My Black Icicle turned out like this. The bush is soooo flimsy (wispy foliage), you could barely even see any leaves on it. The bush grew in the greenhouse, pruned to 2 stems. It kept setting little tomatoes until the very end, until I ripped the bush out at the end of September. I loved the taste. I haven’t tried it pickled yet, but the skin didn’t crack during canning.
I also liked Black Icicle very much. Seeds were from A. Kulik. One bush grew in the greenhouse — it suffered terribly from Blossom End Rot (BER) — and 3 bushes were outdoors in the open ground. In the greenhouse it was about 2 m (6.5 ft), outdoors about 1.80 m (6 ft).
The yield outdoors was extremely good. Very tasty and beautiful! It kept setting fruit completely ignoring the 40°C (104°F) heat. A good variety.
Awesome variety 👍. Yield is excellent. Mine didn’t suffer from Blossom End Rot (BER) at all. After a month and a half of storage indoors, it looks a bit shriveled, but the deliciousness hasn’t faded at all 😋.
Svetlyachok-plus:
Awesome variety 👍. Yield is excellent. Mine didn’t suffer from Blossom End Rot (BER) at all…
Sveta, for me all the icicle/paste types and just a few others got BER. I did a foliar spray with calcium nitrate twice — it didn’t help. 🤷♀️ It was my first time growing in a greenhouse. I must be doing something wrong.. 😊
Lyuba, my Icicle was in the greenhouse too. It was the only one out of all the paste/icicle types this year that was horribly affected by Blossom End Rot. Treatments with calcium nitrate and dolomite didn’t help.
But overall, I really liked the variety: tasty, beautiful tomatoes, a delight both fresh and in canned jars. It’s a manageable little tomato plant, doesn’t push out too many aggressive suckers, stays slim and beautiful.
deliza:
Sveta, for me all the icicle/paste types and just a few others got BER. I did a foliar spray with calcium nitrate twice — it didn’t help…
Lyubochka, FOR ABOUT FIVE YEARS NOW, WHEN POTTING UP SEEDLINGS INTO CUPS, I PUT CRUSHED EGGSHELLS AT THE BOTTOM. And consequently, we carefully transfer them into the planting hole with the shells. Even though people say it’s nonsense (that the calcium isn’t bio-available fast enough), the results speak for themselves 😉. I have practically zero Blossom End Rot. Maybe across all my bushes I get 10 affected fruits max, and that’s it. I think the game is completely worth the candle.
This is the Black Icicle that grew for me from “Happy Garden” commercial seeds. On the edges is Slavyanka, and in the middle is Black Icicle 😂. It’s obviously an off-type (crossed/incorrect seeds, they grew round), but I still liked it 👍
From Redko’s collection 👍
Girls, tell me, which commercial brand is best to buy Black Icicle from? I’ve read all your reviews and now I want it too.
Oksan, we all just mail seeds of this variety to each other here. Drop me your address in a private message, I’ll send you some 😉.
Girls, does it matter how many stems to prune this variety to?
I will be planting 2 bushes in the greenhouse for the first time 😊
Tatiiyasha:
Girls, does it matter how many stems to prune this variety to?
It is my absolute favorite variety, Black Icicle 👍😋, and for canning, it is one of the very best 👍. You can easily prune it to 3-4 stems, just don’t forget to feed/fertilize it properly.
Tanya, up there in Karelia (North), you should start with just 2 stems.
Tanya, I will support Zulfiya on this. For the first time (in a cold climate), it’s better to stick to two stems.
