Black Cherry Toms out of control.....

[harleysilo]

These two plants are Black Cherry tomatoes. I've never grown they before, a kind member of the board sent me these seeds. So far about 90 visible greenies with probably 100 other flowers getting ready to open. Can't wait for one to rippen.

Oh and plants have been heavily pruned (in my opinion) and they are right at 6' tall and growing.

[JerryL]

Yep! That’s Black Cherry. Be careful, those two plants could take over the entire neighborhood.

And trust me, the wait is worth it.

[Tomaat]

They look good Harleysilo, got a lot more fruit then mine . I grow them for the first time too (only 1 plant, grown in pot).
I have been pinching it's side shoots and trained it as indeterminant. It has around 3 trusses of fruit and 1 truss of flower now. It too is around 2 meter tall, much taller then any other toms I have, will pinch down the top and let it put more energy on the fruit.

[feldon30]

Mine is 9 foot tall.

[bigcheef]

Lookin good and nice rig you have there for support. I have a couple of questions as well.

Is that carpet you are using to deter the weeds?

Ever have trouble with the twine cutting into the vine with larger varieties?

RIK

[rsg2001]

I love Black Cherry - and yes, they do tend to get overgrown. My seedlings though weren't hardy enough to plant this year so I will have to do without them. I find that about the beginning of September, the leaves start to brown and the plant slllooowwwly shrivels. I wondered if anyone else has seen this problem. I never saw anything in the disease pictures that resembled it.

[bate181]

i use the same watering system
and what made you decide to prune so heavily? it seems to be working

[harleysilo]

Originally Posted by bigcheef

Lookin good and nice rig you have there for support. I have a couple of questions as well.

Is that carpet you are using to deter the weeds?

Ever have trouble with the twine cutting into the vine with larger varieties?

RIK

It's white asphalt shingles, it comes in a 3ft by 30' roll for $30 or so. I was intending it to keep my tomato trench from getting to much water when it rains. Last year I had that problem and some BER.

I used twine in a florida weave method last year, and some 'hanging' I found that if I didn't wrap it too tight then it didn't cause any problems. The first few 'weaves's I did last year i pulled real tight. And then one day a plant was swaying in the wind and the string sawed a plant right off!

[harleysilo]

Originally Posted by bate181

i use the same watering system
and what made you decide to prune so heavily? it seems to be working

Last year my toms were out of control big and I had many many separate stalks. I decided this year I would try and limit that and maybe i'd get some larger toms......and then I checked back here after not reading or posting for a month or so and saw the video's and read post by that dude and decided I'd prune even more. I also have 16 more plants (same species) planted in the front garden (too close together but oh well) and i've not touched those so I'll get a good comparison this year to help me decide which route to go next year.

[harleysilo]

Originally Posted by feldon30

Mine is 9 foot tall.

Mine grew 6" in the last 24 hrs.

[harleysilo]

So how Black do they get before they are ripe?

[Sherry_AK]

They get pretty dark. I'm sure someone else will have a better photo, but it's Black Cherry in the dish with Sungold.

Sherry

[Patapsco Mike]

Just give them a quick but gentle tug. If they pop right off they are ripe. If they are still clinging tight they need more time.

[feldon30]

I don't let anything get ripe on the vine, even cherries. I pick Black Cherry when they're dusky pink.

[korney19]

All my plants seem stunted this year; Black Cherry looks particularly sparse...almost "stringy."