📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Pierce’s Pride
- 🌍 Origin: A highly respected dark heirloom bred by Larry Pierce of Cabool, Missouri (USA). It has gained massive popularity overseas among Russian and Eastern European growers for its rich color and reliable performance.
- 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate, but frequently acts as a “short indeterminate,” with many growers reporting the plant naturally topping out around 4 to 5 ft (1.2 – 1.5 m) tall, especially in greenhouses.
- 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Oblate (flattened-round) beefsteaks with a stunning deep burgundy-brown or purple color. Weights generally range from 5 to 10.5 oz (150-300 g), though heavily pruned plants can produce 14 oz (400 g) fruits.
- 👅 Flavor: Praised for being incredibly sweet, juicy, and carrying that classic, complex, rich flavor profile that dark/purple tomatoes are famous for.
Vigorous indet, fruits are oblate, burgundy-brown, tasty, juicy, weight is 5.3-7 oz (150-200 g). Yield is average. Huge thanks to Natasha-Rusalka for the seeds! 🌺
Mine had an average yield, though it grew in a not-so-great spot – it was somewhat shaded.. All the fruits were right around 14 oz (400 g). Sweet and beautiful! 👍
The bush wasn’t overly tall, it was no more than 5 ft (1.5 m), mid-season. Fruits weighed 7-10.5 oz (200-300 g). For some reason I only ended up with a photo of an unripe one.
Liked this variety. For me it was one of the early ones. Huge thanks to Nadezhda (Nadine) for the seeds 🌺.
Pierce’s Pride turned out productive for me, in the greenhouse it grew to 4-5 ft (1.2-1.5 m) tall. The fruits are very tasty, sweet, oblate, purple in color, medium sized. The ripening time was mid-season.
Notice how both Nadezhda and Ilya mention their plants stopped growing around 4 to 5 feet (1.2-1.5 m) tall, while Oksana describes hers as a “vigorous indet”?This is very common with dark-fruited heirlooms (like Cherokee Purple, Paul Robeson, and Pierce’s Pride). While genetically indeterminate, these varieties often act as “short indeterminates.” When they begin setting heavy loads of massive, dense fruit, the plant will frequently stall its vertical growth and pour all of its energy into sizing up and ripening the fruit. Once the harvest is picked, they will sometimes throw out a new main sucker and start growing upward again!
