Quick Summary of Chernoe Yabloko (Black Apple)
- 🌍 Origin: A highly productive Russian commercial/collector’s variety. The name translates to “Black Apple”. It is widely distributed by prominent Russian seed collectors like V. Popenko.
- 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate and very tall. In a greenhouse, it easily reaches 2.5 meters (8.2 ft) and requires sturdy trellising. It is a long-season producer, often continuing to set and ripen fruit well into late autumn (October) if weather permits. Performs excellently both in greenhouses and outdoors in open ground.
- 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Dark red/burgundy, perfectly round fruits resembling apples, with a distinct brownish blush near the stem. They grow in impressive clusters of up to 15-20 fruits. Weight can vary significantly within the same cluster, averaging around 100–200 g (3.5–7 oz).
- 👅 Flavor & Texture: Highly praised for its sweetness. Like many top-tier dark heirlooms, it leans heavily towards a sweet, rich profile rather than an acidic one.
- ⏳ Maturity: Mid-season, but noted by growers as being one of the first dark varieties to start ripening in the garden.
Chernoe Yabloko (Black Apple) variety (mine is from V. Popenko). Indeterminate, very tall, I led it in two stems; in the greenhouse, the height was 250 cm (8.2 ft). Mid-season.
The fruits are round, dark red, with a brownish spot at the stem, very tasty like all the “blacks”, ripening is uniform. The clusters hold up to 15-20 pieces, weighing up to 200 g (7 oz). There is a strong variation in the size/mass of the fruit within the clusters. The yield is on par with ‘Pink Honey’. A strong contender to grow again in 2014.
My seeds were also from Popenko. I liked the variety; it was one of the first to start ripening, set fruit non-stop, productive, and in autumn (October) I was still picking fruits in the greenhouse—a long-playing variety. I liked the taste, but I didn’t have such huge clusters of 15-20 pcs, mine were 6-8 pcs.
I will definitely plant it next year, as it did great both outdoors in open ground and in the greenhouse. Outdoors, the fruits were even slightly larger, but slightly fewer in number.
I really liked the variety. Beautiful, productive, tasty! 👍 It grew outdoors in open ground. Seeds were from Marisha. 🌺 🌺 🌺
I’m collecting dark varieties for this year. 🍅 But I prefer the sweeter ones. 😋 Does this variety lean more towards acidic or sweet?
Quote from Elena 62:
Does this variety lean more towards acidic or sweet?
Probably sweetness, after all.
I repeated Chernoe Yabloko in 2015. I grew it both outdoors in open ground and in a poly-tunnel greenhouse. The yield was good everywhere.
Impressive!!! 👍 Adding it to my list. 😄
Black Apple in the greenhouse was tall (2 meters / 6.5 ft), productive, mid-season ripening. The fruits are medium-sized, burgundy, sweet.
