Black Seaman or Black Prince?

[kurt]

I tried it a couple of times and got large plants.For me in containers almost any variety can be manicured,pushed if you will to get larger plants for production.All of the larger "black" rounds here in 10b are subject to a lot of scaring,zipper face, due to our heat that expands(the water)in the mater.I found most of the larger blacks are really good tasting but they will slde off a sandwich unless anchored with some lettuce to hold it in place.A somewhat remedy is to pick the blacks early(firm)under water at this juncture to keep it intact.Seems once you loosin up the insides that gorgeous tasting mater turns into a good starter for pasta gravy.I seldom grow large rounds for that reason here in 10b.Now those cherokees(as mentioned above) and brandywines will fit a sandwich perfectly ,hold together well and has the perfect taste for us.Black Seaman has a interesting history,somewhat controversial for some materphiles.

[Fritz77]

With my little experience I can say you can avoid Black Krim. The taste is outstanding but the plant grows large and tall. Well, my comment here didn't help much I guess.

[Al@NC]

The black prince I grew (store bought plant) was compact or might I say more compact than Krim was for me. Results may vary. Dwarfs such as Rosella Purple will guarantee compact size though...

Al

I'm not *too* far north from Nevada (southwestern Idaho). So, we may have some similarities in climate, depending on which part of the state you're in.

I grew Black Prince in 2016, and it didn't produce at all. Small plant.

Of the black tomatoes I've tried, Black Giant is the larger-fruited one that has probably done the best with production (but I think it could use more acclimatization to my semi-arid climate, still). The black/brown/purple tomatoes I've tried (regardless of size) include at least Black, Black Giant, Black, Paul Robeson, Black from Tula, Black Prince, Beduin, Amazon Chocolate, Indian Zebra, Black Plum, Chocolate Pear, Ron's Carbon Copy, Pink Berkeley Tie Dye, Purple Bumblebee, Cherokee Purple, Pruden's Purple and probably more. Black from Tula had the largest fruit, but it was also one of the latest that produced (it seemed like the fruit probably would have tasted good had I found it in time); I probably didn't have it in the best soil (and it was crowded). Paul Robeson had great flavor, but the tomatoes ended up being small with no hang-time; not super productive for me. Amazon Chocolate got smothered or otherwise didn't produce. Indian Zebra got smothered, but I got a couple tomatoes (at least one was big); Indian Zebra remained a small plant for a long time before. Beduin had quite small fruits and wasn't productive. Black Plum produced all season and was very heat-tolerant; small fruits; not super productive, but not unproductive. Purple Bumble Bee was okay. Chocolate Pear had good taste and was extra-early; quite small fruits; I think I got a mutant, because it was super early with a small plant and it didn't grow or produce like Yellow Pear. One of my Cherokee Purple plants never produced (it had plenty of space, but it wasn't in the best soil for tomatoes that year); I had a smothered plant that got a couple small fruits that never ripened outside. Ron's Carbon Copy is the sweetest tomato I've grown that is consistently sweet; it seemed to be producing well by the time it produced, but it got a really late start because my seeds germinated late (not all of this variety's seeds are like that); my plant perhaps wasn't in ideal soil (so perhaps it could have done better); cherry-sized, but satisfyingly dark. Pruden's Purple is a great tomato with large fruits; it's heat-tolerant (mine wasn't super productive, though, and a lot of people think it looks plain red, although it looks kind of purple to me). Black (territorialseed) was fairly early for the size, but I only got one fruit (granted it was a good size); it didn't have much taste, though (due to lack of acclimatization to my soil, I believe). Pink Berkeley Tie Dye was crowded by other plants, but it produced a few fruits of variable size, one of which began to ripen a while after the season ended (I covered it up at night).

Black Giant got a decent number of fruits, each about a pound. I think growing it from seeds used to the conditions will hopefully result in increased production (as it's supposed to be really, really productive). The earliest fruits had no viable seeds (but later ones had plenty of good-looking ones). Taste was decent, but mild. The plant seemed about average-sized for an indeterminate; not huge, but not small.

A local friend of mine grew Black Krim and Paul Robeson during the same year. He said Black Krim produced a lot more (and he really liked the taste). He liked the taste of Paul Robeson, too, I'm pretty sure. It should be noted that Paul Robeson can be a big plant. I'm not sure about Black Krim.

I'm excited to try African Brown Beefsteak, this year. It's from Africa; so, maybe it's used to semi-arid to arid climates. It is indeterminate, though. Here are some others I want to try this year:

* Black Sea Man (it looks like you're considering that one, already)
* Black Bear (this one is determinate; 75 days; 10-14oz fruits)
* Chocolate Stripes (75 days; indet.; 1-2lbs)

I was going to try Japanese Black Trifele, but I'm trying to limit varieties that take more than 75 days (so, maybe another year). It's indeterminate, too, though; so, I'm not sure if you'd like it.

You might like Tasmanian Chocolate. I haven't tried it, but it's a dwarf indeterminate (dwarf indeterminates are pretty cool). I think I'll add it to my wantlist (I thought it was just a determinate), except it's a touch late.

If you're looking for anthocyanin tomatoes, I didn't mention the ones I've grown and am planning to grow. I've grown Indigo Rose and Jackie. Indigo Rose didn't produce (but it was crowded and didn't have enough sun; so, don't blame it). Jackie was very early (especially for an anthocyanin tomato) and it produced all season (but it wasn't productive); the late fruits tasted awesome (kind of like sweet tarts, grapefruit or something), but the earlier ones were just sweet without the unique, rich flavor. Jackie was indeterminate with very small fruits. I'm planning to try Red Beauty, Fahrenheit Blues, Helsing ★★★★★★★★ Blues, Indigo Apple, Blue Beauty, Purple Dragon, and Gargamel.

[Worth1]

Not in the size range you are looking for but Black Plum is one good tomato.
Worth
http://www.tomatogrowers.com/BLACK-P...ductinfo/6414/
and you might try Black Pear too.

http://www.tomatogrowers.com/BLACK-P...ductinfo/5136/

[gorbelly]

Originally Posted by shule1

I'm excited to try African Brown Beefsteak, this year. It's from Africa; so, maybe it's used to semi-arid to arid climates.

Tania lists an African Beefsteak, which is pink, and African Brown, but not African Brown Beefsteak. Tomatofifou lists an African Beefsteak but not African Brown.

Sometimes, I just want to smack people who name things. "African" is not a helpful descriptor. Nobody would call a tomato "European Brown" because it would be way too vague and tell us nothing about its preferred climate or possible culinary characteristics, and Africa is practically 3x the size of Europe and comprises a HUGE variety of climate types.

I see from Tania's site that people think it's from West Africa. Terrific. That means it could be from a climate that ranges from some of the world's driest to some of the world's wettest, sometimes within the same country depending on altitude and time of year. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[JosephineRose]

I grew two plants of Black Seaman and neither produced very well.

[schill93]

Thanks for all of your suggestions. I guess no one is too keen on Black Sea Man. Funny how the seed sources seem to run out of their seeds.

Shule: I'm in the southern tip of Nevada. We have weather here like Phoenix, Az., only colder winters. It is quite difficult growing tomatoes successfully here, but it can be done when the stars and moon align just right.

I will be checking out some of the suggestions you made. Perhaps in the long run, I may just have to stick with Dwarfs for him. I was just afraid they might not make it here so I was looking for more of a sure thing (so to speak).

[Fusion_power]

Black Sea Man is a disease magnet. It is consistently the very first tomato plant in my garden to die. Black Prince lasts a tad longer, but is not a reliable producer. Of the black/brown/dark tomatoes I've grown, the best have consistently been indeterminate. J.D.'s Special C-Tex, Bear Creek, Gary'O Sena, Black From Tula PL, and Paul Robeson would be among the better for flavor.

Oh yeah. Lots of people rave about J.D.'s Special C-Tex. I forgot to mention that one. It sounds like a good one, but it is indeterminate.

Oh, I've also tried Tim's Black Ruffles. It was an *enormous* fast-growing bush that smothered basically everything around it (Aladdin's Lamp, Aussie, Mountain Princess, Creole, and probably more). It had lots of flowers, but I only got like two small tomatoes. I'm not sure how they tasted.

[decherdt]

Amazon Chocolate stayed small for us.

[schill93]

How did you like Amazon Chocolate and how did it produce for you. I have seeds for that.

[decherdt]

Its a fine tasting tomato, and was among the last to get fungus(es), but was not overly productive. We gave it a spot for a couple of years, it hardly got over 4 ft tall. I'm going with the bigger 8 ft tall varieties these days.

Originally Posted by schill93

How did you like Amazon Chocolate and how did it produce for you. I have seeds for that.

For me, I didn't get any fruit. The plant wasn't the biggest, either. It was crowded, though. It might like containers more than the ground where I planted it, but I only tried it in 2016. Ananas Noire performed the same for me. I was surprised neither of them did very well. Ananas Noire grew quite a small plant, too. Has anyone tried either of these in a container?

An Illinois grower in a Baker Creek review seems to like Amazon chocolate a lot. Another Illinois grower on Tatiana's Tomato Base seemed to have success with it, too. It's supposed to taste pretty good.

A grower in San Luis Obispo, CA had success with Amazon Chocolate.

[Gardeneer]

This is my second Favorite
sep 3- mystry.jpg

I got the seeds from store bought Heir/OP.
It has better looking color than BFT. Its fruits are also uniform in shape and size.
I am giving BFT a leave of absence to grow this one plus IS PL.
another picture
Aug 23 - mystery 1.jpg