Black Krim or Cherokee Purple

[PaulF]

Cherokee Purple and its cousin/brother/sister Cherokee Chocolate and Carbon are on my "black" list. Black Krim has never been a favorite either in Iowa or here in Nebraska. I am growing J.D.'s Special C Tex this year and it is doing very well despite the heat and drought.

As I played a small part in growing out Rosella Purple, I will attest to its flavor. Try it, I think you will like it.

[Mojo]

Camochef answered the original question: if it's not cracking at the shoulders, it's not Black Krim. BKs tend to do that, so look at all the fruits. If no more than one or two are cracking, it's probably Cherokee Purple.

To my palette, BKs have a saltier back-note compared to CPs. As I happen to like that, I prefer BK to CP, but I will grow both if given the chance (give away the latter, eat the former).

[nctomatoman]

Carolyn, I grew Black Krim in Pennsylvania as well as here in NC - same color. It is (or should be) clear skinned. So is a pink/black, or purple. Carbon also has clear skin - exact same color as Cherokee Purple. In fact, I grew both Cherokee Purple and Black Krim that first year I ever saw a "black" tomato - back in 1991 in PA in the same garden. They were essentially identical in color. Same when grown here in PA.

And Purple Smudge is a clear pink - the purple is on the skin only, and goes away for the most part once the fruit ripens. But it does not retain any chlorophyll in the flesh.

Black Prince is definitely a red/black (brown - yellow skin), and is the same color as Cherokee Chocolate.

I fear that there is a lot of misidentified/mixed up seed with the various black varieties.

I've grown Black Krim for two years. It grew beside CP last year. In my garden, the two varieties were distinctly different in appearance. My CP last year produced slightly larger, slightly flattened fruit with some fluting in the shoulders. The CP was also a little darker in overall appearance when ripe. The CP maintained a firmer texture than BK when ripe. The BK was more productive both years of smaller, globe shaped, without shoulder fluting, tomatoes from very early in the season. The BK for me has been one of the earliest varieties to ripen in the spring. Comparing the two varieties, the BK is the best in early season production, overall production, and plant size. The CP for me was best in fruit size and taste. The BK also continued production well into the hot, hot summer producing again in the fall. The CP gave in to the summer heat and died in mid summer.

If I had a retail outlet for my tomatoes, I would grow Black Krim every year because the tomatoes are always uniform in size, shape, and appearance resulting in a very attractive display. The CP's are also very attractive, but provide a wide variety of sizes and shapes in a display. The BK's did exhibit a much shorter shelf life when ripe than the CP's. The BK's would be over ripe and easily damaged by touch within two days. The CP's maintained a firm texture and had damage resistance for more than a week.

My BK's have been almost crack free except after a large rain event. The CP's sometimes exhibit cracks in the shoulder flutes even with a consistent watering schedule.,

Ted

[b54red]

You can always over water the two plants and in a couple of days the one with the worse cracking is the Black Krim.

Every year it seems that one or two of the black tomatoes will taste better than the others. This year for some reason Spudakee was the best tasting of the blacks so far. Last year it was Big Cheef in the spring and Indian Stripe and Dana's in the fall. The year before it was Indian Stripe Potato Leaf, JDs Special C Tex and Black Krim. I am going to grow mostly blacks for the fall this year since they have overall done far better than most other heirlooms during that hot dry time.

I have been lucky enough to get that smokey flavor in the Black Krim and I also got it in an Indian Stripe Potato Leaf. It only happened in late summer when the temps were really high and during a drought. It really was a taste sensation. For me the black tomatoes tend to be much darker in the early fall with some of them getting almost black while tomatoes from the same plant in the spring would be a pinkish purple with green shoulders. I have also found that the flavor of the black tomatoes becomes much more intense as the temperature hovers near or above 100. It seems to me that the full flavor of the blacks just doesn't come out until they have endured some really hot dry weather. The trouble with that hot dry weather is the fruit are fewer and smaller and the plants are much harder to maintain.

[bcday]

I finally went up the road to the nursery and spent $3.23 on a Black Krim plant that had a couple of small fruits already on it. Found a spot in the garden for it and plopped it in. Now looking forward to ripe fruit, so I can check for clear or yellow epi, while hoping the plant came true to variety and tags didn't get switched!

[TerpGal]

My favorite black isn't on the list either. Mine is Black Ethiopian. The flavor is rich and deep consistently, no matter the weather. The fruits are smallish though, and slightly elongated. I usually grow that one every year along with CP and BK. Alas none this year, thanks to CMV

[gardenjefe]

It was a Cherokee Purple, only could tell by taste and possibly seed pattern. Unless, I got a weird BK. I second guess way too much.

[Indyartist]

I'll add a "favorite" vote for "Paul Robeson". This was my wife's absolute favorite although we have not grown and tasted every possible black tomato. This year I'm growing one store bought Cherokee Purple, About 6 Black Krim (my first year growing them) and also around 6 Paul Robeson. I also have a couple Abunznyi and also 2 new varieties I am chasing from growing out seeds from one of Tom Wagner's creations.