Solanum lycopersicum 'Pruden's Purple'
Tomato 'Pruden's Purple' (Beefsteak Tomato)
Tomatoes - which are, scientifically speaking fruit, not vegetable, but their use is as a vegetable,- are cultivated as cherry, plum, beefsteak and common round, and there are many different varieties of each type. Best results are achieved for all varieties if grown under glass. Cordon types will grow up to 1.8m when supported on a stake, or string. Shrub varieties do not need supporting. Yellow flowers are held on trusses and produce up to 10 fruits (or more, in the case of cherry tomatoes). Cordon types need to have side shoots pinched out at leaf joints. Careful watering is a must to stop fruit splitting and for flavour. Keep water off the foliage as blight can be a problem. 'Pruden's Purple' bears pink-red ribbed fruit with juicy, smooth flesh. This variety bears good yields of 'beefsteak' type fruit that can weigh up to half a kilo.The stalk end has a tendency to go hard and inedible.
Contributed by @jennlamaye
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Full sun
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Occasional watering
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Not Frost hardy
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Rich and free draining
Common name
Tomato 'Pruden's Purple' (Beefsteak Tomato)
Latin name
Solanum lycopersicum 'Pruden's Purple'
type
Fruiting Vine
family
Solanaceae
ph
5.0 - 7.0 Acid - Neutral
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Light
Full sun
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Frost
Not Frost hardy
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Soil
Rich and free draining
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Water
Occasional watering
Plant & bloom calendar
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Best time to plant
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When to harvest
full grown dimensions
0.80 M
1.80 M
Solanum lycopersicum 'Pruden's Purple'
Tomatoes - which are, scientifically speaking fruit, not vegetable, but their use is as a vegetable,- are cultivated as cherry, plum, beefsteak and common round, and there are many different varieties of each type. Best results are achieved for all varieties if grown under glass. Cordon types will grow up to 1.8m when supported on a stake, or string. Shrub varieties do not need supporting. Yellow flowers are held on trusses and produce up to 10 fruits (or more, in the case of cherry tomatoes). Cordon types need to have side shoots pinched out at leaf joints. Careful watering is a must to stop fruit splitting and for flavour. Keep water off the foliage as blight can be a problem. 'Pruden's Purple' bears pink-red ribbed fruit with juicy, smooth flesh. This variety bears good yields of 'beefsteak' type fruit that can weigh up to half a kilo.The stalk end has a tendency to go hard and inedible.
Planting
From Mid Spring TO Early Summer
Plant tomato plants grown from seed into the greenhouse border, when they are big enough to handle, and when risk of frost has passed. For outdoor varieties, young tender plants need to be hardened off, gradually, first in a cold-frame, and then in the open, before planting into their permanent position.
Propagation by seed
From Early Spring TO Mid Spring
Grow from seed in early spring in heat, one seed per tray division, or pot. Fill 9cm (3½in) pot with seed or multipurpose compost.Level and firm the compost, then water. Sow seeds on the compost surface, spacing them evenly, about 1/2" apart, (to help prevent "damping off" disease). Cover the seed with a layer of vermiculite, or sifted soil or compost. Keep at approximately 21°C (70°F), ideally in a heated propagator, When seedlings are big enough to handle, plant out in to a greenhouse - at least 16" apart - or, although less satisfactory, to a sunny windowsill
jennlamaye