🍅 Quick take: Rita’s Black is a semi-determinate, compact plant that yields distinct brick-brown to mahogany, flattened pear-shaped fruits weighing 5-9 oz (150-250 g). In northern gardens, it stayed around 3.3 ft (1 m) outdoors, out-yielding the high-tunnel plant. A key topic among growers is foliage stability: true Rita’s Black is widely cataloged as potato leaf (PL), but regular leaf (RL) seedlings frequently appear. Full summary ↓
Growers’ Notes and Photos (USDA Zone 5 Experience)
Seeds came from Redko, growing this one for the first time. Got one plant running in the greenhouse and one out in the garden beds.
The plant stays fairly compact, topping out at roughly 5 ft (1.5 m) in the greenhouse and barely 3.5 ft (1 m) outdoors. Production was actually noticeably better in the open ground.
The fruits are pear-shaped, mostly broad, flattened pears running around 5-9 oz (150-250 g). Deep brick-brown color, nice and meaty with a mild touch of sweetness. Compared it against several similar dark pears (like Black Truffle and Bedouin), and it still stands out with its own shape, shade, and flavor profile. That said, between this and Black Truffle (Biotekhnika strain), Truffle won the taste test for me. Found it juicier, firmer, and sweeter overall.
Edited August 21, 2016 by Drosera
The plant stays fairly compact, topping out at roughly 5 ft (1.5 m) in the greenhouse and barely 3.5 ft (1 m) outdoors. Production was actually noticeably better in the open ground.
The fruits are pear-shaped, mostly broad, flattened pears running around 5-9 oz (150-250 g). Deep brick-brown color, nice and meaty with a mild touch of sweetness. Compared it against several similar dark pears (like Black Truffle and Bedouin), and it still stands out with its own shape, shade, and flavor profile. That said, between this and Black Truffle (Biotekhnika strain), Truffle won the taste test for me. Found it juicier, firmer, and sweeter overall.
Edited August 21, 2016 by Drosera
Got my seeds from Redko as well. Variety descriptions everywhere say it should have potato leaf foliage, but this is what popped up for me 🤷
Guessing chances are pretty slim this turns out to be the real Rita’s Black?
Guessing chances are pretty slim this turns out to be the real Rita’s Black?
Full Summary: Plant, Yield, Taste, and Foliage
- 🌿 Plant & Growth Habit: Semi-determinate with a compact footprint. Reaches about 5 ft (1.5 m) under cover and stays around 3.3 ft (1 m) in open garden beds. Fruit shape is a distinct, wide, flattened pear weighing 5-9 oz (150-250 g), with brick-brown skin and meaty interior walls.
- 📈 Yield: Excellent in open soil. Sofia observed higher productivity outside than inside the greenhouse, suggesting it thrives with plenty of direct sunlight and natural airflow.
- 👅 Taste: Meaty, dense, with gentle sweetness and low acid. Compared alongside standard Russian dark varieties like Japanese Black Trifele (Black Truffle), it had a milder, less punchy profile.
- 🌱 Foliage Note: True Rita’s Black is canonically potato leaf (PL). The presence of regular leaf (RL) seedlings (as seen in Yulia’s photo) indicates either an accidental cross or seed packet mix-up from secondary seed distributors.
- 🌎 Grower Region: Reported from USDA Zone 5 (Samara Region), performing reliably in temperate continental conditions.
