📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR)
- 🌍 Origin: A very famous commercial Russian/Ukrainian heirloom that has caused a lot of naming controversy! Many growers assume “Black Sea Man” is just a direct translation of the Russian variety Chernomor. However, as documented by growers in this thread who planted both side-by-side, they are completely different varieties. The strain discussed here primarily traces back to the well-known Ukrainian seed collector Alexey Kulik.
- 🌿 Plant Habit: Semi-determinate (semi-bush). It grows to about 1.5 meters (5 ft) tall in a greenhouse. Requires staking due to heavy fruit loads.
- 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Stunning dark fruits. The exterior is a mix of mahogany, pink, and black with prominent green stripes on the shoulders that fade as it reaches full maturity. The interior flesh is spectacular—marbled with deep crimson and emerald green (visually similar to Ananas Noire / Black Pineapple).
- 👅 Flavor: Highly rated! Sweet, balanced, with a very refreshing aftertaste.
- ⏳ Yield & Climate: A heavy yielder that performs wonderfully both in greenhouses and outdoors in open ground.
Seeds from Kulik. I planted it for the first time. Grew it in the greenhouse. The bush is about 1.50m (5 ft) tall. High yield. I liked the taste—sweet, with a refreshing aftertaste (something like that). Externally, it looks like Ananas Noire (Black Pineapple), but the taste is completely different, and inside the spots are not red, but crimson.
The name of the variety is a crooked back-translation from the English Black Sea Man; this is actually the Russian variety Chernomor.
How is it better to list it in the catalog:
Rename it to Black Sea Man (Chernomor)?
Or merge it with the Chernomor thread?
Sofia 27 wrote:
Seeds from Kulik. I planted it for the first time. Grew it in the greenhouse. The bush is about 1.50m (5 ft) tall. High yield. I liked the taste—sweet, with a refreshing aftertaste (something like that). Externally, it looks like Ananas Noire (Black Pineapple), but the taste is completely different, and inside the spots are not red, but crimson.
It seems to me that this variety looks different.
According to the description in Kulik’s catalog, it is very similar. This is definitely NOT the Chernomor variety. I have grown Chernomor—it is completely different.
🤷♀️
Sofia 27 wrote:
According to the description in Kulik’s catalog, it is very similar. This is definitely NOT the Chernomor variety. I have grown Chernomor—it is completely different.
It doesn’t look like Chernomor in either the Russian or the American versions.
But in Russian, we don’t say “black man of the sea” [literal translation of Black Sea Man].
I couldn’t have mixed up the seedlings, I had three bushes and they were all exactly like this. Maybe someone else who grew this specific variety from Kulik will reply, I am very curious 🤔
I grew it about two years ago, it looked roughly like the photo. I also grew Chernomor that same year, and they are definitely different varieties. I’ll check my photos; if I still have them, I’ll drop them in this thread.
Yes, they are different varieties.
In my understanding, there are 2 types of Chernomor — with regular and potato leaves, and Black Sea Man is just the potato leaf Chernomor with the name translated into English.
But neither of them looks like Ananas Noire (Black Pineapple).
Found the photos.
Thank you, Alexander! Mine was exactly the same. But why this variety doesn’t look like Chernomor—that’s something we need to find out from Kulik. Maybe it should be named something specific, like “Chernomor from Kulik”. In any case, I liked this variety and I will grow it again.
I think the variety came to him from foreign sources, complete with the translated name. I’ll ask him where he got it from.
Private sellers here sell Black Seaman, specifically noting that it is NOT Chernomor. “Inside it has an emerald color with red spots; after blanching and peeling it looks comical, the whole tomato is covered in red arteries.”
My Black Sea Man was from Kulik, labeled with the literal Russian translation “Black Man of the Sea.”
I only noticed that it looked a bit different inside from the photos when I started labeling them. Inside, it’s not just red or burgundy, but it has a slight greenish hue (the second one, which is greener, was probably covered better with shade cloth), but I definitely picked it when fully ripe. It grew in open ground, shaded from the top sun. Tastes good.
Variety from Kulik. The name on the packet was only in Russian. Maybe we already have such a variety under a different name, I couldn’t find it 😳🤷♀️, moderators will correct me. 🙂
An absolute beauty, semi-bush, completely covered with pinkish-black fruits, with a unique taste.
Mine grew to about 1.5 m (5 ft). Productive, delicious, and indeed with a very distinct coloring. Overall, I am happy with the variety; it hangs well on the bush.
Now the seed company “Nash Sad” has started packing and selling seeds under the name Chernomorets (Black Sea Man).
This year I grew Black Sea Man from Kulik (thanks to Nina from Almaty) and store-bought Chernomor. They are completely different varieties, both in fruit size and truss structure.
Both varieties are heavy yielders, and the tomatoes have green stripes that almost disappear when they ripen.
This is what my fully ripe bush of Black Sea Man looks like.
I got my seeds from Katya-Zhavoronok (thank you!). Honestly, it didn’t do very well for me. But what did manage to grow was very beautiful and delicious. I only managed to save two seeds, I will definitely grow it again.
Lidiya wrote:
It seems to me that this variety looks different.
Lidiya, it seems like your Black Sea Man is not the real one at all. I got mine from Katya-Zhavoronok, and she got hers from Kulik. I grew it again this year—it conquered me again with both its beauty and its taste. The yield is actually pretty good for such a handsome tomato.
If I had the space, I would grow it every single year.
