Black Icicle Tomato

There was a general consensus that these tomatoes were the runt of the litter from 4 breeds i grew last year. In terms of raw eating, the flavor was underwhelming and the texture left something to be desired. The fruits themselves are very fleshy husk like elongated cherry tomatoes. in fact, they grow in an an alternating pattern as cherry tomatoes do. They didn't do so well when the cold started to move in. I wont be growing these again, but that isn't to say they're bad by any means. They were very good for sauce anyway. I grew this tomato a few different ways and found it produces the most fruit if you cut all the suckers and establish a single stem up a string trellis. (Square foot method) - 2 week shipping to Canada, 70% success rate for germination.

These tomatoes germinated well and now that its summer they are producing delicious little tomatoes. We love the flavor, and they have a great texture too. It was not the earliest of our tomatoes. It grows quit tall, over 6 ft already. It's not a heavy producer but it's got a unique look and delicious flavor. I will be growing it next year!

We grew this one in pots. It started out very strong but struggled with both growth and dropping blossoms during the heat of summer. This variety developed BER in its first flush of fruit but came back after treatment to produce more blemish free fruit. Despite looking pitiful, it was a heavy producer for us. The fruit was well shaped, well colored and had good flavor. We found it to be more typical homegrown tomato flavor with earthy back notes. We hope this one will be happier in the garden plot instead of pots.

I live in SW MO in zone 6b and this is only my 2nd year for gardening. I have raised beds with soil that wad prepared with compost. We had more rain than usual this year and I think this contributed to these tomatoes splitting. Otherwise they were great producers and the tomatoes were delicious. Barely any BER. They are unique looking and a great conversation starter. They produced much earlier than my cherry and stripey tomatoes. I plan on planting these again next year.

These were our favorites in our Pacific NW garden in 2014 out of the varieties we tried out. We liked them so much they will be our main tomato for 2015 (plus a few cherries for fun). They made a gorgeous rich ruby sauce with an intense old fashioned fruity tomato flavor, without excessive acidity. My kids don't like acidic tomatoes but they LOVED these. They were great for fresh items like salsa and they did my Italian grandfather's famous marinara sauce recipe justice. He would have been so proud! The color of the cooked flesh isn't so unusual as to be odd for picky kids, but is a bit darker than your typical paste. The plants were hardy and prolific and easy to start from seed with high germination. The only thing I would change is that I'm going to need double the plants this year because we ran out early and we miss our Black Icicle tomatoes in the freezer. They were absolutely the best.