CHerokee Purple Tomato-Twisted many many lobed fruit with odd scars

[DigitalVinyl]

Just wondering if this is typical of this variety.

I've got a number of mutant looking fruits. They all have heavily ribbed shoulders, some quite heart shaped. But the really mutant-looking ones look like two and three plum tomatoes cojoined. Some have rough dried trailing scars along a ridge, near bottom or sligtly to the side of the boottom. It almost looks like the tip where the flower was stretched out, and stretched and stretched. They don't look like anything got inside the scar, but they are hard to examine. One is wrapped around 2/3 of the stem, growing like a partially eaten donut around it.

This is my first try with Cherokee Purple. The plant looks healthy and but is only about a 30" bush right now. At least a dozen good size fruits so far--all green. My brandywine(also new this year, 5 feet away) is much larger, 4' tall and wider and there is a little blush on two fruits.

DiGiTAL ViNYL (no email) Zone 6b/7, Westchester Co, NY,

[G Henslee]

You want mutant looking, grow these:

pic there doesn't do the gnarly looking ones I got, justice.

The first set is usually the worse looking. But they taste wonderful.

[Kay Lancaster]

That's called "catfacing", and whether or not you'll see this depends on both genetics and environment. More here:

[BattMeals]

You have described my cherokee purple plant exactly, except that I'm at least 6 weeks ahead (California).

Here's a few shots of it:

tasted fine, but was difficult to cut out the scars.

-matt

DigitalV> Just wondering if this is typical of this variety.

[clc]

Woow! Now that's an ugly 'mater!! But man, oh man, they are good - we grow 'em too.