Quick Summary of Chernyi Krym (Black Krim / Noire de Crimee)
- 🌍 Origin: A legendary Russian heirloom from the Crimean Peninsula, introduced to the West in 1990 by Swedish collector Lars Olov Rosenstrom. It is known globally under various names: Black Krim, Noire de Crimee, and Chernyi Krym.
- 🌿 Plant Habit: Generally indeterminate, though some strains behave as tall determinates. Usually grows to 1.5–2 m (5–6.5 ft). Known for producing robust, sprawling bushes. Foliage can be regular or, in some variations, potato leaf.
- 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Large, oblate beefsteaks weighing 200–400 g (7–14 oz), with some reaching up to 750 g (1.6 lbs). The color is a unique maroon/greenish-brown, turning almost black with sufficient sunlight and heat.
- 👅 Flavor: Highly acclaimed. Famous for its rich, sweet, slightly smoky, and salty flavor profile that perfectly balances sweetness and acidity. Extremely juicy and aromatic.
- ⏳ Maturity: Mid-season to early. While highly productive, it is noted by some growers to be susceptible to Late Blight and Leaf Mold (Cladosporium), so proactive pruning and ventilation are recommended.
Noire De Crimee — the seeds originally came from France. Indeterminate, mid-season, productive, beautiful salad variety. Fruits are flat-round, burgundy-green-brown, tasty, and large, up to 300-400 grams (10.5-14 oz).
Last year my fruits cracked… although the appearance was exactly like in the picture.
The variety has gained special popularity among gardeners due to its very tasty, large fruits. Mid-season, growing season is 105-115 days. The plant is indeterminate, medium height with a sprawling bush. Fruits are large, fleshy, red-brown, weighing up to 200 g (7 oz). They are ideal both for fresh consumption and for cooking, as their excellent taste is preserved even when processed.
My fruits were black-pink, not red.
For comparison: Chocolate Miracle on the left, Crimean Black (Black Krim) on the right.
Chocolate Miracle on top, Crimean Black on the bottom.
Lena, what did you think of the taste yourself?
Galya, we still prefer the black-red ones (Black Russian, Chocolate), but they are much smaller. I saved seeds anyway, because we have buyers for black tomatoes now. And the seed packet for Crimean Black said “red-brown color”, so that’s why I bought it.
I grew “Noire de Crimee” this season. Seeds were from Svetikk – very grateful to her for introducing me to this wonderful variety! 👍 Very productive – grew in a greenhouse, all trusses set fruit, and the tomatoes ripened right on the bushes. All fruits were uniform, dark burgundy color, large (nothing smaller than 300 g / 10.5 oz), flesh is dense and sweet. It differs from many other dark-fruited varieties with its unique taste.
For over 20 years I have been growing the Black Prince variety and could not find an equal to it in taste among brown-reds. Last year, in 2012, I planted Black Krim next to it, seeds from Solana. The tomatoes turned out to be slightly tastier than Black Prince (both get a 5 out of 5 rating), but the yield was twice as high. Black Prince gave 3.1 kg (6.8 lbs) per bush, while Black Krim gave 6.4 kg (14.1 lbs) per bush. True, in 2013 the yield per bush was only 2.8 kg (6.1 lbs), but all other varieties also yielded significantly less that year. Average fruit weight is 134 g (4.7 oz), maximum 320 g (11.2 oz). This variety, like all “dark-fruited” (as well as green-fruited) ones, is susceptible to sluggish Late Blight on the leaves; pinching off the affected leaves helps prevent further development of the disease.
Here is what they write about this variety online (machine translation): “Found in Crimea, Russia in 1990 by Lars Olov Rosenstrom of Sweden. Beefsteak fruits are a unique combination of violet-brown and purple-red—they turn almost black with enough sunlight and heat.”
The Swede gave it a strange name. It seems to be English, but in English Crimea is spelled CRIMEA, not Krim.
Black Krim showed itself worthily among other black tomatoes (Chernomor, Black Moor) and won in terms of taste. I will definitely plant it again. 📝 Noted in my favorites list.
Please tell me:
1. What is the height of the bush for this variety?
2. What pruning/shaping method is best for it (1-2 stems)?
3. I read in the characteristics that the bush is sprawling… What is the optimal planting spacing then?
Quote from elsa30:
1. What is the height of the bush?
2. What pruning method is best (1-2 stems)?
3. What is the optimal planting spacing?
1. Mine was an indeterminate. In the greenhouse, it grew to the roof and I had to top it.
2. I grew it in 2 stems and I liked it.
3. My distance between bushes of any variety was 45 cm (18 inches). I don’t remember about it being sprawling, I just remove leaves or parts of leaves that interfere with neighbors, and tie the stems closer to the stake.
Mine was 1.3 m (4.2 ft) tall in the greenhouse, I practically didn’t prune its suckers, distance between plants was 50 cm (20 inches), but that’s not enough, it needs 70 cm (28 inches). As it was, its side shoots climbed into the neighboring bush, I had to remove some leaves.
My Black Krim in the greenhouse was a tall determinate; it topped itself and spread out to the width of 2 bushes because a short indeterminate (‘Morkovnye’) was growing at its feet. And they didn’t interfere with each other.
Tell me, what kind of leaf does it have?
Quote from marinas11:
Tell me, what kind of leaf does it have?
Mine had a regular leaf, not a potato leaf. I can’t say more precisely, I didn’t pay much attention to the leaves back in 2012. 😳
I planted Black Krim for the first time last year, out of 4 plants – two had potato leaves and two had regular leaves ??? The fruits were identical.
Quote from tanja:
Out of 4 plants – two had potato leaves and two had regular leaves ??? The fruits were identical.
Tanya, were all 4 from the same source? Because this year I have them from 3 sources – I’m going to plant all of them. 😉
And yeah – how did you like them? In taste and overall?
Planted it last year, regular leaves.
Quote from AlexanderS:
Were all 4 from the same source? … How did you like them?
No, they were from different sources (that’s why I planted them next to each other). The bush is sprawling, outdoors in open ground the height was no more than 1.2m (4 ft). The taste is sweet with a hint of tartness, very aromatic and juicy, large, on the first trusses up to 300g (10.5 oz) 😉
I remember Tanya from Canada wrote that Black Krim and Noire de Crimée differ, although they are similar.
Quote from Katya iz Kieva:
Tanya from Canada wrote that Black Krim and Noire de Crimée differ, although they are similar.
Well, I have this one, and that one, and also just Chernyi Krym. 😉
A priori, I like them all! 🍅
Quote from tanja:
No, they were from different sources (that’s why I planted them next to each other).
And why do you need to plant different sources next to each other?
Quote from AlexanderS:
And why do you need to plant different sources next to each other?
So that the difference is visible! 🙈
I planted Black Krim and Noire de Crimée last year. Both had regular leaves. I couldn’t compare the taste, because Noire de Crimée died a hero’s death from Late Blight, I couldn’t save a single tomato.
But in terms of yield, Black Krim was better.
I had 2 bushes. One topped itself at a height of 150 cm (5 ft). The second was an indeterminate 350 cm (11.5 ft). The variety is productive. Fruits are medium-sized. The taste is mediocre. But I am not an expert here, because I don’t like black tomatoes. I planted it at the request of friends. (By the way, they also said that Black Prince is tastier.) Early variety. Vigorous. The leaves are wide. The whole bush is wide. In general, it is a strong plant, right from the seedling stage. A pleasure to look at. But for myself, I will pass.
I’ll add a couple of photos of Black Krim.
One year I grew it outdoors in open ground without pruning suckers, a hundred+ tomatoes grew, large and small.
