Tomato 'Black Prince'

Tomatoes need support and are generally trained as a cordon up a bamboo cane

Black Prince likes a position of full sun and remember to water moderately. Keep in mind when planting that Black Prince is thought of as tender, so remember to wait until your soil is warm and the night time temperature is well above freezing before moving outside. Black Prince needs a loamy soil with a ph of 5.0 to 6.0 (moderately acidic soil to weakly acidic soil).

Seeds are long lives and germinate easily. Start off in early spring under glass or on a bright windowsill. Pot up and keep in good light

Start seeds indoors six weeks before last frost date.

Try to aim for a seed spacing of at least 2.60 feet (80.0 cm) and sow at a depth of around 0.78 inches (2.0 cm). Soil temperature should be kept higher than 12°C / 54°F to ensure good germination.

By our calculations, you should look at sowing Black Prince about 42 days before your last frost date.

Transplant out when around 15cm (6 inches) high. And all danger of frost has passed

Plant to the first set of true leaves to promote strong root growth.

Ensure that temperatures are mild (minimum night temperatures should be around 15°C / 59°F) and all chance of frost has passed before planting out, as Black Prince is a tender plant.

This variety tends to be ready for harvesting by mid summer.

Originally from Irkutsk, Russia in Siberia.

It says harvest time is Mid-Summer, but here in zone 10B, I have not had the best results growing Black Prince in the summer. I first tried growing this plant one summer in a 5 gallon container. It dried out too quickly each day or couple of days and was attacked by insects. I was still able to collect seeds from this plant despite the fact that it wasn’t the healthiest plant to save seeds from. All of the Black Prince plants that I’ve grown since, have been from those seeds. Amazingly, when planted in the fall or winter here, they grew well and didn’t have any bug attacks or disease. In fact, they did better after going through two frost attacks. They have a slightly chocolately look on the outside, but are really beautiful when cut. You still can see the chocolatey coloring with hints of purple and vivid reds and a little green. A feast for the eyes, but a real flavorful treat for your taste buds! Not a big tomato or a big producer, but definitely worth planting again and again!