You won't surprise anyone with a variety of new colors of vegetables. Tomato Black Prince managed to combine an unusual almost black fruit color, an amazing sweetish taste and ease of cultivation.
Characteristics of the variety
This variety is not a novelty on the tomato market, it was bred in China, permission to grow it on the territory of the Russian Federation was received back in 2000. The tomato is intended for growing in moderate climatic conditions - the territory of the Russian Federation and neighboring countries. But not so long ago, a hybrid (F1) was bred, so before buying this tomato, you should carefully study the description of the variety on the package. The seeds of the original variety can be used for sowing, although it is advisable to skip the next season, but hybrid seeds can disappoint with the result.
The height of the tomato bush itself is on average about 1.5 m, but being an indeterminate plant, it can reach 2 meters. When all the fruits are formed, the top should be pinched (broken off) so that all the juices and nutrients of the bush go not to growth, but to the development of the tomato. The trunk is strong, forms simple brushes, the leaves are ordinary, light green. The first ovaries with an abundant number of stalks are formed above the 9th leaf, following every 3 leaves. Usually 5-6 flowers are left on the ovary so that the tomatoes are larger in size.
Resistance to diseases is above average, and to late blight is high. This tomato variety is mid-season, from the appearance of the first sprouts to ripe tomatoes, it takes about 115 days. It is a self-pollinated plant.
Tomato fruits are fleshy, juicy. The skin is thin, but has a dense structure, the color changes from bottom to top, from pale red to purple, and even black. The average weight of tomatoes is 100-400 grams, with proper crop care, Black Prince tomatoes weigh more than 500 grams. The average weight of ripe tomatoes from a bush is 4 kg. Due to its large size and tenderness of the structure, it does not tolerate transportation and long-term storage. This variety is recommended to be consumed fresh for salads or after heat treatment in hot dishes, as a dressing. Black Prince tomatoes are considered dessert, their sweetness will satisfy the taste of even a child. For canning, this variety is undesirable, since it can lose its integrity, and for tomato paste, adjika or ketchup, it is quite suitable, especially since it does not lose its properties even after heat treatment. Juice is not recommended due to its high solids content.
Growing Tomato Black Prince
The variety can be bred in the open field, under a film or in greenhouses for an early harvest. It takes about 10 days from sowing to the first shoots, but they quickly catch up in growth of the cultures that germinated earlier. Tomato seeds are sown in the first decade of March in wide pallets, in fertile, loose soil at a distance of 2 × 2 cm, to a depth of no more than 2 cm. It is necessary to warm up the soil in the oven in advance to destroy harmful microbes and living creatures. After watering, cover with glass or cling film for a greenhouse effect, after sprouting can be removed. The temperature should not drop below 25 ° C.
As soon as 2 real leaves appear, it is necessary to pick the tomato - transplant the plants into separate cups. Experienced gardeners recommend diving several times, before the final transplant to a permanent place, each time increasing the volume of the container. Tomatoes are transplanted into open ground in mid-May, in separate holes, in which phosphorus fertilizer is placed in advance and growing continues.
This tomato variety loves moisture, watered abundantly at the root or use drip irrigation. During the entire cultivation of tomatoes, it is necessary to often fluff the ground, and fertilize approximately every 10 days. The lateral processes are pinned so that the bush goes into one stem. Due to the height of the plant, the Black Prince tomato variety requires mounting fasteners, it is also necessary to support the branches with fruits so that they do not break.
The level of disease resistance is slightly above average, but it is better to prevent than to cure or even lose the entire crop. Initially, for general immunity from diseases, the seeds themselves can be disinfected. For an adult plant, the following prophylaxis is suitable:
- copper sulfate solution to get rid of late blight;
- potassium permanganate from tobacco mosaic;
- from brown spot, it is necessary to pour ash under each bush.
The Black Prince tomato is unpretentious in cultivation, and large juicy fruits with an unusual color will be a highlight on the table of any housewife.
Tried it once in Krasnodar. I do the treatments to a minimum, and this variety got sick very first. The taste is not outstanding, the yield is not up to par, some of the fruits just rotted in a couple of days. Wouldn't fit anymore and wouldn't recommend. The black bunch is much cooler in everything, and bears fruit until November ...
The Black Prince has a noticeably darker leaf than other varieties of tomatoes, with carved, sharp, elongated edges. Seeds differ markedly from other varieties - large, greenish, with villi. After soaking, for example in potassium permanganate before planting, because of these villi, the soaked seeds become not just wet, but slimy until they dry out. The seeds acquire a greenish color due to the greenish tint of the juice. When cut, the middle of a ripe tomato has brown flesh, but greenish juice and seeds. There are many fake seeds on sale now. Personally, I have already come across this byad at the "Timiryazevsky nursery, branch northern". Now I opened the same fake in seeds at the Piterskiy-Center of Wholesale Trade House of Seeds. Seeds are small, yellow, smooth. Be carefull.