Ukrainian Purple Tomato
Solanum lycopersicum 'Ukrainian Purple'
- Vegetable
- Plum Tomato
- Heirloom
- Sauce
- Full sun
A sweet, savory heirloom plum tomato in purply-black, with meaty, crack-resistant fruit that's excellent for sauce.
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‘Ukrainian Purple’ is a heirloom plum tomato with sweet, savory, purply-black fruit. The flesh is meaty and resists cracking, which makes it a favorite for sauces and salsas as well as fresh eating.
Hardy and forgiving
This variety tolerates cooler temperatures better than most — down to around 40°F — which gives it a longer window in shorter or cooler seasons.
Care tips
Start seed indoors about six weeks before your last frost and plant the seedlings deep to encourage strong roots. Grow in full sun, keep the soil moist, and space plants 2–3 feet apart in rows 3–4 feet apart.
Habitat & form
Where it's from and what to expect.
- Native range
- Western South America (the species); this heirloom comes from Ukraine
- Plant type
- Vegetable
- Mature size
- Space plants 2–3 ft apart in rows 3–4 ft apart.
- Bloom
- Purply-black plum-shaped fruit; about 80 days from transplant.
Care
How to keep it happy.
- Sunlight
- Full sun.
- Water
- Keep the soil consistently moist.
- Pruning
- Maintenance: pinch out the suckers in the leaf joints and remove lower leaves for airflow as the indeterminate vines climb their stakes; top the plant late in the season to ripen the last fruit.