Purple Bumblebee vs. Black Cherry

[SharonRossy]

Gardener, those look like a cherry version of Kumato tomatoes. I just bought some and Kumato was on the label but they look like your photo.
Linda, Green and Yellow Tiger are also on the crunchy side. But they held up really well relative to other tomatoes - I only had splitting when I let them stay on the vine too long and there was rain. But in general they were heavy producers and delicious.

[Gardeneer]

Originally Posted by SharonRossy

Gardener, those look like a cherry version of Kumato tomatoes. I just bought some and Kumato was on the label but they look like your photo.
Linda, Green and Yellow Tiger are also on the crunchy side. But they held up really well relative to other tomatoes - I only had splitting when I let them stay on the vine too long and there was rain. But in general they were heavy producers and delicious.

Thanks Sharon.
I am familiar w/ Kumato. I am growing an F3 of it .
Kumato has no varigated appearance. Also it is brown. What I got had purple flesh.
I think Fred said something that I think can be true. They have certain variety/strain that is available in Mexico. That is where my tomato came from.

About the seedling:
-- it is very slow growing .Slowest of 20 varieties.
-- the leaves look somewhat rugose and highly ridged, like a saw teeth. .
-- It has darker appearance.

The above are signs of dwarf or bush type.

We shall see.

Gardeneer

[Fiishergurl]

They look like black vernissage to me

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[habitat_gardener]

Originally Posted by Fiishergurl

They look like black vernissage to me

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When I grew Black Vernissage, they were large and round -- almost golf ball size -- with prominent stripes, and not nearly as dark as the photo.

[Gardeneer]

I did some more search.
The one I have shown is similar to Black Zebra Cherry, except mine is more like what is called "grape" BZC has the same skin and flesh ( Purple).

Gardeneer

[Fred Hempel]

Few would assume that two red tomatoes were the same, particularly when their shape and size is clearly different.

Although there are clearly not as many striped Purple with green stripe tomatoes (black zebra type), there is still no reason to assume that when you buy something from the store that is a known "black zebra-type" tomato and you can determine what it is.

There are many tomatoes available to commercial growers that are not generally availabil, and there is also no reason that commercial growers won't save seed from F1 lines and develop their own varieties.

One can really not judge from a photo if a tomato is, or is not, a particular known tomato. The only way to determine equivalence is to obtain the variety you THINK you have, and grow them side by side.

[Fred Hempel]

Personally, I have grown at least 5 "black zebra cherry" - type tomatoes where I bought (or obtained) seed identifying them as a particular variety.

Furthermore, I have many "black zebra cherry" (or purple bumblebee-type) lines that I have developed myself. They vary in shape, size and flavor. Some have been complete crap with regard to flavor, to the extent that we plowed them under, instead of taking them to our farmers market. We didn't want people to judge us harshly, which they certainly would have.

Over the years we also sold many "purple bumblebee/black zebra-type" tomatoes from our fields prior to our final selections of Purple Bumblebee (which was our best line of that type). It is very possible that many of our early lines (that are clearly not Purple Bumblebee) are out there as well.

[Cole_Robbie]

The pic above looks like Ania. I think I had one plant of it last year:
http://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/Ania

Regarding the main topic, Black Cherry is a variety that everyone should grow once. It's like Brandywine and Cherokee Purple. They are the entry-level heirlooms.

Last year I grew Brown Berry. I can't tell it apart from Black Cherry. I still like Purple Bumble Bee better. They taste just as good, and the striped pattern makes them easier to sell.

[Gardeneer]

Originally Posted by Gardeneer

I did some more search.
The one I have shown is similar to Black Zebra Cherry, except mine is more like what is called "grape" BZC has the same skin and flesh ( Purple).

Gardeneer

in 2017 I will grow side by side:

--My own (unknown ) grape zebra
-- Black Cheery
-- Purple Bumblebee
Last season my grape zebra was very slow to get going but once it did produced nice tasty tomatoes. Now that I have moved to NC, it might act differently.
So I will find who the winner is, to reserve space for the following seasons.

[BigVanVader]

Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie

The pic above looks like Ania. I think I had one plant of it last year:
http://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/Ania

Regarding the main topic, Black Cherry is a variety that everyone should grow once. It's like Brandywine and Cherokee Purple. They are the entry-level heirlooms.

Last year I grew Brown Berry. I can't tell it apart from Black Cherry. I still like Purple Bumble Bee better. They taste just as good, and the striped pattern makes them easier to sell.

To my taste buds PBB didnt taste anything like BC. PBB tasted more like pink BB to me, a sweet fruity flavor. BC taste like mini-carbons to me. I also find PBB to have thicker skins than BC. I like them both but BC has a better "black" flavor profile IMHO.

[Cole_Robbie]

You might like Sun Chocola F1, as a market grower. While not as sweet as Sungold, I thought they were still tasty, and the yield was excellent. I lost a lot to stink bugs, because the stink bug bites show up most clearly on dark fruit, but that is my fault for not spraying enough.

[Gardeneer]

Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie

You might like Sun Chocola F1, as a market grower. While not as sweet as Sungold, I thought they were still tasty, and the yield was excellent. I lost a lot to stink bugs, because the stink bug bites show up most clearly on dark fruit, but that is my fault for not spraying enough.

I am now fully booked. Plus not wanting to order anymore seeds.
In addition to my 28 MUST GROW, I have also about 10 in my "MAYBE" list.

I have about 500 sq-ft area. That is for tomatoes (main crop, 60 plants ), peppers ( secondary 30 plants), Okra, Eggplants, squash, cukes , bean,

[AKmark]

I prefer Blk Cherry over PBB, but PBB is pretty good.