Black Prince

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SpookyShoe
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Black Prince

#1

Post: # 62818Unread post SpookyShoe
Wed Feb 09, 2022 3:07 pm

I am thinking about growing this Russian heirloom variety this year for the first time. I saw it at a big box store. The tomato is 3 to 5 oz. Black with green shoulders. Some descriptions say it is slightly pear-shaped.

Has anyone tried this one? Thoughts?
Donna, zone 9, El Lago, Texas

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worth1
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Re: Black Prince

#2

Post: # 62824Unread post worth1
Wed Feb 09, 2022 5:07 pm

Yes me.
Horrible tomato subject to disease like I've never seen before.
Yet I let one continue throughout the summer and it got over it on its own and made a giant plant 16 feet long stretched out on the driveway after pulled.
Worth
25 miles southeast of Waterloo Texas.

You can't argue with a closed mind.
You might as well be arguing with a cat.

rossomendblot
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Re: Black Prince

#3

Post: # 62825Unread post rossomendblot
Wed Feb 09, 2022 5:09 pm

Grew it once, a few years ago. Nothing special taste wise, wouldn't hurry to grow it again.

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SpookyShoe
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Re: Black Prince

#4

Post: # 62828Unread post SpookyShoe
Wed Feb 09, 2022 5:43 pm

Thanks for the reviews.
Donna, zone 9, El Lago, Texas

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Shule
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Re: Black Prince

#5

Post: # 62853Unread post Shule
Thu Feb 10, 2022 1:42 am

I grew it once, in 2016, but it was stunted.

Some friends in town love it, and I think they grow it every year.

It's a popular tomato, and a lot of people seem to like it.
Location: SW Idaho, USA
Climate: BSk
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Tormato
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Re: Black Prince

#6

Post: # 62857Unread post Tormato
Thu Feb 10, 2022 6:49 am

People who've known me long enough, know my general thoughts on dark tomatoes.

That said, over the years I've followed others' reviews on them. Black Prince is (was?) the favorite black tomato of a few people over the past decade or more. Great production was one reason, they said.

This year, there have been many requests for Black Princ, donated to the swap by OhioGardener, who says it's superior to Black Prince.

If it was me (although it likely never would be), I'd be trialing both of them side-by-side, in order to find which one is superior for that grower, with their taste buds, and their weather conditions.
Last edited by Tormato on Thu Feb 10, 2022 9:35 am, edited 1 time in total.

rossomendblot
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Re: Black Prince

#7

Post: # 62862Unread post rossomendblot
Thu Feb 10, 2022 8:01 am

Interestingly the Black Prince sold by Russian seed companies like Sibsad looks different to the one I grew. The fruits from my plant were medium sized and very round, whereas Sibsad describes them as "...flat-rounded, dark burgundy-chocolate in color, fleshy, surprisingly sweet, weighing up to 400 g."

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Tormato
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Re: Black Prince

#8

Post: # 62872Unread post Tormato
Thu Feb 10, 2022 9:38 am

It's sort of like the Black Krim/Noire de Crimee thing.

MissTee
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Re: Black Prince

#9

Post: # 63000Unread post MissTee
Fri Feb 11, 2022 3:10 pm

I like Black Prince. Medium sized slicer, golden brown with red interior. Grown twice, very productive, sweet and rich flavour. No disease. Head to head against Japanese Black Trifele almost identical, except JBT is pear-shaped and potato-leaved. Brothers from the same mother I think.
Too many tomatoes, not enough time.

Barb_FL
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Re: Black Prince

#10

Post: # 63120Unread post Barb_FL
Sat Feb 12, 2022 1:53 pm

Someone gave me a ripe Black Prince in December timeframe. I thought it was a great tasting tomato ; I now have 2 plants growing from the seed of the tomato I ate. No fruit set yet, but flowering. We had lots of cold weather for Florida (37-39 nights) but that finally looks behind us.

The tomatoes on his vine were in the 3-4 oz category. I will update when I have something to report.

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SpookyShoe
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Re: Black Prince

#11

Post: # 63142Unread post SpookyShoe
Sat Feb 12, 2022 4:34 pm

I'm going to grow it. I bought the plant at Lowe's.
Donna, zone 9, El Lago, Texas

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SpookyShoe
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Re: Black Prince

#12

Post: # 69512Unread post SpookyShoe
Thu May 12, 2022 9:20 am

First ripe Black Prince. This one was on the smallish side, maybe 1 and 3/4 in. across. It has a copper color to the skin with dark olive drab shoulders.
IMG_20220512_090552690.jpg
IMG_20220512_090622448.jpg
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Donna, zone 9, El Lago, Texas

NarnianGarden
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Re: Black Prince

#13

Post: # 74536Unread post NarnianGarden
Sat Jul 23, 2022 11:24 am

Wohoo, I loved it. But then, I have liked every black tomato in town...
You cannot really wrong with any of them.(although - Paul Robeson wasn't a success, it was stunted in the heat)

Incidentally, I ordered a pack of PB from a Russian seed company some years ago. (That was in the bygone era, when trading and ordering from Russia still was possible... I'm glad I stocked up with Russian and Ukrainian seeds before the war started..)
Have not tried them yet, but I am glad to have the 'back-up'... just hope the seed packet and the contents match...

Barb_FL
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Re: Black Prince

#14

Post: # 74543Unread post Barb_FL
Sat Jul 23, 2022 1:40 pm

All of my plants have been pulled for almost a month now; Black Prince even longer.

Overall - it was very productive but I probably won't grow it again because of the size of the tomatoes. I doubt if many of mine were over 3 oz.
Even with some weather challenges this season (very cold in January - lots of nights in the high 30s), the tomatoes fared well. No diseases or TYLCV.
The other large darks I grew this year were Paul Robeson and Cherokee Carbon. It was also an outstanding year for GGWT.

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SpookyShoe
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Re: Black Prince

#15

Post: # 96830Unread post SpookyShoe
Thu May 04, 2023 1:05 pm

IMG_20230504_130058533_HDR.jpg
This tomato is beautiful! 4.5 oz.
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Donna, zone 9, El Lago, Texas

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Tormato
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Re: Black Prince

#16

Post: # 96909Unread post Tormato
Fri May 05, 2023 9:39 am

...in the eye of the beholder.

What? No one thought that I wouldn't comment on it? ;)

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worth1
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Re: Black Prince

#17

Post: # 96994Unread post worth1
Sat May 06, 2023 9:40 am

Tormato wrote: Fri May 05, 2023 9:39 am ...in the eye of the beholder.

What? No one thought that I wouldn't comment on it? ;)
I was waiting because you can't help but remind folks how much you dislike black tomatoes.

I'm the same way with green sour seedy tomatillos.

My idea of a tomatillo in a salsa is to walk through the kitchen with a plastic one and put it back up.
Worth
25 miles southeast of Waterloo Texas.

You can't argue with a closed mind.
You might as well be arguing with a cat.

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karstopography
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Re: Black Prince

#18

Post: # 96995Unread post karstopography
Sat May 06, 2023 10:11 am

worth1 wrote: Sat May 06, 2023 9:40 am
Tormato wrote: Fri May 05, 2023 9:39 am ...in the eye of the beholder.

What? No one thought that I wouldn't comment on it? ;)
I was waiting because you can't help but remind folks how much you dislike black tomatoes.

I'm the same way with green sour seedy tomatillos.

My idea of a tomatillo in a salsa is to walk through the kitchen with a plastic one and put it back up.
One of my all time favorite Mexican meals ever was at the Chuy’s way back when, decades ago, the Chuy’s on Barton Creek, the meal was their version of Rellenos that used Anaheim type peppers with a fantastic creamy tomatillo sauce.

Back to tomatoes, @SpookyShoe that is a beautiful tomato! What does Black Prince taste like? My favorite small black tomato is Japanese Black Trifele, but maybe I need to grow Black Prince.
Zone 9b, located in the Columbia bottomlands, annual rainfall 46”

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SpookyShoe
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Re: Black Prince

#19

Post: # 98078Unread post SpookyShoe
Mon May 22, 2023 11:26 am

karstopography wrote: Sat May 06, 2023 10:11 am
worth1 wrote: Sat May 06, 2023 9:40 am
Tormato wrote: Fri May 05, 2023 9:39 am ...in the eye of the beholder.

What? No one thought that I wouldn't comment on it? ;)
I was waiting because you can't help but remind folks how much you dislike black tomatoes.

I'm the same way with green sour seedy tomatillos.

My idea of a tomatillo in a salsa is to walk through the kitchen with a plastic one and put it back up.
One of my all time favorite Mexican meals ever was at the Chuy’s way back when, decades ago, the Chuy’s on Barton Creek, the meal was their version of Rellenos that used Anaheim type peppers with a fantastic creamy tomatillo sauce.

Back to tomatoes, @SpookyShoe that is a beautiful tomato! What does Black Prince taste like? My favorite small black tomato is Japanese Black Trifele, but maybe I need to grow Black Prince.
Not quite as good as many other black varieties, but is uniform in shape, blemish free, and a decent size but small enough so that the trusses do not break.
Donna, zone 9, El Lago, Texas

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worth1
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Re: Black Prince

#20

Post: # 98079Unread post worth1
Mon May 22, 2023 12:13 pm

One of my favorite black tomatoes for this part of Texas is black plum.
They are good and produced for a good long time in the heat.
Worth
25 miles southeast of Waterloo Texas.

You can't argue with a closed mind.
You might as well be arguing with a cat.

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