Quick Summary of Sparkling Purple Fire (Sverkajushiy Purpurnyj Ogonek)
- 🌍 Origin: A modern variety developed by Russian breeder Sofia Saakova. It is the result of crossing the famous Rebel Starfighter (Zvezdnyi Istrebitel) with Night Star (Nochnaya Zvezda).
- 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall vining). Grows into slender vines around 1.8 meters (6 ft) tall in a greenhouse. Rated as an early-season variety with very good yield.
- 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Dark purple/brown oxhearts with a pronounced “beak” (point) and very faint striping. Average weight starts at 100 g (3.5 oz) and goes up. They are very dense and contain almost no seeds.
- 👅 Flavor & Storage: Sweet, harmonious, and very delicious. Despite having tender flesh, they surprisingly hold up very well in storage.
- ⚠️ Genetic Instability Drama: As discussed heavily by veteran forum members below, this variety is currently genetically unstable. Buyers should expect segregation (off-types). Many experienced growers criticize the practice of releasing un-stabilized F2/F3 generations as named “varieties.”
SPARKLING PURPLE FIRE.
Another interesting variety from Sofia. The result of crossing the varieties Rebel Starfighter and Night Star.
It resulted in very beautiful, pointed little hearts of dark purple color, with barely noticeable stripes. The shape is a perfect heart, and the size starts at approximately 100 g (3.5 oz) and higher.
The taste is very worthy, harmonious, with a predominance of sweetness. The bushes in the greenhouse are about 1.8 meters (6 ft) tall, slender.
The variety is quite early, productive, and despite the tender flesh, the tomatoes can sit in storage when ripe. I liked the variety, and I recommend it to all tomato lovers.
SPARKLING PURPLE FIRE.
I liked the variety.
SPARKLING PURPLE FIRE
Indeterminate, a variety from Sofia Saakova. Dense, small brown hearts, very sweet, almost seedless, store well, super variety!
.jpg.a3527c864ee4dda874c3f12f00cfe9a6.jpg)
I grew two bushes, and the fruits turned out to be completely different from each other.
Guys! Doesn’t it seem to you that these highly circulated “varieties” from Sofia aren’t actually varieties at all, but simply first or second-generation cross-pollinations (F1/F2 hybrids), and they are not stable varieties! Why keep multiplying these unstable crosses… Why heavily promote them!
As far as I remember from the last century, a tomato line can only be confirmed as a true stable “variety” after 8 or 10 years of growing it out! Why do you guys keep doing this… Do you get some sort of kickback from it?
Edited November 25, 2025 by Ninulia
Quote from Ninulia:
Why do you guys keep doing this… Do you get some sort of kickback from it?
Nina, I’m sure the people selling the seeds are making something off it, while others are just curious to grow them. I constantly read on the forum about the segregation/instability of these “varieties,” and I have never once had the desire to try them.
But the names have already been invented, they are circulating around the internet, so let them be in our Catalog.
Quote from Drosera:
The names have already been invented, they are circulating around the internet, so let them be in our Catalog.
Well, let them be here then! But people shouldn’t get their hopes up about replicating the exact variety! There is such a huge variance/segregation in what actually grows from those seeds.