Tomato 'Cherokee Purple'

Solanum lycopersicum

Transplant out when around 15cm (6 inches) high.

These estimates for how long Tomato 'Cherokee Purple' takes to sprout, grow and harvest are from real observations from real gardeners, right around the world. Start logging and journaling your observations to participate!

These plants will grow well with Tomato:

Alliums, celery, geraniums, petunias, nasturtium, borage, basil, oregano, parsley, carrots, marigold

These plants will not grow well with Tomato so avoid planting these within close proximity:

Cabbage, kohlrabi, black walnut, corn, fennel, peas, dill, potatoes, beetroot, kale, rosemary

These pests are known to attack Tomato plants:

A few of the more common tomato pests can include:

• Cutworms
• Flea Beetles
• Tomato Fruit Worm (a.k.a. Corn Earworm)
• Colorado Potato Beetle
• Aphids
• Mites
• Wireworm
• Vegetable Leafminer
• Slugs
• Cabbage Looper
• Hornworm
• Whitefly
• Stink Bug
• Thrips

These problems and diseases are known to effect Tomato plants:

Tomatoes can afflicted by a large host of diseases and fungal infections. The good thing is that there are many tomato varieties that will have certain resistances to problems that might be issues for certain areas. Areas with high rain fall for example will have an increased risk for blights.

Another method to avoiding disease is to practise crop rotation. By not growing the same kind of plants in the same soil year after year this prevents diseases and fungi that cause disease from building up in the soil.

Good sanitation is also important for keeping your plants and garden space healthy year after year. If you suspect a plant of disease keep it from touching other healthy plants. Wash your hands and all tools well before using them on healthy plants if they’ve touched diseased plants.

Practising good weeding techniques is also important and weeds can often harbour disease for plant in the Solanum family but not show any outward signs themselves.

Below is a list of the some of the most common diseases and afflictions that can affect tomatoes. It’s important to get proper identification for your sick plant and what’s afflicting it if you suspect any of these. Bringing a small part of the plant to a local greenhouse will often give you the best result for identifying what’s wrong with your plant and getting the correct course of treatment.

• Bacterial Speck
• Bacterial Spot
• Bacterial Canker
• Verticillium Wilt
• Early Blight
• Late Blight
• Grey Leaf Spot (a.k.a. Stemphylium)
• Tobacco Mosaic Virus
• Fusarium wilt
• Root Nematode
• Tomato Leaf Curl Virus
• Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus
• Anthracnose
• Alternaria stem canker
• Cracking/Splitting
• Blossom End Rot
• Botrytis Rot
• Cucumber Mosaic Virus

These estimates are relative to your last frost date. Enter your frost dates and we'll calculate your sowing and planting dates for you!

Cherokee Purple was sent to Craig LeHoullier by John D. Green of Sevierville, Tennessee, in 1990 as an unnamed variety. The original letter sent with the seeds that describes all that is known of its history is referenced here (http://nctomatoman.topcities.com/Reference/CherokeePurple.jpg). Mr. Green got the variety from a woman who, in turn, received them from her neighbor. The neighbor claimed that they have been in their family for 100 years, originally receiving them from the Cherokee Indians. Craig named the variety and listed it in the SSE yearbook the year after he first grew them (1990). He also sent seeds to Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, then, a few years later, Johnny’s Selected Seeds.