Black Cherry questions

[instar8]

I was really looking forward to growing Black Cherry last year, but was very disappointed. It took forever to ripen, granted it was a weird cool summer, but i was picking beefsteaks long before the first ones blushed.

The taste was bland, my 4-year-old grand-daughter wouldn't even eat them, and she LOVES cherry tomatoes...then about the time they really started to ripen, it rained, and pretty much every one split and spoiled, and the vines melted down.

But i'm wondering if i got bad seed? They came from Tradewinds, and in the same order i got Berkeley Tie-dye Heart from a pack marked Pink BTD,
and a tomato they id'd as L.skorospelka, a different species, i've since learned is nothing of the kind, in fact it's almost identical to Stupice, except that it has green shoulders. Still a good tomato BTW, and earlier than Stupice! Yet another variety they called "Black Bear" which was supposed to be a medium-sized round black, turned out to be a large plum with green streaks....

Plus the descriptions i'm reading of Black Cherry say it's 1" diameter, these were the biggest cherries i've ever seen, close to half again that big, too big to comfortably put in your mouth in one bite...and i have a big mouth!!! ;~)

What do you think? Does this sound like bad seed?

[austinnhanasmom]

I had a similar experience with BC being bland. Someone said chill them for 30 min prior to eating. That worked!!

Not sure about the other issues you found.

I'll try them again. My 2yo actually preferred them to all others.

[icelord]

Wow, I never heard those complaints Black Cherry was one of the best cherries I have ever grown! Sweet and yes bigger than the average cherry, no splitting here, and productive it was not the earlisest though, I would not even use bland in the same sentance. Monster vines.
My chefs could not get enough of them, again, it may have to do with your location, or soil type. I live in Northern Michigan and have perfect loam ammended with composted leaves and horse manure.

Icelord

[goodwin]

I agree with the previous comment - Black Cherry is a very good tomato, one of the favorites at the farmer's markets. I wonder if you didn't get something else like Chocolate Cherry or 'Black Pearl'. I've never had any trouble with Tradewinds, but they are resellers.
I have a strain of Black Cherry which is resistant to early and late blight and which I really like, so I save seed from year to year. It is a huge plant!

[Gobig_or_Gohome_toms]

I grew them for the first time ever last year and loved them. I also grew sungold and did not care for them very much. I gave away plants to co-workers and they all loved the sungold but did not like the black cherry. Every palate is different.

[Raymondo]

I don't ever recall seeing Black Cherry fruit at 1 1/2" across, but I live in a climate with coolish summer evenings so perhaps they just don't get big here. The taste is almost always excellent though.

[Duh_Vinci]

No complaints on the taste of BC either. Great, rich flavor, nice balance of sugar and acid presense, slightly larger than avg. cherry size. Very productive. Generally - no issues with splittintg, unless heavy rains for couple of days, but that's pretty much a given.

The only thing I could mention - germination was rather long and very uneven for me, but that is possibly due to the source of seeds.

Back in the garden for 2010 for sure!

Regards,
D

[sfmathews]

I grew BC last year for the first time. It was not in the best location, but produced great and got huge! I saved seeds and it will be returning this year!

[ruet]

My bet is you got a black cherry, not the black cherry. I got my black cherry seeds from an outfit in the UK called Ready to Grow. BC was so good that it's coming back next year. I don't have room for more than a dozen or so plants, and I'm planning for 2 spots for BC.

The flavor is a 9 for me, bigger than supermarket cherries and no issues with splitting until the november rains rolled in. Vines stretch 10 ft in all directions if you'll let it sprawl. Kept producing even after it was nearly completely defoliated by spider mites while I was on vacation. Will try Sungold as a sweet cherry, but I really can't see any plant taking over BC's spots in my garden until someone figures out how to splice giant pumpkin genes into a cherry tomato.

[kd3]

I had less than stellar results with Black Cherry this year as well, I will regrow as it appears to do well for so many, and I am guessing it was the very poor season. Another black cherry that performed well for me despite the poor conditions was Negro Azteca also from Tradewinds fruit, it is a larger black cherry, and it was very good. kd

[roper2008]

I grew Black Cherry and Sungold last year. Black cherry was good
and sweet, but Sungold was better and more productive. I am trying
a few other cherries this summer, hopefully with a thinner skin.
Sungold will be in garden again for 2010, Black Cherry will be back
again in 2011 for lack of space.

[Blueaussi]

I grew black cherry exactly once. It wasn't particularly productive, they split easily, bland taste, and they were mealy in texture. I got my seeds from Tomato Growers supply.

[recruiterg]

I love BC. Awesome taste...incredible production. It did split easily, though. Easily survived my midsummer and beyond neglect.

[gnut629]

I also got my black cherries from Tradewind so I am wondering if something happened. My Sungolds, however, grew out just fine.

[kimpossible]

I believe my Black Cherry seed came from Victory Seeds ... (might be wrong - I have run out & need to order more, plus I have my own saved seed, unbagged)

Regardless .... Black Cherry blew me away! Productive, deep purple colour, 1" in diameter ... such a rich, acidy tomato taste. It holds the number one spot of my "must grow" list.

Admittedly, last year was a disappointment - but it was the summer of "non-existent" summer - unseasonably cold, wet - we might have had 2 weeks out of normally 3 months of decent weather. Also, late blight hit all of southwestern Ontario, and I believe upper U.S. states - which decimated tomato plants, no matter the location (urban or rural) or size (postage stamp or many acres) of your plot. My Black Cherry last year was definitely much less productive, less flavourful, less colourful.

I live in a zone 5b/6a, frost dates 24 May to 1st Oct, (but can be a couple of weeks earlier in the spring, later in the fall). Some hot & humid days/weeks in July/August due to the Great Lakes, and we have clay soil.

Hope that helps - but I would advise you to try again - one season does not necessarily give accurate data.