🍅 Quick take: Purple Passion is an indeterminate dark heirloom beefsteak producing heavy, flattened 8-16 oz (220-450 g) fruits in a dusky pink-purple shade with subtle green shoulders. Celebrated across the board for an intensely sweet, “heavenly” rich flavor, it thrives both in open ground and high tunnels. Gardeners note that both potato-leaf (PL) and regular-leaf (RL) strains circulate in the seed trade, and heavy rains near harvest can cause minor shoulder cracking.
Leaf variations & green shoulders ↓ | Full summary ↓
Leaf variations & green shoulders ↓ | Full summary ↓
Growers’ Notes and Field Trials (USDA Zones 4-6)
Indeterminate salad slicer, mid-season leaning toward late. Yield in open ground was about average, vine topped out at 4 ft (1.2 m).Fruits are flattened, dusky pink-purple beefsteaks with outstanding flavor. Keep an eye on watering toward harvest, as excess soil moisture can cause the fruits to split.
Edited March 15, 2015 by Drosera
I was waiting for someone to start a thread on this variety! 😉 🙂For me, it leaned mid-early with a deep purple-violet color. Fruits are large, sweet, and the flavor is simply heavenly! Easily one of the absolute best varieties of my entire year for taste 👍 Seeds came from Lena Danko 🙏
Raisa! Why wait on someone else? 😉 You should have kicked off the thread yourself!Did you grow yours in a greenhouse? Mine was out in open ground and planted pretty tight, which is probably why it took its sweet time ripening. I planted seed from Lenochka-Leo, and I think Lena Danko got hers from Leo as well.
Totally agree on the taste, incredibly delicious 😋 Down in your warmer climate, these tomatoes turn out so much better!
ElenaN said:
Did you grow yours in a greenhouse? Mine was out in open ground and planted pretty tight, which is probably why it took its sweet time…
Mine was outdoors in open ground too. Grew just over 3.3 ft (1 m) tall, sturdy vine, large foliage that looks a lot like potato leaf 🙂 Moderate yield, but every tomato was large.
Go ahead and start threads whenever you want 😉 You can always edit your post later, and the admin will always help out if something gets messed up.Thanks! 🙏 Definitely running this again next season in open ground, but giving it a prime full-sun bed.
Elena, it wasn’t about being scared of making a mistake 😉 I was just respecting the forum seniority pecking order! 😄This is an exotic variety that seems adaptable enough to grow anywhere 🙂 Though of course everything performs better in full sun.
Foliage Variations (PL vs. RL), Green Shoulders, and Greenhouse Results
Raisa, forum seniority? You crack me up! 😮To keep this on track, here is the TOMATObase link documenting the regular-leaf.
Elena, mine looks way prettier than the database photos! 😉 Let me dig up an interior slice photo: mine is solid crimson-purple inside without a trace of green core 🙂
Ran mid-to-late season for me. Transplanted out into garden beds on June 1st and harvested throughout August. Delicious flavor, definitely repeating it. Yield was average, takes a little dialing in.
Hey folks, y’all forgot to mention the potato-leaf foliage! Grew mine last season from Lenochka-Leo’s seeds:
Here is what the vine looked like at the tail end of the season:
Really liked this variety! Grew inside the greenhouse where yield was very good, honestly the top producer among all dark tomatoes in my greenhouse this year.Flavor is mellow and harmonious, a solid 4 out of 5. Definitely growing it again. One hallmark trait: some fruits keep faint greenish shoulders, but they never get woody or tough and don’t hurt the flavor at all. My advice: prune to two leaders max. Seeds courtesy of ElenaN 🙏
Delicious, didn’t throw any runts or small fruit, and very productive. Big thanks to Lyudochka-Aleksan9ra for the seeds! 🙏Edited November 26, 2015 by Drosera
This variety has completely caught my attention. Drop-dead gorgeous! Not a single review from the Northwest yet 😢 Still want it regardless, going straight onto my wish list!
Grew Purple Passion inside a plastic greenhouse. It completely blew me away with its outstanding flavor, heavy production, and stunning fruit appearance.
Full Summary: Plant Habit, Leaf Types, Flavor, and Culture
- 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate vine with moderate, manageable vigor. Stays around 3.3-4 ft (1-1.2 m) in open ground beds, but stretches taller under greenhouse cover. Best managed by pruning to 1 or 2 leaders.
- 🍅 Fruit Anatomy: Large, flattened oblate beefsteaks (8-16 oz / 220-450 g). Dusky pink-purple skin often showing faint green shoulders that stay tender and edible without developing hard, woody cores.
- 👅 Flavor Profile: Rated near the top of the dark heirloom category. Complex, deeply sweet, and balanced with mild acidity, frequently described as “heavenly” by multiple growers.
- 🌱 Foliage Variations: Both potato-leaf (PL) and regular-leaf (RL) strains circulate under this variety name. Growers should verify their seedling leaf type early.
- 🌧️ Moisture Sensitivity: Thin, tender skins are susceptible to radial cracking if plants receive sudden heavy rains or irregular watering near full ripeness.
- 🌎 Reviewers: Tested extensively across USDA Zones 4, 5, and 6 (Kostroma, Kolomna, Klin, Belarus, and Pyatigorsk).
🍅 Grown Purple Passion? Did yours have potato leaves or regular leaves? Share your photos and flavor ratings below!
