PlantFiles: Tomato
Lycopersicon lycopersicum 'Black Krim'

I'd like to be able to report a "positive" experience, but I'm not sure yet. My garden is raised beds with Netafim subterranean drip with odd-day watering -- everything is lush and doing nicely with full sun exposure.

I have two beautiful, seemingly healthy Krim plants, each now about 24" - 32" tall (in the ground almost 2 months), dutifully pruned to eliminate the "armpit" scions (some of which I have rooted in water), and they are making lots of flowers. But none of the flowers are setting fruit.

Our weather here in the Los Angeles, CA area has been rather bizarre. We've had days in the past couple of weeks into the 90s followed by overcast days in the 70s, with warm to cool -- and even a few chilly -- nights.

I am routinely foliar feeding kelp, and have recently begun adding a bloom enhancer (Fox Farms "Tiger Bloom") to the spray.

Are the bizarre weather days to blame or is there something I'm not doing right? My other tomato varieties are several days behind the Krims because they were all planted from seed rather than small starts. I was really looking forward to some nice 1-pound-plus fruits.

Grows great in the volcanic soil of this town. Late planting helps it keep away from the frosty mornings and snow of spring at our house, part way up the mountain side. Cracks easily but still gives a large yield. Wonderful flavor and plenty of seeds from the cracked tomatoes. It will be on my list for years to come. BEWARE the deer love to munch on these beautiful plants...
poison or not it does not seem to effect them. The local market has potted one gallon starters for sale and the seeds are great for starting the next year. The best years are the ones with cooler summers and long falls found often in this area. Last year they were producing up to the first snowfall.

Grows great in the volcanic soil of this town. Late planting helps it keep away from the frosty mornings and snow of spring at our house, part way up the mountain side. Cracks easily but still gives a large yield. Wonderful flavor and plenty of seeds from the cracked tomatoes. It will be on my list for years to come. BEWARE the deer love to munch on these beautiful plants...
poison or not it does not seem to effect them. The local market has potted one gallon starters for sale and the seeds are great for starting the next year. The best years are the ones with cooler summers and long falls found often in this area. Last year they were producing up to the first snowfall.

Not a great self-watering container plant. The stalks seemed more brittle than other varieties I've seen which is important if you need to move the containers around a lot. Some sort of barrier is needed to prevent roots from getting into the reservoir since this variety is highly prone to cracking. Not great for cooking.

This is hands down the best heirloom Tomato on the planet (and I have grown many other 'black' tomatoes including Cherokee Purples, Black from Tula, Black Sea Man's and others). I still have plants from May of last year that are still going strong, and with the warm snap that came through during January - more fruit with just a spike of some epsom salts and bone meal. I'd recommend this as a great add to anyone's veggie garden. You will not be disappointed!

This is possibly my favorite heirloom tomato. Aside from it being a great tasting tomato, production is above par every year. Krims have a spot reserved in my garden every season.

Black Krim is a great tomato and is growing well in my garden in drought stricken South Dakota. No problem with the blight this year probably because of the heat. In July we had less than 1/2 inch of rain for the entire month, so I water a lot. I had to keep my eye of the fruit because when it is ripe, it needs to be picked right away because it can split easily. The fruit is beautiful, green on the top and the rest is a dark black red. The taste is fantastic and I enjoy eating Black Krim right after I pick it. I will definitely grow it again.

One of the best tasting tomatoes I've ever grown. Not as productive as modern hybrids, but delicious.

I have a small backyard container garden and I make sure I grow these every year. They taste AWESOME. I usually plant them at the end of April and I have learned that they tend to struggle a little in the heat of the summer (August especially) but they perk up in late September and for the past few years I've had fresh tomatoes well into November. (central Georgia zone 8b)

Hello...I am growing Black Krim and Bla ck Russian and they are very near planting out...what size pots should I choose for their final planting place...I believe they grow to 4-5 ft but would I need the same size pot...could someone please advise...thank you so much....I have no information on this on the seed packets...BTW

Black Krim tomatoes are real winners. They have a strong, sweet, smoky flavor that I love. Production far exceeded any other tomato variety in my garden this year. Also, along with Stupice were easily my first to produce ripe tomatoes. Tomatoes are small to medium in size and consistently perfect in shape. The plants are large and do require staking. In the spring, I had some problems with wilt, but the plant survived it and then thrived. No problems with blossom end rot or sun scald. My two favorite tomato plants from this summer were Black Krim and Brandywine Sudduth.

Agree with most other positive reviews. This is a winner, my second favorite black (after Black Russian). Has a full-bodied flavor, I feel like I am eating wine. That is the best way I know to illustrate the richness of the flavor.

Purple pink in my estimation. Some people say it is brownish red.
Grew well for me two years ago ,even in a pot! Good flavour.
Growing again this year.

Great disease resistance and production. The tomatoes are wonderful with a very rich taste. One of the best tasting blacks I have grown. Continues to set fruit in very hot and humid weather which is a big plus down here.

This is my first time growing Black Krim. I use an Earthbox. The plant is large and lush and is producing many tomatoes. The tomatoes are large and splitting. The Earthbox is watered daily but the reservoir is dry every night. The fruits are delicious. My other heirlooms have had the fruit worm damage but the Black Krim does not seem to be effected. Any suggestions about how to prevent cracks?

Yes, you can actually grow in a decent purple/black tomato in the Central Valley. This one did very well for me. What a flavor. My favorite tasting tomato of all time. This is a real winner!

I grew 5 Black Krim plants this year, and all but one succumbed to blight, so I am reporting on a rather small statistical sample! (The one that lasted was in an HEB, but I don't think that made any difference.) The taste is better than average, but not as good as Cherokee Purple. Yield was average. Birds or squirrels loved them too and I had to put up netting to protect them. I'll hope for better luck next year.

Great plant, When I grew them in the ground or in plastic pots I always had cracking, now I use large Italian clay or terracotta pots with a small bag of pea gravel over the drain hole and I don't get cracking any more, I think its because the roots do not have to stand in water that they don't crack. any way its a great tasting plant with beautiful tomatoes. Almost forgot I use a nice light potting soil, You do have to water twice a day but like I said For me I don't get cracks.

It is for sure a winner in my garden, I love the flavor, out of 30 varieties I grew the only one I liked better is Black from Tula, but not by far.

Black Krim is one of my favorites. It is very prolific and has a wonderful rich, earthy flavor. It produces early and continues all season into fall. BK is best eaten fresh, as it is somewhat soft and doesn't can well. A "must grow" tomato for me.

This was my first year with Black Krim. I was looking for Black from Tula which I grew several years ago and found this one. The taste I think is great and the plant produced quite a lot and pretty early. It does look pretty weird with the green and dusky pink and you have to pick it before it looks ripe. Gets very soft quickly, and does tend to get cracks.

This seemed like an awsome and fun tomato variety to put into my "global" garden. I have my sprouts under the grow lamp. Already, I can tell the deep green and purple foliage. How does one pervent the cracking of fruit (before mine start) that seemes to be a problem with other growers in this variety?

Slightly flattened 4-5" globes with dark greenish-black shoulders, turns almost black with enough heat and sun.

Black Krim generally makes my grow list about every other year. Good flavor, typical of some of the better darks. It does tend to crack occasionally in my garden, even when I am careful with the watering.

The Black Krim was by far my favorite this year. Delicious taste and lots of fruit. The tomatoes split like crazy though, but maybe I was more inconsistent with my watering than I thought I was.

Will definitely grow this one again.

The negative has been the squirrels like to take a bite or two out of the BK's. We wanted to take those bites! The taste is excellent not exactly smokey, as ofdten described but defionitely more than most red tomatoes. The flavor may not be as intense this year because of the erratic rain. Size was very good as several approaching a pound. Not that many fruit but most have been blemish free.

These are very good mild tomato. They weigh approx. 6oz., dark red and blackish color. I at first thought I didn't like the flavor but have decided that I do like it. The plant has held up very well. The only thing I found about this tomato is that it gets cracks on the stem end that don't go all the way through and have not hurt the flavor at all.

Sweet taste, a good producer. Soft flesh, not a good canner.

Unique fruits from the Crimean Sea area of Russia. (Krim is Russian for Crimea)

Dark brownish red tomatoes with darker gel in the locules. They look almost rotten, but have a wonderful smokey/sweet taste totally unique to the variety.

Large blemish free fruits that produce well in the South. I like them and they are in my rotation to grow every few years.