Cherokee Purple - Normal size?

[stepstephens2]

I planted a few Cherokee Purple Tomatoes that I started from seed this year. When I bought the seed it didn't say that they got really big... but I keep getting tomatoes whose average size is pictured below. I have to pick them before they get completely ripe because they start to split. Is this typical size?

 

[wifezilla]

Looks a little bigger than the ones I grew last year, but not by a whole lot. Mine kept splitting too so I didn't plant any this year.

 

[stepstephens2]

Thanks... The splitting is driving me crazy. This year I'm getting little tomato friends living inside about 1/2 of everything that splits. It's made me afraid to even cut into anything that looks like might even be thinking about splitting.

 

[Smiles Jr.]

You can simply cut away the bad places. They're delicious. The tomatoes that you pick early (not yet ripe) can be put into a brown paper bag and set aside in the kitchen somewhere. They will ripen quickly.

 

[vfem]

Lucky you, mine are tiny this year... however, we've been extremely dry No splitting though, when it rained heavily last year, I got lots of splitting but very few tomatoes. I think I got 5 tomatoes off of each vine, and I only had 2.


This year I have 4 and they are extremely heavy with the tomatoes.... they're just small tomatoes! :/

You're very lucky!

 

[journey11]

Wow, that's a nice big one! I grew them last year and we liked them well enough. Most of them were more of a "medium" size. If you pick them when they first start to blush, they'll not crack so much. Try Black Krims sometime. They are similar in flavor and color and don't crack.

 

[stepstephens2]

The Black Krim are on my list that I want to do. Luckily, I also grew some Black from Tula which have been medium in a uniform shape and great tasting... they just haven't been producing that many tomatoes. I originally picked the Cherokee Purple because so many people have raved about it to me... but nobody mentioned any cracking or such a large size. I have the large size niche filled in my garden by Goliath something tomato. (I say Goliath "something" because I apparently didn't bother to finish writing down the whole name in my notes when I started the seeds, I just wrote Goliath) Growing tomatoes is funny.

 

[Sunsaver]

"Bush Goliath" and "Goliath Hybrid". Both are excellent performers in size, quantity, and flavor for southern gardeners.

 

[trunkman]

I planted cherokee purple this year and most of mine are that size too, and they are also splitting. I'll put up with the splitting because the the tastiest tomatoes I've ever eaten! I'll never go without them again! All the other types I've planted haven't done so well. This year is also the first year that I've planted only heirloom tomato plants, maybe that's why they aren't doing so well...

 

[hoodat]

Splitting is usually caused by a sudden growth spurt. Something causes them to slow down in growth and then they suddenly start growing again so fast that the skin canot adjust to it. They literally burst out of their skins. The cause could be drying out followed by a lot of water or running out of fertilizer and then suddenly having it available again. A heat spell followed by cooling off can also do it. The best way to avoid it is to try to keep moisture and fertilizer as even as possible. That being said, some varieties are more prone to splitting than others and Cherokee Purple is among them. I put up with it because of the early production in my climate and the delicious flavor. It makes the best burgundy colored spaghetti sauce you ever tasted.