Quick Summary of Amethyst Jewel
- 🌍 Origin: Created by the famous American breeder Brad Gates (Wild Boar Farms) and released around 2013. It is a cross involving a blue tomato and is closely related to his other famous creation, Blue Beauty.
- 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate. Generally grows to about 1.2–1.5 m (4–5 ft) in open ground, and up to 2 m (6.5 ft) in a greenhouse. Seedlings are easily identifiable by their distinct purple-tinged stems. Notably, some growers report it exhibits extreme resistance to Late Blight (Phytophthora).
- 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Stunning flattened globes. The base color is a warm pink, heavily splashed with dark purple/black anthocyanin on the shoulders. Average weight is 100–200 g (3.5–7 oz), though under certain conditions, it can reach up to 350 g (12 oz). The skin is relatively thin, making it prone to cracking if overwatered. Important: Because it was released early in its development, the genetics can be unstable; growers frequently report segregation (off-types with no blue color, or massive beefsteak mutants).
- 👅 Flavor: Exotic, fruity, and sweet with a classic antho-umami undertone. The flavor heavily depends on the weather—if grown in total shade or extreme heat, it can taste bland.
- ⏳ Yield: Mid-season. Highly productive with a long fruiting window, often producing right up until the first frost.
This variety can also be translated as Amethyst Treasure.
Indeterminate, mid-season, productive variety. The tomatoes are unusually beautiful 👍 👍 👍, probably the most beautiful variety I got this season. The color — I don’t even know how to describe it: blue-pink. The bottom is an unusually warm pink color, transitioning into blue-purple splashes, and then into a solid purple on the shoulders. Basically — not just a variety, but a true jewel. The taste of the fruits also surprised me: very good flavor, with sweetness, average weight was 140 grams (5 oz).
No matter how many times I photographed these tomatoes – I just couldn’t capture their full beauty completely.
I agree with the previous speaker 🙂
The tomato is great at all stages. From flowering to eating 👍
Definitely a jewel! How tall was the bush? I grew a similar variety — Blue Beauty. It would be interesting to compare them.
Tamara! For me, this indeterminate wasn’t very tall. At first, it grew in Open Ground, then I transplanted it into the greenhouse in July. In the greenhouse, it grew to 1.2 meters (4 ft). And I planted the seeds late — in early May (because I had to resow). So I can’t fully evaluate its maximum height.
I just looked at Tatiana Kouchnareva’s database — they are indeed different varieties, although Blue Beauty is also very beautiful 👍
ElenaN wrote:
I just looked at Tatiana Kouchnareva’s database — they are indeed different varieties…
Yes, they are different. It would be interesting to grow them side-by-side and see what’s what. I actually bought my seeds from Tatiana. I’ll go write a review about it.
I literally just ran to dig through my seed stash 😵 😆 Found Blue Beauty, I will plant them next year side-by-side and compare them then. True, my Blue Beauty seeds aren’t directly from Tatiana, but originally they came from her.
tomik wrote:
How tall was the bush?
I was looking down at it, which means it was less than 150 cm (5 ft) 😂
I might be wrong, but I got the impression that both varieties came from the same cross. Both are from 2013, from Brad Gates.
Regarding Blue Beauty, it is written that it was obtained by selecting from a cross between Beauty King and a blue tomato. But regarding Amethyst Jewel, it is clearly stated that the variety is still unstable, and not all fruits have anthocyanin-pink coloring. And there is a recommendation for those who are going to grow it — to select seeds only from fruits with anthocyanin pigmentation, meaning, to continue the selective breeding process yourself.
And how is it with the yield?
Mine grew in Open Ground this year. It stood out from all my other indigo varieties. Beautiful and tasty. But this summer, many varieties underperformed in yield. 😳
In terms of yield this season, it was one of the most productive out of more than 20 blue/antho varieties I planted.
Amethyst Jewel 2015:
My Amethyst Jewel 2015.
This variety segregated (threw off-types) for me. Two bushes were tall with red fruits. Their taste was sweet. One bush turned out medium height and produced blue fruits with pink streaks. The taste of those fruits turned out spicy/tangy.
Planted this variety in 2015.
– Bush appearance: mid-early, sprawling, medium-vigor indeterminate.
– Fruit set: no skipped blossoms, fruits all the way to the top.
– Height: by August 5th it was about 1.3m (4.2 ft).
– Clusters: dense, 5-6 fruits each.
– Overall yield: medium.
– Fruit: oblate/flattened, purple-pink-ink colored, very beautiful.
– Density of ripe fruit: medium.
– Taste: juicy, meaty, mouth-coating, tasty, sweetness is a 4+ out of 5.
First impression: a very beautiful tomato for fresh eating and salads.
The downsides — the bush is not very tall, and the fruits can roast/sunburn in direct sun.
Seedling rating – A, bush rating – B, fruit rating – A+, overall variety rating – A-.
Here is my jewel. For some reason, it is paler, not as dark.
The bushes (I had 2) were 1.20-1.30m (4 ft) tall, planted out in late April, grew them in three stems. They started ripening at the end of July, photos from August 5.
Pulled them out on Sunday. Yield is medium, they grew gradually, about 4 per cluster. Weight is somewhere around 100-200g (3.5-7 oz).
I kept hiding them from the sun all the time, but with mixed success. You can even see a white sun-bleached spot on the photo in my hand, it must have peaked out and I didn’t catch it.
The taste is slightly sweet, tender. For me, it was a bit bland, I’d give it a 4 out of 5.
Nadine wrote:
For some reason, it is paler, not as dark.
The bluish tint manifests based on the amount of light or sun hitting the fruit. That is why mostly the upper part of the fruit, or the side facing the sun, turns black, while the lower part of the fruit remains red/pink.
A very beautiful and productive variety. Grew in the greenhouse in 3 stems, fruits 100-200g (3.5-7 oz), tasty, with sweetness 😋. One of the hits of the season! 👍
The varieties Amethyst Jewel and Blue Beauty turned out to be very similar.
Amethyst Jewel:
Grew it for the second year. Yield is good, but the taste this year was a completely ordinary tomato flavor, without sweetness. Blue Beauty, in my opinion — is tastier.
Blue Beauty:
Fruits weighing 120-150g (4-5 oz), good taste, very beautiful — round, flattened beefsteaks, pink with purple shoulders.
My dears, please help me… I lost my Amethyst Jewel among my seedlings 🤷 I got distracted, started talking, and didn’t label the cup….. Now I found an unlabeled one, but I am doubting — is it really it? What should it look like when it sprouts… is the seedling stem bluish? (And not from the cold, it’s sitting in a warm spot)… I planted it back in February… one seed sprouted and the color is unusual. It’s my only blue variety.
Valentina, my Amethyst Jewel at the cotyledon stage has a slightly purple stem compared to regular red-fruited varieties.
Thank you Tatyana. Then I will name my blue-bellied one Amethyst… at least until it gives fruit 📝
My stem is also bluish (compared to the others).
I really liked the taste of Amethyst Jewel. Fresh, sweetish, very unique and pleasant. The bush is not massive, not very tall, about 150 cm (5 ft) or so. The fruits are beautiful, the shoulders are almost black. But it cracks, it has thin skin. I will grow it again.
VALENTINA/Abakan wrote:
My dears, please help me… I lost my Amethyst Jewel among my seedlings 🤷
Mine “got lost” too. Either the genetics segregated, or the vendor (Popenko V.) sent me the wrong seeds from the start.
Productive, long fruiting period, stores well, beautiful!
Lana_s_Kavkaza wrote:
Productive, long fruiting period…
Sveta, hi! Did you grow Blue Beauty, Amethyst Jewel, and Pink Siberian Tiger at the same time? Can you describe the differences between them?
Alisa, I grew all three of them. They are very similar. The coloring wanders a little bit, but otherwise the weight, the fruit shape, and the bush height are all similar.
Alisa wrote:
Can you describe the differences between them?
I planted AJ and Pink Siberian Tiger (from Popenko) right next to each other to compare. They are very similar, starting right from the seedlings (bluish stems). I liked both varieties very much; they are beautiful, productive, disease-resistant, and fruit for a long time. AJ still has little fruits hanging under the greenhouse roof right now.
The amount of blue on the shoulders depends on the amount of sun hitting the fruits. Overall, the shape, color, taste (sweet 😋), and even the cross-section look similar 🤷. I definitely didn’t mix them up during sowing, I monitored them very carefully specifically to compare. On both varieties, some of the smaller fruits had a slight heart/oxheart shape, while all the rest were oblate (flattened globes).
One of the Siberian Tiger bushes did segregate (throw an off-type), but I’ll write about that in its own thread.
Svetik, is the taste similar too? Or are there differences after all?
