Growers’ Notes and Photos (USDA Zones 4)
Original Description: “Morado (USA). Mid-season variety, bush height 4 feet (1.2 m), fruit weight 1.1 lbs (500 g). Wall of fruit. Exotic. Black-purple, beautiful, rich flavor.”
I’ll add to this that the variety is incredibly productive. Even though my bush was on the shorter side; about 2.6 feet (0.8 m); it grew completely outside. The fruits were all massive, weighing 1.1-1.3 lbs (500-600 g), with absolutely no small ones in the mix. However, every single one of them tasted completely bland. My seeds were from A. Kulik.
I want to jump in and agree that it truly is a massive yielder. My seeds were from Popenko. The bush wasn’t very tall, staying under 3.3 feet (1 m), and it grew outside. It was my absolute discovery of the year!
The fruits were all beautifully uniform, weighing anywhere from 5.3 oz to 1.1 lbs (150 to 500 g). Mine were probably on the smaller side because I let the bush get away from me and grow into 5 stems… oops! 😳
It’s a great variety, completely unpretentious, and grows perfectly fine outside. The fruits are large and ripen right on the vine. Mine didn’t really have a purple tint to them, just the standard color you see on all dark/black tomatoes.
Full Summary: Morado
- 🌿 Plant & Foliage: A surprisingly compact indeterminate variety. Despite being an indet, the plants typically stay quite short—often ranging between 2.6 and 4 feet (0.8-1.2 m) tall. It performs extremely well outdoors and requires little maintenance.
- 🍅 Fruit & Shape: Produces large to massive beefsteaks. Well-pruned plants yield uniformly huge tomatoes weighing 1.1-1.3 lbs (500-600 g). If allowed to sprawl into multiple stems, the fruit size drops to a more manageable 5.3-17 oz (150-500 g). The color is a classic “black” or deep brownish-purple.
- 📈 Yield & Health: An absolute workhorse. Multiple growers praised it as a “wall of fruit” and their top discovery of the season due to its incredible production rates and ease of growing outside in cooler climates.
- 👅 Taste: Flavor reports are highly contradictory. While official seed descriptions claim a rich, classic dark tomato flavor, real-world experiences varied—with some growers reporting that their massive harvests tasted completely bland and watered down.
In Russian seed catalogs (like those from Kulik and Popenko), Morado is frequently listed as a US variety. However, “Morado” simply translates to “purple” in Spanish, and in the heirloom tomato world, it is traditionally associated with large, dark Spanish heirlooms (e.g., Morado de Fitero). It was likely introduced to Eastern Europe via American seed savers and exchanges, which explains why it is often incorrectly credited as originating in the United States.
