Recently, more and more people are attracted by exotic. She did not bypass vegetables, and in particular tomatoes. Gardeners are very fond of unusual varieties and just eager to grow them on their sites. What do we know about tomatoes with a purple hue? Are they good or is it just a fancy thing? After all, all exotic varieties, as a rule, require special care.
General information
Tomatoes with violet color (as well as black) require special attention. There is no exact instruction, but there are certain measures that are better to carry out. The purpose that purple tomatoes and all dark varieties of tomatoes have is dietary nutrition. Therefore, when growing them, you do not need to use chemicals, and as fertilizers, it is better to introduce organic matter rather than minerals.
It is believed that tomatoes with dark purple or blue, like eggplant, are medicinal. They owe these properties to a large number of anthocyanins, which determine their color. By the 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 such tomatoes, you understand that they differ favorably in taste from other varieties. Most likely, it is taste that is the main reason for the increased demand for dark and purple tomatoes, which are represented quite a lot in a wide variety.
What is the feature?
Consider, for example, "lilac lake." This is an early ripe tomato variety. It has the following characteristics:
- semi-determinant;
- medium-sized - from 130 to 150 cm;
- universal by appointment;
- the color of the ripe fruit is brown-burgundy;
- flat-round in shape;
- weight from 200 to 350 grams.
Dark varieties of tomatoes, especially purple tomatoes, are able to satisfy even the most popular tastes. However, you should be careful, as unscrupulous entrepreneurs often invent hybrid varieties and pack everything up in bags.
To avoid such tricks, you need to approach everything with knowledge and special attention. It is better to give preference to trusted manufacturers and a well-known variety listed in the register.
In principle, purple tomatoes, like dark varieties, are no longer a wonder. Today they are grown not only in greenhouses, but also on open ground. The skin of the fetus and its flesh are painted in an unusual color. Hue ranges from light chocolate to purple-black.
What makes such a color scheme possible?
Many gardeners, and even ordinary townsfolk, often have the question: "Why are tomatoes purple and why are they so good?". This shade in tomatoes is manifested due to coloring pigments, which enriched them in the process of creating the species. In the red varieties, these are lycopene and carotenoids, and in the blue ones, the very anthocyanins that were removed from the tomatoes by a long selection process. As a result of complex manipulations, the tomatoes turned purple and gained positive qualities:
- unusual and balanced taste;
- the ability to cleanse the human body of toxins (merit anthocyanins);
- a great choice for sauces, pickles and tomato juice;
- mid-season varieties;
- high resistance to most diseases.
Minuses
Are there any disadvantages? Hardly ever. These varieties are well adapted to local weather conditions. It is able to withstand small frosts and bear fruit until late autumn. But there is one feature - after rolling in cans, dark tomatoes lose their shade and tend more to red color.
Highlighting some varieties of purple tomatoes, it is worth stopping at the “purple cognac”. These tomatoes have beautiful raspberry red fruits. The tomato is large and fleshy. Its weight reaches 400 grams. Bushes are tall, up to 1 meter high. By productivity, the variety is recognized as one of the best. Ripening period: 108-115 days.
Knowledge and benefits
Residents of Western Europe are no longer surprised by the color scheme of vegetables and do not ask why the tomatoes are purple and whether they are needed by the human body. It is no coincidence that there are blue tomatoes - this is an obligatory product on the shelves of supermarkets, and selection of such species is given special attention. The fact is that a person eats blueberries rich in anthocyanins (useful protective substances) very rarely. And he won’t eat it much.
Tomatoes, as well as products of their processing, can be consumed daily for therapeutic purposes.
The variety with blue fruits Blue Tomato has fruits of dark purple or blue color, almost like eggplant. He is of American descent.
These tomatoes come in red and purple. They have a pale pink juicy flesh. The average weight is 130 grams. Tomatoes are great for making salad. They are also very fond of housewives use in conservation. This variety has a high degree of yield. The plant is tall and needs to be formed, as it has one stem. By maturity - this is an average tomato.
Our tomatoes
But there are varieties already bred on the territory of Ukraine and Russia. Interestingly, the violet color of a tomato of domestic origin varies from light purple to dark. These tomatoes are richer in composition and have different color saturation.
Domestic varieties differ from American ones by the type of bush. They are powerful, thick-stemmed or semi-stemmed. These are determinant plants with a high degree of yield.
Specially known species
What a purple tomato looks like, the photo below illustrates this. However, do not forget about a large variety of varieties. So it’s not possible to show everything in this article.
The most popular among them:
- "purple cognac";
- Wessel
- "fairy";
- "pumpkin".
Not inferior to such varieties as "jasper", "Cherokee" and "bumblebee" "blue dragon". For example, the last of them has an interesting bush structure. The fruits of the tomato "blue dragon" are similar to plums and collected in clusters. Popular dark varieties include:
- "black cherry";
- "purple jasper";
- "idol".
"Black Cherry" is liked by those who love sweet, miniature cherry. The fruits of this variety are similar to dark, purple berries. The mass of the tomato is barely 35 grams. The variety is absolutely universal, with high taste, rich aroma, resistance to cracking during heat treatment. These tomatoes have high yields, form many brushes and have indeterminacy. Pasynkovanie is obligatory for them. You need to leave one stalk. By maturity, the variety is medium.
"Purple Jasper" bred in China and ripens in the open. Oriental variety has perfectly taken root in our latitudes. The fruits are like little watermelons. This tomato is suitable for salads, for table decoration, for stuffing and, of course, for canning. The plant is tall and also requires the formation of a single stem. It must be tied up. Productivity is high. The maturing time is average.
Most popular type
Idol is the leader in the tomato table. It is suitable for growing in greenhouses and outdoors. It has a high degree of yield and disease resistance. In greenhouse conditions, it matures somewhat faster than in open ground. The first fruits can hit the table after two months after the dive. The average weight of tomatoes of this variety is 275 grams. From the bush you can get about 5 kg of tomato. On clean soil, regular chemical treatment is not required.
Fruit characterization
As for the blue varieties of tomato, they are generally endowed with decorative properties. Their fruits are first green, and then, due to exposure to sunlight, begin to turn blue. In some varieties, this color appears as if someone had sprinkled berries with blue snow, while in others, the fruits are decorated in a fanciful manner in the form of purple spots and geometric shapes.
Indigo Rose tomatoes form a blue color in the place where the sun hit, and on the other side they are first green, and then becomes burgundy. The flesh of this variety is red and sometimes dark pink. Tomatoes look very much like a plum. From the bush you can collect a whole bucket, or even more.
Recommendations for gardeners
As for the features of growing purple tomatoes, then after choosing a variety, they begin to prepare the soil. The 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 has been prepared, it is sieved 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 spores of the fungi 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 gently cover the seeds with the free end of the fabric. A plate with planting material is placed in a bag and put in a warm place. In a few days they will germinate. The cloth should always be wet. If necessary, then warm water is added to it (a little to moisten). After the emergence of sprouts, you can begin the process of planting.
After making grooves in the soil, the seeds are laid out with tweezers at a distance of about 1.5-2 cm. After landing, they are sprinkled with earth. The soil is slightly compacted. After all, the soil is sprayed from the spray gun. It is impossible to water with a strong stream. Now the container with seeds is covered with a film and after 7-8 days the first shoots should appear. Then you can remove it will remove the covering material and allow the seedlings to grow in a natural way, helping it with watering and lighting.
The violet color of fruits in tomatoes has nothing to do with the color of seedlings. It should be a normal green color. Having planted some varieties of tomatoes, many gardeners, noticing that the tomato seedlings are purple, begin to worry. This is characteristic of inexperienced farmers. They can’t understand why young tomato shoots are purple, what is the reason for this?
After all, a color change is a signal that negative changes occur with the plant already at the initial phase of growth. Further violet shade seedlings begin to wither and emit an unpleasant odor.
What to do?
In general, the blue color of tomato leaves is a sign of phosphorus deficiency. Tomatoes poorly perceive an excess of mineral fertilizers. Seedlings are 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 near the seedlings, and it shows the desired temperature, then you still should not calm down. Soil temperature is usually lower than that of air. It is impossible for the box with tomato seedlings to stand close to the cold glass of the window.
If the leaves turn purple and raised up, then the problem is low temperature. Then, between the windowsill and the drawer, a foil is installed for additional protection and lighting. If this does not help, then you need to move the box with seedlings to a warmer place and provide illumination 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 fertilizing.
But if the temperature of the content is normal, then the matter is the lack of phosphorus. Then it is necessary to spray on a sheet of seedlings with an extract from superphosphate. To get the solution, a tablespoon of superphosphate is poured with 150 grams of boiling water and insisted for 8-10 hours. After dissolving the resulting mixture in 2 liters of water. Now you can spray and water the seedlings.