Purple Bumblebee vs. Black Cherry

[MikeInCypress]

I have grown Black Cherry every year since it was introduced and although I do like the flavor, I do not like both the yield and the lateness of the ripening. I grow from seed and each year the plants are slow to germinate and slow to attain planting out size. I've tried Haley's Purple Comet and it has excellent taste but the yield is low. My question is: How does Purple Bumblebee compare to BC & HCP? If you could only grow one which would it bee and why?

MikeInCypress

[Worth1]

I dont have one iota of help on the question asked.
I do have one of my own.
Where on earth do you folks keep finding these varieties I have never heard of?
Purple Bumblebee!
Does it have a stinger?

Worth

[natural]

I have grown HP in the past. I wasn't overly impressed with production. I grew Black Cherry and Purple Bumblebee this past year in the same beds.
PB was a stronger plant, more productive, and yielded longer than BC. PB was slightly later to mature but really put on a show late in the season when a lot of others had finished.

I do slightly prefer the taste and texture of BC (PB is a little firmer) but I would definitely choose PB over BC if I could only grow one.

Bill

[Hermitian]

The black cherry has always produced well for me -- on par with Sun Gold.

Worth,
I'd never heard of Purple Bumblebee either, but found it here: http://www.rareseeds.com/purple-bumble-bee-tomato/

[MikeInCypress]

Worth,

The Bumblebees are from Fred Hempel @ Artisan Seeds. They seem to be widely distributed this year. Johnny's has a good spread on them. http://www.johnnyseeds.com/v-2-new-for-2014.aspx?
categoryid=983&source=w_newfor2014lander_122013

MikeInCypress

[Worth1]

Nice looking tomato.

So we have artisan tomatoes now.

Worth

[RobinB]

BC always had horrible cracking issues for me, so I stopped growing it. I tried PB last year and absolutely loved it. The taste was excellent as was the production. In a year when everything cracked, PB didn't!

[WhippoorwillG]

While I can't comment on the black cherry, I grew both the purple and the pink BBees in 2013 as well as quite a few other cherries.

The plants were vigorous(more so for the purple than the pink BB) and I felt somewhat compact for a robust indeterminate. It had a decent yield (but not great), but produced longer and maintained health better than most, representing one of the last four cherry varieties to survive out of almost thirty.

As far as the actual fruit, it easily made the semi-permanent regrow list. The flavor was great, having a nice juiciness and flavor complexity in addition to the sweetness normally associated with cherries. Fruits hold well and of course are beautiful. I have also found Purple Bumblebee to be FAR!!!!! superior to other similar colored fruits that I have grown/eaten, including black vernissage, sugarplum raspberry, and a supermarket sourced mix cherry pack.

[KarenO]

Hello all,
I am interested to know if anyone from a more Northern latitude has tried one/some/all of the bumblebees this year? Northern States or Canada
KarenO

[ChrisK]

$4.00 shipping for a $4.00 packet of seed from Johnny's?

Would love to support the breeders but that's excessive (and there's nothing else I really want from Johnny's)

[travis]

Johnny's has many tomato varieties that are excellent and worth growing.

$4.00 shipping is cheap by today's standards for a commercial vendor. I challenge you to find less expensive shipping from a reputable seed vendor.

If I were to send you a single packet of seeds ... and not even considering the time and care I take to grow, gather, clean, sanitize, dry, store, package, and mail the seeds ... it would cost me about 75c in materials plus 50c in postage, not even counting my time, etc.

So, right out the door of my home, if I were selling seeds, I'd want about $2.50 in postage and handling, and I wouldn't be paying for any business permit fees, inventory taxes, wages, benefits, etc., etc., etc.

[Labradors2]

I won't shop at Johnny's because of their high shipping charges.

Secret Seed Cartel has pink and purple bumblebees.....

Linda

[ChrisK]

Most of those costs should be part of the overall price of every item. Sorry, $8 is too much for a single packet of seeds. I've already got more varieties than I have space for!

I'll swap seeds and then send Fred a dollar! ;-)

[travis]

Well, I always live by the motto that if you're too cheap to leave a decent tip, don't go out to eat

[Hermitian]

Originally Posted by ChrisK

Most of those costs should be part of the overall price of every item. Sorry, $8 is too much for a single packet of seeds. I've already got more varieties than I have space for!

I'll swap seeds and then send Fred a dollar! ;-)

For the last 10 years I've operated an online business -- and wow do I know the cost of shipping, near and far. I like to be honest with customers about shipping costs so that they see the actual price of the item, and the actual price of shipping it to their location. To do otherwise would mean that I'd charge an average price and then 3/4 of my customers would be subsidizing the shipping for the other 1/4.