Prick out seedlings once they have true leaves and transplant into individual 3" pots to grow on at warm room temperature in bright light. Water from the bottom and allow soil to dry out a bit between waterings. Fertilize weekly with dilute fish and seaweed emulsion.

Harden off thoroughly and transplant into warm garden soil in full sun after all danger of frost has passed. Amend soil with seaweed, azomite, and fish bone meal if your conscience allows. Plant seedlings as deeply as possible, removing lower branches on leggy plants. Mulch with lots of grass to keep soil from splashing on plants. As plants grow, prune lower branches as necessary to keep them from touching the ground. Cage, stake or trellis once stems have become strong and sturdy. Staking too early will result in weak plants.

Water tomato plants just until established. Overwatering, during fruiting especially, will result in insipid watery tomatoes. Make tomato plants suffer. Their roots will grow deep and you'll be rewarded with richly flavored fruits.

If you are growing tomato plants in a container or raised bed on a solid substrate, you must water and fertilize regularly. Avoid nitrogen-based fertlizers.

Pruden's Purple tomato plants are tall and indeterminate. Elsewhere you may find regular leaf selections, or selections that do not specify leaf type, but we feel strongly that the potato leaf strain is superior and the only one true to historic descriptions. Though it does not produce ripe fruit early in the season, it will reliably ripen and sweeten up in around 80 days after transplanting. If you set your plants out in early June, you'll be enjoying these tomatoes in late August. Be sure to provide plenty of sunshine and space. Do not prune.

This tomato is not purple as the name would suggest. Historically, pink tomatoes were referred to as purple tomatoes. There was no pink, just red and purple. It is for this reason that very old varieties of pink tomatoes are sometimes described as purple in seed catalogs of the 19th and early 20th century. Or named “purple" in this case. Consider it a horticultural quirk.

Packet contains at least 20 seeds.