Tomato 'Black Plum'

I ordered Black Plum tomato seeds from rareseeds.com in early 2015 (they stopped selling them soon thereafter, for the time being). I pla...Read Morented several of those seeds inside early.

I found that this variety takes longer to flower than most tomato varieties (I was growing about 30 other varieties). However, after the fruit sets, it ripens more quickly than most other tomatoes (so starting early will probably help considerably).

I also found that it was perhaps my most heat-tolerant tomato (Solanum cheesmanii, or, Galapagos Island is pretty close in heat tolerance, whether more or less, I'm not entirely sure). We have dry heat here.

The fruits taste good. My family likes them, too. The seeds and gel contribute to the flavor. They seem to improve in flavor over time. I've heard this tomato makes excellent sauce, but I haven't tried it, yet. They don't have a taste that's really so starkly different from any other tomato that I would rave about it (though the taste is different), but they do have an interesting after smell (like an after taste, but a smell that lingers in your mouth) that some people might like.

They're pretty firm and meaty, with gel and seeds inside. They won't squirt all over you when you eat them like some cherry tomatoes do.

They seem to be more shade tolerant than many tomatoes. They seem to be tolerant of clay-loam soil.

They occasionally have a tomato with blossom end rot, but not nearly as often as, say Martino's Roma or Pomodoro San Marzano.

The tomatoes are pretty small. I wouldn't quite say they're two inches (maybe just over one and a half inches). They may grow bigger in your garden, though. Some things are smaller than they're supposed to be in mine (although some things are satisfyingly large, such as Pruden's Purple tomatoes and Ginger's Pride cantaloupe).

The first tomatoes fell off when picked a lot easier than some tomatoes.

These tomatoes in my yard are red to somewhat dark red, but not black or brown.

I'm saving seeds. So, I should have plenty. There are about 62 seeds per tomato, in my experience.

Easily one of my favorite black tomatoes available. My plants produced over 200 tomatoes in a single summer, easily. No exaggeration. Thi...Read Mores is an unbelievable tasting tomato. I would describe it's complex flavor has heavily spicy (with a hint of anise perhaps), deeply smokey, and rich beyond all expectations. Be sure to not pick your black paste tomatoes when red - but when developed into a dark/brown state. That's the only way the true flavor can be enjoyed. Makes insanely excellent sauces when pureed with fresh herbs (not dried) such as tarragon and thyme, cream, and sherry wine. Have some excellent home made recipes. Message if you'd like some.

I LOVE this tomato! It is juicy and firm with a good flavor! Produced very well during our cool rainy summer last year. Our regular tomat...Read Moreos only prduced a few maters where as this guy just kept producing! A fast grower and does well in a large container!

This was very meaty, but the flavor is the kind of thing that's really an acquired taste. People say it's smoky and salty and this amazin...Read Moreg culinary experience, but in my experience, it was just mostly earthy, with a little of that thick, tart, Italian tomato flavor that felt like it was being covered up by the overwhelming earthiness. It isn't very useful on the versitility scale; it seems to be a paste tomato and nothing else. But because it's the size of a plum tomato, there are a lot more skins to take off, than, say, an Opalka. It did a fair job as a paste tomato once I took the time to skin the thirty or forty it took to make a sauce, but there are many more tomatoes that do a much better job at it.