I grew the tomatoes here in Colorado. The plants were just as Travis stated.. slow to grow until transplanted out. My plants are over 7 ft tall and loaded with tomatoes. They are slow to ripen as well. They are ok in flavor, I love the color. I will definitely grow next year for the anthocyanins. And of course they look beautiful on a plate. Mine are deep purple.. the only brown ones are the ones that the sun kisses too much
I grew this tomato. Got 16 seeds in packet. Planted 8 seeds and all 8 germinated. The starts were fast growing, but kind of spindly - then again, they were growing next to dwarf tomato plants - which are known for thick stems. I was expecting a cherry tomato and was surprised they were on the big size of cherry. Yes, mine were brown when ready, but purple when cut. Overall the taste was average and production was OK. The purple salsa I made from them looked very cool and tasted great. I will grow again and I saved and shared the seeds. But I would not purchase them again at the $20 price - buy why would I when I can just use the seeds I saved. -Ken in GA.
@@KLFaber Ken, would you be willing to part with one seed so J can try to grow a plant of these tomatoes? I went to Norfolk’s website but they are not selling them now until December 2nd. I would really appreciate a chance to try them now.
@@555RevelationYou might check Tomato Growers Supply Company out of Ft Myers Florida. They have seed for literally hundreds of tomatoes. They are online and you can order there. They have a multitude of varieties with a very heavy disease resistance package. Their prices are accommodating, they are more of a farm supply. Tomatoes are not the only seeds they carry. Most veggies for the garden. Their seeds are not Home Depot seeds.
@@555Revelation Sure, I'll need a postal address. I have some to spare, but this is my first time saving tomato seeds and it is a procedure. Hope for the best.
I'm not a fan of GMO but grew these for a high school science class. 6 out of 10 germinated. We harvested seeds from the first ripe tomato and then got 100% from around 50 seeds. Flavor is quite good but you have to let them fully ripen and can only tell by squeezing the individual tomatoes. Second gen are just about to fruit. We will be making purple salsa.
Following up on my comment to your post when you initially planted yours….I planted 4 seeds and had a 100 percent germination rate. I am in northern Virginia, Zone 7B. The seedling growth rate was on par with my other cherry tomatoes. The plants are super vigorous and continue to produce very large quantities of fruit. Direct sun may explain the brown color. My spring is much cooler than yours, so maybe that’s a factor as well? My fruit ranges from deep blackish purple to dark brown like yours. The brownish ones seem to get more direct hot sun. We’ve had several 100+ heat index days, but not as many as you. In terms of taste, I think they very flavorful -very good. I grow about 20-25 varieties every year, so I have tasted a ton of cherry tomatoes. I’ve shared these purple ones with about 10 friends and neighbors and I’ve yet to get a bad or average review. I don’t doubt anyone’s individual experience. Gardens are different. Soils are different. Climates are different. Tastes are different. If folks have your experience, then maybe it will be a one-hit wonder. But if they have my experience, I would expect to see these in many gardens for years to come. No, I won’t be buying more…but that’s only because I’ve already saved a few hundred seeds from my harvest. 😂
We've basically been eating, cooking in (canola oil), drinking, digesting and pooping GMO foods for many, many years. Ever since they put a "frost" resistant gene from a fish into a strawberry. In one instance a variety of genes from the arctic flounder, a fish that lives in very cold water, were used to give plants resistance to cold (in strawberry plants). This modification works because of the genetics of the arctic flounder. But, to me, there are other choices that seem better through the regular genetic modification methods (selective breeding). It DOES TAKE LONGER to get to your goal which is to have a better tasting fruit. Great video Travis!
I got some and grew them here in 7a and they did well for us here...all the ones I started (3) germinated with no transplant issues and though they did seem to lag a little behind my other cherry tomatoes, they caught up quickly and produced (and are still producing) really well. They have a unique almost savory berry (?) taste that I can't quite place; not as sweet as other cherry tomatoes and tastewise, I agree: it didn't knock my socks off but overall a good taste. Maybe it's because I thought they were going to be a bigger slicer-type tomato too and after finding out they were cherry tomatoes it wasn't an issue but I just expect cherry tomatoes to be sweeter than this one is. Other people (my wife included) loved them: loved the taste, loved the color and presentation, and I was told that I'd be growing them again next year for sure. 😆 I got them because of your original video and am glad I did because it got me looking deeper into the GMO process and made me feel a lot better being more informed about that process and I was able to educate some other people about it along the way. We've made sauce with them, simmered them down to concentrate the flavor, made all kinds of salsa, and they look good on a plate for sure. I thought the seeds were expensive too but I figured since I could save the seeds, I didn't worry about that part too much. I'll probably plant 3 plants each season for the forseeable future. I'm glad I went along for the ride because I sure learn a lot from this channel. Thank you so much!
Thanks for the review. Orange and yellow are my favorite so I won't miss the purple insides, my Cherokee purples are tasty and the seeds work well when I remember to save them. That's all I need.
I think they will be a garden staple for many. The color and anthocyanins content will keep me coming back. Many won't pay the high price for the seed, so I saved about one thousand seeds to give away at next years seed swap meeting.
I think we should cross everything I want a glow in the dark tomato that got it from a glow in dark panda and we should also have a Hibiscus that barks when u need to water or fertilize…and flowers last more than a day
I grew them this year (about 4 plants) and had some of the same experiences as you. I'm south of Atlanta zone 8a FWIW. It wasn't worth the cost for the lack of flavor and low germination. It was good experience, but, I would have rather just had more sungolds instead. On the other hand, I grew red snapper tomatoes for the first time this year and those WILL be back in my backyard next year!
I had a similar review. Brown outside, below average taste, and a bit of a weird finish although not bad. I have to say that saving a $2 tomato's seed will give you unlimited seed whereas a hybrid makes you go back and pay again. I saved about 500 or more seed just in case. I didn't think I'd grow it again, but now I'm thinking of plugging it in spare spots just to pick and eat in the garden for health-only purposes. I read where rats eating them survived 30% longer than those that didn't. It's a super easy thing to grow/eat them so I may do it next year. We'll see. but not for taste or novelty.
It was fun growing them and we are still getting them here in Aberdeen/Pinehurst NC. We are sun drying them and putting in Olive oil so we can have them this winter. We heard about them first from your video this spring and bought right away!
I am setting up to grow 200 tomato plants this fall. I am very far south from you. I am going to grow a variety called Empire. It is a hybrid with a profile of disease resistance. Wish me luck.
Here in Central Missouri at several garden sites, the plants have been vigorous and productive. Germination was slower than other cultivars but adequate. However, the plants are susceptible to blight while hybrid cultivars next to them are fine. Fruits are pretty uniformly 1oz., 16 make a pound, so, a very large cherry that's resistant to cracking. The taste is fine, reasonably sweet but very low acidity , to my taste bland. Makes good sauce. It was an interesting experiment but I wouldn't plant them again, lack of disease resistance is a deal breaker for me. I'll bet the plant breeders will work with it and improve it.
I'm growing these also and had some of the best germination of all types that I started and continued to stay vigorous. I agree on the flavor but have one kid that really likes them. I may grow 1 next year just for the novelty of it. They are supposedly some of the best keepers around so that is to be considered also.
Hi…I grew the purple tomato this year…I received 17 seeds planted only 5 and all germinated…Seedlings, to me, did as well as the other seedlings…My plant has been very prolific and I’m harvesting a lot…That being said, I agree with you as to the tomato is pretty, but the flavor is just OK…I’ve had better and I’ve had worse…Not sure if I’ll grow it again next year, but we’ll see…First time commenting to you blog, but want to say thanks for your advice in gardening…I’ve learned some good stuff from you…Keep up the good work…😊
I had to do seeding twice, but eventually ended up with 6 seedlings with seeds leftover. They did good and have produced really well through the hot, dry spell. Taste is best when they are dark purple and ripe. Early ones were burgundy, but then I started getting deep purple ones. Good taste without being too sweet. Nice to add to salads as a novelty. Save the seeds because they come true from seed.
I’m in NW Florida. I had 100% germination and they grew very well from germination and are still growing and are prolific. Mine are also black with dark purple color. I wish they were more acidic so they didn’t impress me on taste. Some family love them so I’ve saved seed and will grow again. They are good in salsa. Not worth the price but now I have seed no need to pay for them. Thanks for a thorough review of your experience. 😊
I previously commented on your short video that the purple tomato wasn't really all that impressive, and I doubted that I would plant them again. You are right, the flavor isn't really impressive, and not really worth $2 a seed. I'm *thinking* about saving some seeds and maybe replanting 1 or 2 next year...maybe. It was a BEAR to germinate, so I put a LOT of extra effort into even getting them to seedling stage. The 2 plants in my raised bed are very healthy and have put on a good amount of fruit, though. Thank you for your in-depth review!
Thanks for the review! I tell ya, the volunteer "compost" cherry tomatoes I got this year are so fantastic, I'm definitely saving seeds. ( i think they came from a salad my wife bought cause i haven't grown them in 3 years) It has been my experience that anything that survives the winter and comes up in my compost pile seems to do better than what I plant on purpose, could be the compost giving it a head start... I also have a volunteer butternut that is the largest sprawling vine I have ever seen, the leaves are huge! Love surprises like that...
My seed package contained 19 seeds. 100% germination. Great growth, great fruit set. Mine were also brown on the outside, once they were fully ripe, the outside turned purple, and the flavor was much better.
i didn't have germination issues, but, the seedlings were difficult to say the least, i agree with everything else you said, i don't think they taste very good, and they are brown on the outside ,i did save some seed and i'll see how they do next year, was also disappointed at the size and i don't like cherry tomatoes so, no, had i known i wouldn't have bothered. we have a friend that LOVES them and he takes most of them so maybe they taste dif to dif people, idk , they do produce for me, just a few plants give us a large cereal bowl every day, to bad i don't like them much, lol. but it was fun to try. a few years ago, i saved seed from a cherry tomato plant but it was a highbred , i did know that at the time i wanted to see what it would produce, it gave me several kinds of cherry tomato plants, one of them and i have no idea what it actually is gives me what i call salad tomatoes, they are slightly larger than a golf ball and very sweet i really like them so i save those seeds. another seed i save is a roma tomato, i got them from ones i bought crates of to make sauce, the ones i grow are twice the size as what i bought and produce like mad, i'm sure they were an open pollinated variety but i don't know what they actually are. so, i like to try new things, mostly you get disappointed but two of them turned out to be seeds i will save and grow every year now. Just like mama used to say, ya never know what your gonna get. anyways ty for all the great vid's and advice you share, you rock, hey whatever became of *tiger* the barn cat, see him wander thru every now and then, you should do an update on the cat portion of the homestead.
The price is not that far off of some of the newer patented seeds. For example the Rebelski tomato runs $23 for 15 seeds at Johnny's Seeds. Rebelski is a specialty bred indeterminate for greenhouse "fresh market" production. This is the first year our tomatoes are in the 17" metal beds like you have. Although I only planted heat tolerant varieties, ours in the beds are still producing blossoms on Aug 1st. In prior years they would be just about done by now. Some of this is due to variety selection, but the raised beds seem to make a huge difference to me. So for a small garden, those 17" raised beds are well worth the effort it takes to get them set up and filled with "soil" in my opinion (we made our own soil from compost, peat, pearlite and vermiculite - a lot of these).
Interesting.. i grew Black Cherry tomatoes from Walmart (Bonnie) and they have a purple interior. They are growing well but have taken over the section of the garden. My best producing is a campari from aldi. We put some tomato waste in the bed and they are phenomenal. Its bigger than cherries but produce just as vigorously
I had a very good germination rate for the ones I planted. I planted a total of 5 and all 5 came up but 1 died shortly after. I found that they did not really like the Agrothrive Fruit & Flower fertilizer. I realized this when I just went ahead and up-potted them when I was doing my other tomatoes. In the new pots I used some Trifecta+ that I got from another You tuber. They loved that fertilizer and took off. I gave 2 plants away to my son and kept 2. They are huge and LOADED with tomatoes. I thought they would be bigger tomatoes also but mine are a large cherry tomato size. Mine are a very very dark brown when they are ripe. I think the ones you were waving around didn't look quite ripe to me. Anyway, I have shared them with several friends and they love them. I like the tomato but after eating Black Krim tomatoes, nothing else measures up. But with a little salt they are good. I did roast some with some veggies in the oven the other night to see how they came out. I am not a big fan of roasted tomatoes but just wanted to see what happened. Well when I tasted them I was not fond of them, texture thing I think. But..... they had an incredible flavor for sauce. So I am going to turn some of them into a sauce. I am picking about a quart of these purple tomatoes every 3 days. So I am happy with the production and taste Will I grow them again, probably just because so many friends love them and my grand daughters love them too.
You didn’t have a control or equally compare the results of the 2 fertilizers in parallel. What if you’d put agrothrive on half the plants when you repotted? I’ve never used or purchased either so don’t really GAF. I know the RU-vidr you speak of. He doesn’t have a fertilizer plant. He’s got to be private labeling something. Maybe it’s a slightly custom blend. Who knows. Just don’t overpay for fertilizer.
@@ScottFidler It was definitely not any kind of scientific experiment. I was just trying to say my other tomato plants thrived on the Agrothrive but the Purple Tomato didn't and did better after moving it to the other pot and fertilizer. Just an observation. Nothing else.
I grow the Tommy g cherry tomatoes and they are delicious and my favorite and I grow many other types of tomatoes as well just the Tommy g's are my favorite
I gotta say Trav, I’m surprised how big the ones you grew are. I bought these expecting cherry tomatoes based on Norfolk’s info. Got mine too late to start in CFL this spring.
This is one of those "I grew the purple tomato so you don't have to" vids, LOL! Thanx for taking the hit for us. Curious though......what are the seeds that are worth $2.00 in your opinion?
When you pick them and get them out of the sun for a few hours the skin becomes a very dark purple. I'll definitely grow them again, the flesh is beautiful and with a little s&p is delicious. I'm looking forward to making purple pizza sauce and salsa when these monster (in size, not Audrey II) plants finally stop producing. Well, two of them are growing way beyond my expectations and are just super healthy and loving their conditions.
I'm in 4 different tomato groups on FB and most of them that grew the tomato wasn't impressed with the taste. I was holding out for the taste test because I don't have a big garden space and really can't spare the room for something that's just meh.
I've heard very few good reviews of that tomato. Most everyone said it was meh at best. I'll wait until they come out with something better before I shell out that kind of money. What I'd like to see is a BT tomato. Caterpillar resistance would do a lot of people good.
I found them to be quite underwhelming and bland as well. $20 for a few seeds that produce tomatoes that I won’t eat is not my idea of money well spent, lol. It was fun to try but honestly the large red cherry you can buy at any box store is a lot better tasting and more productive and only will set you back $3.
I live in Arkansas. I had good germination with my purple tomatoes, but like u, they were slow to grow. But once in the ground they took off. I thought they were a regular size tomato, not cherry, but they have produced like mad. When ripe mine look Almost black. My grandson thought they were big grapes🤣. Not impressed with the taste. Won’t grow them again.
That tomato is not approved yet for me in Canada, that's why I ask so many q's about them. Will you allow them to grow until they die to see if they make it through till frost? I am interested if production and flavor improve when conditions are more favorable then what you have now that kills all the others . Perhaps like many veggies the flavor will get better with cooler temps as snapdragons in my experience prefer cooler weather too. Thanks again for your personal honesty on this.
I noticed in the comments, that the people who really like them live in cooler states and the one that are unimpressed live in hotter states. So your may have a point about that Snapdragon gene.
That's unfortunate you had terrible germination rates. We had 100% germ on the seeds we got! They were started off in a grow tent and ended up needing to be up-potted numerous times before the weather was warm enough to plant outside. We've gotten a huge harvest so far, we're at 4 1-gallon freezer bags full of them, with about as much on the counter. I think the flavor is good, I wouldn't say it's "sungold" good, but it's up there for me. It makes delicious curries and pasta dishes!
I grew this tomato in my zone 7a Missouri garden, and it is just as you describe, except that I found it was very prolific in terms of fruit production. It's cooler in MO. Poor germination, slow to start, took off once planted outside and grew bigger with more flower trusses than the other cherry tomatoes I also planted. Fruit is brown with purple insides, and taste is meh....
Why not do a cross with some varieties with better flavor? The disparity in taste reviews might also have something to do with what they fertilized theirs with or the weather conditions. Georgia has been getting alot of rain. Too much water will water down flavor. My one plant in the ground is over 6 feet tall now and just now flowering because it can't pollinate in the wet humid conditions we've been experiencing. How did you get yours to bush out like that? Did you prune it? Mine is one stalk with alot of branches with only leaves and the flowers don't start until about 5 feet up the stalk. I held back some of my seeds sine I lost 5 of the 6 seedlings I grew first, and the second round look really good and hardy under my LED grow light. Some of the first group I germinated were a bit spindly. I did things a bit differently this time around. My first batch were grown under a T12 light and just fertilized with liquid Calcium Nitrate/Master Blend/Epsom salt. On the second group I used an LED grow light by Boostgrow which is a company located in Suwannee, GA. I bought it on Tractor Supply's website. I have been alternating about once a week between fertilizing with LAB, and then the next week Sassy Lass (a product sold by MI Gardener). These plants are really thick and not one is spindly like some in the previous batch! At less than a foot high they are about as big around as a Sharpie marker! Soon they will be ready to plant in the ground with my other one. I'm just making sure the major rain has passed first.
How large are your purple tomatoes? I have one purple tomato with significantly larger fuiit than the other nine plants.. I will be saving seeds from that plant for next year. The larger fruit was 35 grams while the other plants' fruit was about 23 grams. They look great in Salsa Mexicana (Pico se Gallo).
I was expecting a larger tomatop too...Maybe save some of the seed, & replant next season. See if The purple tomatoes work betternext time.... Do you Believe in plant acclamation? Or could have been a seed quality issue. You invested 20 dollars, You might get more for the money in a second round...
@@kathyleahy7314 Yes, that's what my packet says but after investigating they claim to have the "first and only purple-fleshed tomato". That was in June. It should easily follow that the tomatoes they are marketing fresh as Empress are the exact same cultivar as The Purple Tomato. I know a little about these tomatoes as I've been watching Norfolk for a very long time in anticipation of getting these seeds.
I came up with the same results you did and I didn't think it would hurt to give them a try. And I wouldn't impressed with the taste I'm not going to be purchasing them again
@@floridacoder Have you ever tried to cross pollinate a tomato? It is extremely difficult, as the anthers are practically glued to the pistil. Hard to imagine any natural cross pollination with tomatoes. Not a concern.
@kathyleahy7314 not a self pollinating one, but you also wouldn't know unless you saved seeds and grew them out. If your goal is seeds you want to avoid cross pollination from unwanted genetics. We don't want the GMO genetics finding their way into our seeds. And I do save seeds.
@@floridacoderdo you upload how you save seeds to learn from your experiences? I’m interest and also in protecting them. Tropical all year growing season makes it so there’s is pollen of corn for example all year and there’s a lot of it that’s gmo and rice here so let me know if your videos
It would have been nice if you quit moving your hands around and let us look at it for more than 1/4 of a second. You spent more time looking at that tomato yourself than you did giving the viewers a view. Big Fail video wise.
U really should try to look into it more…it’s just 4 letters (molecules/proteins) that every living thing on this planet has in different combinations. And nature GMOs all the time. Takes a few letters from one thing and another thing absorbs it adapts to it or uses it.
