Barry’s Crazy Cherry Tomato: Growers Review

I have a new favorite among cherry varieties — Barry’s Crazy Cherry 😘

I fell in love with it before I even grew it, just from seeing photos online. What clusters — they look like bunches of grapes! 🤩🤩🤩 So, of course, I ordered it and planted it. As a seedling, it was quite short (even though it’s an indeterminate), grew slowly, and didn’t get leggy — so you can definitely sow it earlier.

It performed better for me outdoors in the open ground than in the greenhouse (in the greenhouse, not all the fruits in the cluster set, and the trusses weren’t as pretty). I pruned two bushes into 1 and 2 stems. Outdoors, they set several massive clusters, and I pinched the growing tips at a height of about 1 meter (3.3 ft). They started ripening by mid-August, but we had a very cold start to the season; otherwise, they would have been earlier.

The beauty is indescribable!!! And it’s tasty!!! A very ornamental variety! 👍👍👍 The fruits are pale yellow, juicy, with a nice sweetness, they don’t crack, and they store very well.

Yes, Svetikk, you are absolutely right — these “crazy” cherries leave very few people indifferent 🙂

I grew them in different greenhouses, planting several together, forming wide bushes… but they didn’t bother anyone as they grew right at the edge near the entrance. The plants developed many stems, and I practically didn’t prune them… I only removed extra suckers inside the bushes so they wouldn’t get too dense. At first, the plants seemed to terminate themselves, but later pushed out strong external suckers, and growth continued.

Every single cluster that set (and there were tons of them 🤩) managed to ripen fully on the vine. The plants not only look stunning but are also highly productive — huge fan-shaped trusses with a massive amount of sweet, aromatic cherry tomatoes. And they look so beautiful in canning jars…

Has anyone compared the taste of this variety with Summer Sun? I wonder which one is sweeter?

TatianaSh:
Has anyone compared the taste of this variety with Summer Sun? I wonder which one is sweeter?

I haven’t grown Summer Sun. But if I compare it with Medovaya Kaplya (Honey Drop), I think the Drop might be slightly sweeter, though it has a completely different leaf type, bush habit, and clusters (simple trusses).

I actually wanted to plant Summer Sun as my big-clustered cherry, but I chose Barry’s Crazy Cherry in the end because this variety is stable. Summer Sun is a dehybridized variety, and I read that for some people it still segregates, sometimes resulting in lower yields and simple clusters—it’s a lottery.

TatianaSh:
Has anyone compared the taste of this variety with Summer Sun? I wonder which one is sweeter?

Taste is highly subjective since everyone’s taste buds are different. But for me, the Crazies have a mild sweetness, not sharply pronounced, because there is practically no acidity. So, the flavor isn’t for everyone, but the bush itself is sooo beautiful… and the trusses are truly crazy)))

It hasn’t cracked for me in heavy downpours yet, but the very ripe fruits drop at the slightest touch. If you like the taste, this plant has a lot of advantages. At the very least, it deserves to be the centerpiece of any flowerbed because it has beautiful lacy foliage, looks very fluffy, the blooming trusses are gorgeous, and later you get to eat them too. I think they would be good for canning, and they seem to store quite well. Oh, and if the squirrels are chewing on them, it means it’s a good variety—they only eat the best tomatoes! 😂

Alisa:
If you like the taste, this plant has a lot of advantages. At the very least, it deserves to be the centerpiece of any flowerbed…

That sounds like a perfect fit 😘 Is the variety generally finicky?

Svetikk:
As a seedling, it was quite short, grew slowly, and didn’t get leggy — so you can definitely sow it earlier.

I also sowed it a bit too late. I probably could have sown it in February because it grew very slowly at first. I pruned it to 2 stems, but now I think I could have easily let it grow 4+ stems because it seems to set and fill out all its trusses simultaneously. My first trusses were a bit smaller, then 2-4 massive ones, and then they started getting smaller again. It’s almost like it regulates itself; perhaps it reacts to the weather conditions outdoors. The beauty is truly staggering!

Fotinia:
Is the variety generally finicky?

Overall, no, it’s not finicky.

How does it differ from Ildi?

OlgaP:
How does it differ from Ildi?

I have the exact same question… it has the same little nose, the same trusses.

Just so it doesn’t get boring! They look similar on the outside, but this one actually has flavor!

Danko:
Just so it doesn’t get boring! They look similar on the outside, but this one actually has flavor!

Ah, then it’s for yellow tomato lovers. I’m not a huge fan of them. I grew Ildi once, canned it all, and that was it…

This variety is miles better than Ildi. It’s aromatic, delicious, and the yield is simply astonishing.

You need to start the seeds early; it grows very slowly at the beginning. You shouldn’t prune it to more than two stems. And it requires very sturdy staking. This is a single harvest from just one plant. 🤩

Angelina:
This variety is miles better than Ildi… This is a single harvest from just one plant. 🤩

Sigh… if only there was a red version of this… with the exact same shape, yield, and flavor.

A very productive, tall variety (grew to 2 meters / 6.5 ft in my greenhouse). The whole plant is covered with massive trusses. The fruits have an excellent fruity taste, sweet, and juicy.

I grew Barry’s Crazy Cherry this past summer. Grew it outdoors. It turned out to be late-season for me this summer. Very productive. The taste actually reminded me of grapes. 😲 Sweetish, though I personally prefer potato-leaf yellow cherries. 😊

A great little tomato, tasty and highly productive. Sowed on February 22nd; as a seedling, it was compact and didn’t stretch. Grew it in the greenhouse, it formed a beautiful bush with huge trusses. The photo was taken on August 16th, part of the fruits have already been devoured. The taste has a mild sweetness.

A year has passed, and I’ll add a little truss of this miracle too.

Yes, this tomato is very beautiful and tasty.

I grew it again this year, but this time in the greenhouse! It caused a huge sensation among my friends! It’s superb… One even grew as a volunteer seedling in the greenhouse, I left it purely out of curiosity, and it really impressed me.

And here is a single cluster grown from my started seedlings, already heavily pecked at by my daughter.

This year I had two variants of Crazy Barry from the same seed packet. A thick, dense bush and a wispy one. They grew in different greenhouses. On the wispy bush, the fruits had a much richer color and were larger. On the second (thick bush), they were paler, but there were so many of them they looked like sea buckthorn berries.

Poltava, open ground. The bushes grew to about 80 cm (31 inches). It kept setting fruit right until the frost. I cut the green trusses along with the branches to ripen indoors. A couple of the greenest branches are still sitting on a saucer on my windowsill today. This is no longer for food, just an experiment )))

The calendar says January 29th. The photo was taken just now. I tasted one berry. Still edible. Just slightly wrinkled.