📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Black John (Blek Dzhon)
- 🌍 Origin: A dark Russian variety circulated by domestic seed vendors (like Brizhan and L. Myazina). Note: Some growers report older seed lines segregating, producing a mix of Potato Leaf (PL) and Regular Leaf (RL) plants. The original, stable strain should be PL.
- 🌿 Plant Habit: Tall determinate. Usually tops out around 4 ft (1.2 m) when grown outdoors, though some commercial strains (like Myazina’s) can vigorously shoot up to 6.5 ft (2 m). Features potato leaf (PL) foliage.
- 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Gorgeous oblate (flattened-round) beefsteaks weighing 7-14 oz (200-400g). The skin has an amazing pearlescent brownish-burgundy color that shimmers with a lilac sheen in the sun.
- 👅 Flavor: Sweet, rich, and super juicy.
- ⏳ Maturity: Early to mid-season. Excellent producer outside in the garden.
Early to mid-season. It’s a tall determinate—mine got to about 4 feet (1.2m) out in the garden. Fruits are oblate, 7-14 oz (200-400g), sweet, and really juicy. Great producer. Oh, and it’s potato leaf (PL).
The color on these is just stunning – a pearlescent brownish-burgundy that practically glows with a lilac tint in the sun. Grew them outside.
Tanyusha from Penza shared some Brizhan seeds with me back in 2013. 🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷 This is my second year growing it. I saved my own seeds and the leaf type held true. (I know some folks on the forum had their seeds cross or segregate, getting a mix of PL and RL plants).
Edited February 4, 2015 by Pomidoroved
Galina, I’m planning to put these outside in the garden this year, got my seeds ready. How did you prune and support them?
I actually got gifted some seeds for a dark one called Black Jack. Sounds awfully similar based on the description… Go figure… 🤷♀️ 🤷♀️ 🤷♀️ 🤠
Tatiana, I didn’t treat it any differently than my other varieties. Pruned it same as usual. Took it to two main stems and pinched off the extra suckers. Just the standard routine for everyone! 🙂
This year I grew Black John from Myazina’s seed line. The description on the pack was way off. Said it wouldn’t get over 3 feet (1m) out in the garden, but mine shot up to a solid 6.5 feet (2m) this 2021 season! Better yet, I’ll just show you guys. Got some sliced pics too.
Edited July 28, 2021 by Vladimir Baranov
Well, sticking with this variety again for 2022! Got it out in the garden and just loving how beautiful these plants look. Waiting on the first ones to ripen up any day now.
