Black Oxheart Tomato Reviews

Black Oxheart (Bych’ye Serdtse Chernoe)

Galochka (Esme) shared these seeds with me.
Indeterminate (VERY indeterminate 😉), the bush isn’t overly massive, leaves are large and slightly wispy/drooping. It doesn’t go crazy with suckers, very well-behaved. The fruits are dark maroon, heart-shaped, large (mine were up to 21 oz / 600 g), and just freaking delicious. The yield is average, but for the sake of this flavor, it is absolutely worth growing. It fruits evenly across all trusses; after the first and second trusses ripen, it sets fruit perfectly on the upper ones too. There are 2-4 fruits per truss, and the upper ones are not small at all. I will definitely be planting it again.

I had two plants and both were sickly, the leaves turned black. They grew in different locations about a kilometer apart, but it didn’t affect the fruit. I assume the variety just needs time to acclimatize to our local climate. 🙄

Mine were a bit smaller, but they had a much more pronounced heart shape.

Adding a photo of my Black Oxheart. I absolutely loved the taste of this variety.

Ladies, how is its plant habit? Can I plant them 2 per hole outdoors in the open ground?

I don’t know the exact scientific term for the habit, but I planted two in one hole and it grew just fine.

Mine (also from Galina’s seeds) grew into massive bushes over 8 feet (2.5m) tall. Yield was average (my own fault—I sowed them too early indoors, and two flower trusses dropped off by the time I transplanted them outside), but it is so delicious…

Don’t look at the green shoulders 😳 – the summer was so incredibly hot that this nonsense happened to every variety I grew.

They look great, so handsome!! Thanks ladies. I’ll plant 2 per hole then.

Ellena said:
Thanks ladies. I’ll plant 2 per hole then.

I wouldn’t do that (IMHO). It isn’t as spindly and wimpy as many other oxhearts. The main stem is quite thick and sturdy. It’s much better to just prune a single plant to 2 main stems than to stuff 2 plants in one hole.

Could someone tell me if it’s a mid-season or a late-season variety? 🌺

My notes say it is late-season.

IrinaA said:
My notes say it is late-season.

Mine wasn’t late at all. I definitely categorized it as mid-season.

Ok! I’ll correct it in my notes! 🌺

It was mid-season for me too.

Galya, how were the yield and flavor for you?

Galya, the yield was below average, but the flavor was very good. I plan to grow it again this year.

This is what my Black Oxheart looks like right now.

My Black Oxheart segregated into a black-pink plant and a regular pink plant (seeds from Galina / Esme). If it were my first time, I would have thought it was an accidental seed mix-up. But the exact same thing happened with Black Russian from my own saved seeds. Makes you wonder how to properly save seeds from these dark varieties.

Elena_ said:
My Black Oxheart segregated into a black-pink plant and a regular pink plant…

Lena, maybe they just cross-pollinated?

No. It’s not just about one rogue fruit. The plant itself is physically different. I’ve noticed before that the foliage of dark-fruited tomato plants has a bluer tint to it. And when the leaves dry up, they don’t turn yellow, they turn grey. You can’t see this at the seedling stage, otherwise, you could cull the plants that won’t produce dark fruits early on.

We’ll see how mine turn out, I planted 4 of them. In the year I saved these seeds, there were no pink Oxhearts growing anywhere near the Black Oxheart.

The average fruit is no less than 21 oz (600 g). I have 3 fruits per truss. The plants are definitely not weak; I really liked this variety.

I have 5 plants total: 4 “dark” genetics bushes and 1 “regular” bush.

On the right is a dried leaf from the regular bush, on the left is from the dark one.

On the left is a fresh leaf from the regular bush, on the right is from the dark one.

The green unripe fruits also look different between the regular and dark ones. It’s just hard to see in the photos.

I’m growing both this one and Brad’s Black Heart this year. They are different varieties, although the difference is subtle. Black Oxheart has more of a raspberry/pinkish hue, while Brad’s is more reddish. And to my taste, Black Oxheart is sweeter, though I’ll keep comparing them (they are planted right next to each other).

My Black Oxheart did terrible this year (((.

Only two tiny tomatoes on two whole plants, I’m afraid I won’t even get enough to save seeds (((.

The flavor of Black Oxheart didn’t win me over 😢. The yield was weak; on 2 main stems I got 6 little fruits, the biggest one being 9 oz (250g).

BLACK OXHEART.
This mid-season and productive variety can be considered unique in its qualities: it produces large oval-heart-shaped fruits of a dark color. Compared to a similar variety like “Morning Dew,” it has much higher flavor qualities. The fruits are meaty, weighing 7-10 oz (200-300g, up to 400g), great for salads. The plant is 4-5 feet (1.2-1.5m) tall with dense foliage.

And here is how my Black Oxheart turned out!

Sasha, did that one grow from a megabloom (fasciated blossom)? And how did it taste?

Are Black Bull’s Heart and Black Oxheart the exact same variety, or are they different?

murjulia said:
Only two tiny tomatoes on two whole plants, I’m afraid I won’t even get enough to save seeds (((.

If you don’t manage to save seeds, don’t worry too much. We will send you more, no problem.

We really should figure this out. 😳 Galya says they are somewhat similar to Brad’s Black Heart. Now, Moor’s Heart is definitely different. It stands apart from them.

Maybe we should do a joint experiment and grow all three varieties together? Just to settle it once and for all…

Alina, I think they must be the same thing. But Brad’s is definitely different.

A little OFF topic: I feel like there are way too many “Bull’s Hearts” floating around, especially if someone grew them from an imported packet where the names are written in different languages…

I grew them in different years, so I could be wrong, but they seemed like twins to me. Now, Moor’s Heart, even when grown in different years, I can tell is different. I grew it specifically to compare. It’s not as juicy, much drier. And inside it’s different, even in color. It’s closer to the “Snickers” variety in texture and color. But the shape and size are completely different. It would be a great idea to plant all three. Black Bull’s Heart, Black Oxheart, and Brad’s Black Heart. I need to think about doing that, especially since I really loved… the black hearts. 😉

I actually have all three; I’ll probably compare them this year.

I’m just curious if it’s the exact same variety just with a different translation, or if they are genuinely different varieties—one Russian and one American…

My very first seeds for Black Bull’s Heart were gifted to me. I don’t know exactly where they came from, but I suspect they might have been from Hristo (a known seed collector).

I’m also very interested in the comparison of these tomatoes, but unfortunately, I’ll only be growing Black Oxheart this year 😲.

Black Oxheart really pleased me this year. The seeds were from Ksena Z in Belarus, for which I give her a huge thanks 🌺. I planted one bush outdoors and one in the greenhouse. The outdoor one was much more productive. I would even say the outdoor yield was above average, while the greenhouse one was low. The taste, as already mentioned, is soooo good 👍😋. And the fruits themselves are gorgeous, like they were made in a mold 😉.

An interesting story happened with the outdoor plant 😂. On one branch, in a truss of 3 tomatoes, one was absolutely lemon-yellow with the distinct stripes of the “Banana Legs” variety. My Banana Legs happened to be growing in the adjacent row 🙈. So I guess Banana Legs didn’t just walk by, it left some of its anatomy behind! 😂😂😂 It cross-pollinated and gave me an off-type Black Oxheart! 😂

😉

Svetlyachok-plus said:
…on one branch, in a truss of 3 tomatoes, one was absolutely lemon-yellow…

😂😂😂 Were the other 2 tomatoes in that exact same truss dark? Just the one yellow? 😲😲😲

It must be from the stress… 😲 it grew in Belarus, and suddenly it’s in Chelyabinsk… 😂😂😂

Svetikk said:
Were the other 2 tomatoes in that exact same truss dark?

Yep, just that one single fruit 😲.

cat2008 said:
It must be from the stress…

What, it turned pale from fear? 😂

Wowwwwww!!!! I have never seen anything like that before! Too bad there’s no photo.

Ksusha most likely got her seeds from me. So it’s possible the roots of this incident trace back to my garden. Last year, my Black Oxheart was growing right across the aisle from White Heart.

Sveta, did you compare the taste? You absolutely must plant those seeds next year! You might have just created a brand new variety!

sandra said:
Sveta, did you compare the taste? You absolutely must plant those seeds next year!

I did compare the taste. The white one had a classic tomato flavor with a little sweetness, but the Black Heart was much tastier. But I will definitely plant the seeds, I’m curious myself to see what grows out of them 😉.

I am in shock…. 😲😲😲😲 Olya, yes, the seeds originally came from you. But I collected Sveta’s batch from my own grown plants. And for the life of me, I can’t remember what was growing next to them. I grew them both outdoors and in the greenhouse this year, and nothing like that happened for me.

– Plant appearance: mid-to-late season, weak vine.
– Fruit set: skipped a lot of blossoms.
– Bush height outdoors as of 8/17 was 2 feet (0.6m), plant already pulled out.
– Trusses: 1-3 fruits each.
– Overall yield: average, leaning towards low.
– Fruit shape: flat, shoe-shaped (megabloom/fasciated fruit), the others were just flattened with a hint of a blunt heart.
– Flesh density of ripe fruit: low (soft).
– Flavor: dense, harmonious, tasty, juicy, sweetness is a 4+ out of 5.
First impression: a tasty tomato for processing.

Seedling score – 4, Plant score – 3+, Fruit score – 4+, Overall variety score – 4.

Black Oxheart

Loved it!
Delicious, sweet. Almost none made it to canning/processing—we ate them all fresh “raw.” In my conditions, the yield was decent, almost all fruits were around 14 oz (400g).
I’d call it mid-season.
The plant habit is very manageable for a greenhouse, I pruned to 2 main stems. Definitely planting again!