Pink Berkeley Tie Dye Tomato

The other reviewers here were spot on. The plant itself was very robust, green and sturdy. Each plant produced at least 10, if not more fruit. The issue is that once the fruit is ripe, it literally rots on the vine the next day. There is no "shelf life" on the vine or room for error. If you are a busy person and check your garden every other day, this is probably not for you.

This tomato needs to be eaten fresh and immediately or it's ending up as a sauce tomato. It looses structure quickly after It's ripe. I found the flavor to be rich, but mild, not tart. Won't offend anyone... It did great for most of the summer, ripened fruit, and quit. Got one huge crop off of these. I'll plant again, but I'm going to stagger more. Ended up turning more than a few into sauce because we couldn't eat and share fast enough.

This tomato tastes better than most purple/dark tomatoes, even the Cherokee Purple. What I liked about it was that it was very resistant to splitting, whereas the Cherokee Purple, that is my biggest complaint. In my area however, where there are a lot of commercial tomato fields, it is not terribly disease resistant. Does respond well to shots of nitrogen to try to outgrow diseases, but overall nothing gained here. Seems heat intolerant. This variety just quit doing anything during the hottest weeks of summer. Voracious grower, absolutely beautiful and wonderfully tasting fruit. The ripe fruit are not terribly useful for canning. Once the green shoulders are cut off, ripe fruit can fall apart quickly. I won't grow it again, but it is something to consider if you are looking for a great tasting dark heirloom.

Started indoors in March - much too early for 6b! They were taller than my light rig well before they could safely go outside, so I had to raise things up. Lesson here is to wait until April and/or build a better set-up. These beauties are robust with thick, sturdy stems. Unfortunately once they started setting fruit, the branches really wanted to sprawl out and down so I had to figure out additional support for them; this was my first year with an indeterminate variety after a few years of determinate bush types. They are delicious! Just ate my first two of the season and serious yum. Can't wait to share with friends and family the rest of the summer and early fall!

Some trouble to grow but worth every bit of it. Taste is outstanding.