shelf life of black tomatoes

habitat_gardener · January 3, 2015

I was thinking about how many black tomatoes to grow this year. Some of the best ones I've grown have short shelf life. For instance:
--Black Krim lasts a day if you wait until it's dark, but a couple years ago I found it also tastes great eaten as a green-when-ripe and keeps a few days if picked as soon as it blushes.
-- Ananas Noire produced a whole bunch of large tomatoes (10 from one plant) at once a couple years ago. They tasted great, but I ended up giving them all away because even I couldn't eat them fast enough.
-- This year, Carbon was wonderful, but iirc it also had a shorter shelf life than other tomatoes of the same size.

fwiw, I pick mine at first blush because my gardens are in scattered locations (mostly community gardens) where human predation is a factor.

So I was wondering if other great-tasting large black tomatoes have a short shelf life compared to other large tomatoes. Is it the size? Is it something about black tomatoes? Or is it my imagination?

PhilaGardener · January 3, 2015

I had a few Japanese Black Trifele's make it through Thanksgiving (ripening on the windowsill) this year in PA, so I was actually wondering if these might last longer than "regular" tomatoes. LOL :>) Flavor wasn't fully developed, however, but they were fine.

heirloomtomaguy · January 3, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhilaGardener

I had a few Japanese Black Trifele's make it through Thanksgiving (ripening on the windowsill) this year in PA, so I was actually wondering if these might last longer than "regular" tomatoes. LOL :>) Flavor wasn't fully developed, however, but they were fine.

All the japanese black trifele's i have picked went soft on me really fast. The dark spot on the neck was the first to go.

Cole_Robbie · January 3, 2015

The short shelf life of heirlooms is the biggest obstacle in making them economically feasible to grow commercially. Commercial varieties advertised as "firm" have a shelf life for me of 2-3 weeks. For heirlooms, it's more like 3-4 days.

Purple Bumble Bee had a surprisingly long shelf life; customers said the same thing. They would be fine for at least a week on a kitchen counter. Maybe being cherry-sized makes a difference.

**carolyn137** · January 3, 2015

You folks in CA can get a darker color for the so called blacks, but up here in the semi-tundra in zone 5b in upstate NY I've never had a problem with them in terms of shelf life and for several years I was also supplying restaurants and for them I would never deliver mostly fully ripe ones.

Carolyn

AlittleSalt · January 4, 2015

I have read about Black Cherry and Plum having very short shelf lives, but I didn't know about other black varieties having the same problem. I guess that is why I never see them for sale as transplants where I live in Texas.

There is so much to learn about tomatoes.

Darren Abbey · January 4, 2015

There is some research that suggests the high-anthocyanins of the new 'blue' tomatoes has a side effect of delaying spoilage. Maybe this suggests some value in breeding the 'blue' genes into a black tomato.

gssgarden · January 4, 2015

shelf life has always been an issue with my Cherokee Purple. Not that it matters as it's one of my favs and doesn't last long anyway.

greg

camochef · January 4, 2015

Years ago, I noticed that Cherokee Purple didn't have as long a shelf-life as other tomatoes I was growing. Although Cherokee Chocolate was basically the same tomato with just a skin mutation, it did have a longer shelf life.
While both were eventually eliminated from my gardens...They did lead to my growing every black tomato I could find. Some seem to have a shorter shelf life than others, many seem no different than any other pink, red, orange, gold, yellow, or GWR tomato.
Those I felt were better than others were: Bear Creek, Dana's Dusky Rose, Amazon Chocolate and after this years, (2014), return of Cherokee Purple from Homegrown Harvest via Agway, which showed great improvement over those I grew 8-10 years ago. The big surprise was a black, potato-leafed cross from German Johnson -Benton Strain and an unknown black, (which I suspect was Bear Creek), which had a great shelf life but was also the best tasting tomato I grew last year out of all 41 that survived the horrible weather. It's production wasn't anything like many other favorites I grew, but it wasn't bad either.
It's biggest drawback was its late ripening date...actually the very last tomato to ripen in my garden, and I grow all large slicers. While I didn't get to save many seeds from this tasty fruit, I did save a few to see what they do this coming season. Hoping for a repeat oflast year with them...as are many of my friends and neighbors.
Enjoy!
Camo

travis · January 4, 2015

Purple tomatoes have been my favorite type since I first grew Black Krim and Cherokee Purple in 2005. The short shelf life has also been a disappointment especially when there's a bumper crop.

In 2008, I began crossing Cherokee Purple with more modern tomatoes to get more compact vines, tighten up the blossom scar, eliminate shoulder cracks, and extend the shelf life.

This year I grew several excellent black and purple tomatoes that have the desired color and flavor of Cherokee Purple and Chocolate, but enjoy a much longer shelf life (over 10 days in vine ripe eating condition), tight blossom scars, crack free, and with some disease resistances.

They all are the result of either Cherokee Purple or Indian Stripe outcrossed to modern, disease resistant hybrid tomatoes, some determinate and some indeterminate parents.

I think this is the only way to achieve acceptable market shelf life and appearance that will satisfy the most customers and yield the highest percentages of marketable fruit.

My next challenge is outcrossing Not Purple Strawberry, which has superior flavor, great fruit size and appearance, but its shelf life is like plucking from the vine and sprinting to the kitchen.

ilex · January 4, 2015

I know a couple black de colgar tomatoes. Haven't tried them yet, but shelf life should be months (5-9).

**carolyn137** · January 4, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by ilex

I know a couple black de colgar tomatoes. Haven't tried them yet, but shelf life should be months (5-9).

After trying to find a tomato named Colgar I went to Google and found out that colgar in Spanish means "hanging" and many different varieties are also used for what some call winter tomatoes.

Here's the link from Google and I don 't see any seed sources here in the US exept for e-bay/ Tania doesn't list it.

https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q...oes+from+Spain

And do let us know about the black ones when you do grow them.

Carolyn

bower · January 4, 2015

Pink Berkeley Tie Dye definitely had the shortest shelf life of any blacks I've grown, especially if left to ripen fully on the vine. I had a couple that went too far in a hurry!

I have a cool room in the basement - about 65 F in summer I guess - where I kept uneaten ripe and ripening tomatoes this year, and they had a much longer shelf life than upstairs where the temp is 70 F+. Even PBTD lasted a couple of days there in primo condition, if picked when still firm.

I thought other blacks like Indian Stripe and Black Early had a decent shelf life, no worse than other colour tomatoes. But to be honest, if there's more ripe tomatoes around than I can eat in a day, I huck em in a ziploc in the freezer before they get overdone.

Ed of Somis · January 4, 2015

I know there are much more knowledgeable tomato growers here than me. However, my feeling is: it is probably not fair to lump all blacks, or all purples, or all heirlooms in the same sentence. I am concerned about how some tomatoes degrade quickly (ie my post about Sungolds). There are just too many different qualities /varieties to say "all....." are not good savers. It might be fair to say "many .....'s" are not good savers. Know what I mean?

ilex · January 5, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ed of Somis

I know there are much more knowledgeable tomato growers here than me. However, my feeling is: it is probably not fair to lump all blacks, or all purples, or all heirlooms in the same sentence. I am concerned about how some tomatoes degrade quickly (ie my post about Sungolds). There are just too many different qualities /varieties to say "all....." are not good savers. It might be fair to say "many .....'s" are not good savers. Know what I mean?

All is probably not fair, most is closer to the truth. Old varieties were selected mostly for very fresh use so shelf life was not important. Good eating experience was the most important thing. You wanted a tomato, went to the garden and ate it. Few old varities were meant to store at all.

In commercial farming, you want to produce cheap, and you want to ship your product, and you want it to look good, and have a good shelf life so they have time to get sold. You end up with red plastic balls that bounce if thrown on the floor. They could develop very good tasting, thin skin hybrids if they wanted to.

January 3, 2015	#1
habitat_gardener Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: California Central Valley Posts: 2,543	shelf life of black tomatoes I was thinking about how many black tomatoes to grow this year. Some of the best ones I've grown have short shelf life. For instance: --Black Krim lasts a day if you wait until it's dark, but a couple years ago I found it also tastes great eaten as a green-when-ripe and keeps a few days if picked as soon as it blushes. -- Ananas Noire produced a whole bunch of large tomatoes (10 from one plant) at once a couple years ago. They tasted great, but I ended up giving them all away because even I couldn't eat them fast enough. -- This year, Carbon was wonderful, but iirc it also had a shorter shelf life than other tomatoes of the same size. fwiw, I pick mine at first blush because my gardens are in scattered locations (mostly community gardens) where human predation is a factor. So I was wondering if other great-tasting large black tomatoes have a short shelf life compared to other large tomatoes. Is it the size? Is it something about black tomatoes? Or is it my imagination?

January 3, 2015	#5
carolyn137 Moderator Emeritus Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Upstate NY, zone 4b/5a Posts: 21,169	You folks in CA can get a darker color for the so called blacks, but up here in the semi-tundra in zone 5b in upstate NY I've never had a problem with them in terms of shelf life and for several years I was also supplying restaurants and for them I would never deliver mostly fully ripe ones. Carolyn __________________ Carolyn

January 4, 2015	#7
Darren Abbey Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Minnesota Posts: 586	There is some research that suggests the high-anthocyanins of the new 'blue' tomatoes has a side effect of delaying spoilage. Maybe this suggests some value in breeding the 'blue' genes into a black tomato. __________________ http://the-biologist-is-in.blogspot.com

January 4, 2015	#10
travis Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Evansville, IN Posts: 2,984	Purple tomatoes have been my favorite type since I first grew Black Krim and Cherokee Purple in 2005. The short shelf life has also been a disappointment especially when there's a bumper crop. In 2008, I began crossing Cherokee Purple with more modern tomatoes to get more compact vines, tighten up the blossom scar, eliminate shoulder cracks, and extend the shelf life. This year I grew several excellent black and purple tomatoes that have the desired color and flavor of Cherokee Purple and Chocolate, but enjoy a much longer shelf life (over 10 days in vine ripe eating condition), tight blossom scars, crack free, and with some disease resistances. They all are the result of either Cherokee Purple or Indian Stripe outcrossed to modern, disease resistant hybrid tomatoes, some determinate and some indeterminate parents. I think this is the only way to achieve acceptable market shelf life and appearance that will satisfy the most customers and yield the highest percentages of marketable fruit. My next challenge is outcrossing Not Purple Strawberry, which has superior flavor, great fruit size and appearance, but its shelf life is like plucking from the vine and sprinting to the kitchen. Last edited by travis; January 4, 2015 at 10:05 AM.

January 3, 2015	#2
PhilaGardener Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: Near Philadelphia, PA Posts: 1,940	I had a few Japanese Black Trifele's make it through Thanksgiving (ripening on the windowsill) this year in PA, so I was actually wondering if these might last longer than "regular" tomatoes. LOL :>) Flavor wasn't fully developed, however, but they were fine.

January 3, 2015	#4
Cole_Robbie Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Illinois, zone 6 Posts: 8,407	The short shelf life of heirlooms is the biggest obstacle in making them economically feasible to grow commercially. Commercial varieties advertised as "firm" have a shelf life for me of 2-3 weeks. For heirlooms, it's more like 3-4 days. Purple Bumble Bee had a surprisingly long shelf life; customers said the same thing. They would be fine for at least a week on a kitchen counter. Maybe being cherry-sized makes a difference.

January 4, 2015	#6
AlittleSalt BANNED FOR LIFE Join Date: May 2014 Posts: 13,333	I have read about Black Cherry and Plum having very short shelf lives, but I didn't know about other black varieties having the same problem. I guess that is why I never see them for sale as transplants where I live in Texas. There is so much to learn about tomatoes.

January 4, 2015	#8
gssgarden Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: N.C. Posts: 1,827	shelf life has always been an issue with my Cherokee Purple. Not that it matters as it's one of my favs and doesn't last long anyway. greg

January 4, 2015	#9
camochef Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Gettysburg, Pennsylvania Posts: 707	Years ago, I noticed that Cherokee Purple didn't have as long a shelf-life as other tomatoes I was growing. Although Cherokee Chocolate was basically the same tomato with just a skin mutation, it did have a longer shelf life. While both were eventually eliminated from my gardens...They did lead to my growing every black tomato I could find. Some seem to have a shorter shelf life than others, many seem no different than any other pink, red, orange, gold, yellow, or GWR tomato. Those I felt were better than others were: Bear Creek, Dana's Dusky Rose, Amazon Chocolate and after this years, (2014), return of Cherokee Purple from Homegrown Harvest via Agway, which showed great improvement over those I grew 8-10 years ago. The big surprise was a black, potato-leafed cross from German Johnson -Benton Strain and an unknown black, (which I suspect was Bear Creek), which had a great shelf life but was also the best tasting tomato I grew last year out of all 41 that survived the horrible weather. It's production wasn't anything like many other favorites I grew, but it wasn't bad either. It's biggest drawback was its late ripening date...actually the very last tomato to ripen in my garden, and I grow all large slicers. While I didn't get to save many seeds from this tasty fruit, I did save a few to see what they do this coming season. Hoping for a repeat oflast year with them...as are many of my friends and neighbors. Enjoy! Camo

January 4, 2015	#11
ilex Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Spain Posts: 416	I know a couple black de colgar tomatoes. Haven't tried them yet, but shelf life should be months (5-9).

January 4, 2015	#13
bower Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Newfoundland, Canada Posts: 6,794	Pink Berkeley Tie Dye definitely had the shortest shelf life of any blacks I've grown, especially if left to ripen fully on the vine. I had a couple that went too far in a hurry! I have a cool room in the basement - about 65 F in summer I guess - where I kept uneaten ripe and ripening tomatoes this year, and they had a much longer shelf life than upstairs where the temp is 70 F+. Even PBTD lasted a couple of days there in primo condition, if picked when still firm. I thought other blacks like Indian Stripe and Black Early had a decent shelf life, no worse than other colour tomatoes. But to be honest, if there's more ripe tomatoes around than I can eat in a day, I huck em in a ziploc in the freezer before they get overdone.

January 4, 2015	#14
Ed of Somis Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: Somis, Ca Posts: 649	I know there are much more knowledgeable tomato growers here than me. However, my feeling is: it is probably not fair to lump all blacks, or all purples, or all heirlooms in the same sentence. I am concerned about how some tomatoes degrade quickly (ie my post about Sungolds). There are just too many different qualities /varieties to say "all....." are not good savers. It might be fair to say "many .....'s" are not good savers. Know what I mean?