Purple Legacy

• Grown, sold, and described by Bunny Hop Seeds
• Plant growth: indeterminate
• Leaf type: potato leaf
• Time to maturity: midseason
• Approx. number of seeds per pack: 15+
• Germination tested after Hot Water Seed Treatment for Fungal and Bacterial Diseases

“Purple Legacy” is a growout of seeds I received that had been saved as a later generation from the legendary Purple Haze F1. I do not know the exact generation of my original seeds. Let me first share the history of Purple Haze F1, as it truly was one of a kind.
Purple Haze F1 was bred by Keith Mueller of Missouri. He sent the F1 seeds to Laurel of Laurel’s Heirloom Tomato Plants with the intention of her planting the seeds and selling the plants, with the money from the sales going to research of autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
Tatiana’s TOMATObase states that the first cross for Purple Haze was Brandywine X Cherokee Purple, which yielded a segregate that was selected in the F4 generation for extraordinary flavor. It was potato leaf. This segregate was then crossed with Black Cherry to make Purple Haze F1.
According to a Frogsleap Farm Blog entry from 2014, Keith Muller once stated that this specific cross combination demonstrated heterosis (hybrid vigor) for flavor. For this reason, I cannot claim that this open-pollinated growout has this same “explosion of flavor,” which is a description one person gave of Purple Haze F1. I can say that the flavor was one of my favorite types, reminding me of the smoothness of Brandywine combined with depth we find in purple fruits along with balanced sweetness. The texture was plump and smooth, and there were plenty of seeds and gel.
Purple Legacy has always been one of the biggest tomato plants in my garden. It really does have vigorous growth. Fruits are oblate, purple of course, and weigh 2 to 4 ounces. They could be bigger in a better climate. I have enjoyed this OP version of a tomato legend for years now and I think it is time for me to share it. Although it has been the same phenotype all this time, I do not trust genetics enough to guarantee that it will definitely be the oblate small tomato I have always grown. Most of the other OP versions of Purple Haze F1 appear to be small plums or cherries, similar to Kiss the Sky. Hopefully it will stay true to type.
NOTE: One packet per order please.