Purple Bumble Bee cherry tomato BIO

Dark purple cherry tomatoes with green stripes. Purple Bumble Bee is a highly decorative cherry tomato variety. The fruit is dark purple-black and decorated with green stripes. The flavor is sweet and aromatic. This early variety is fairly productive and indeterminate, growing tall and bearing fruit throughout the season.

At a glance

• Growth habit: tall, indeterminate cherry tomato
• Fruit: small cherry tomatoes, purple-black with green stripes
• Sowing indoors: March – early April
• Planting out: from early May under cover, after May 15–20 outdoors
• Harvest: June – September (earliest under cover)
• Location: sunny and warm, preferably a greenhouse or polytunnel
• Difficulty: moderate
• Seeds per packet: 25

What makes this variety special

Purple Bumble Bee is an early variety – the first fruits can be harvested around 2 months after transplanting, and under cover the harvest starts as early as the beginning of summer. The plants produce fruit in clusters and yield quite abundantly until autumn.

The striped, dark fruits make this variety look great in the garden and on the plate. Its flavor is every bit as good as that of classic cherry tomatoes – sweet and juicy. It’s a great choice for anyone looking to add variety to the colors of their harvest.

Growing step by step

Sowing (March–April, under cover): Sow the seeds from mid-March to early April, around 6–8 weeks before the planned planting date, at a depth of approx. 0.5–1 cm. Keep the growing medium slightly moist and the temperature steady at 20–25°C (ideally around 24°C). Germination takes 7–10 days. Once they emerge, seedlings need as much light as possible – a south-facing windowsill or supplemental lighting works well; otherwise, the plants will quickly become leggy.

Pricking out: When the seedlings have 2–4 true leaves, transplant them individually into pots 8–10 cm in diameter, planting them slightly deeper than before. Keep the seedlings in a bright spot at 15–20°C and water moderately but regularly. Start hardening them off 7–10 days before planting out by placing them outdoors for a few hours each day.

Planting out (May): Plant seedlings in a greenhouse or unheated polytunnel from early May, and outdoors after May 15–20, once the risk of frost has passed. Space plants approx. 50 cm apart within rows and 100 cm between rows. Bury the stem noticeably deeper than it was in the pot – the tomato will develop additional roots along it. Insert a stake or attach a support string straight away.

Care: Train plants to one or two stems and regularly remove side shoots (so-called suckers) growing in the leaf axils – this directs the plant’s energy into the fruit rather than excess foliage. Water at the base of the plant without wetting the leaves, as tomatoes are susceptible to late blight. Remove the lower leaves so they do not touch the soil, and use mulch to retain moisture and prevent soil from splashing onto the leaves. Tomatoes like soil rich in organic matter and potassium, so they respond well to compost and organic fertilizers for fruiting vegetables. Harvest the fruit when the lower part turns dark purple-brown and the tomato feels slightly soft under your fingers.

Uses

Purple Bumble Bee tastes best fresh, straight from the vine. The dark, striped fruit looks lovely in salads and as a snack on a serving board. Halved, they can be added to pasta, focaccia, or roasted vegetables, while any surplus can be preserved in jars as colorful preserves.

Gardener’s tip

About the producer

The seeds come from Semailles – a small-scale Belgian producer of organic seeds based in the province of Namur in Wallonia. Semailles offers only open-pollinated varieties (no F1 hybrids), including many traditional and collector’s varieties. Some seeds are propagated in its own fields, while others are grown in collaboration with organic growers in Belgium and France. All batches are certified organic (inspection code BE-BIO-01).

Specifications