Leaf rolling is a very common occurrance, and some varieties are worse than others. Usually it happens (for me) when there is a lot of rain and the soil stays soggy for too long. Its nothing to worry about. Leaf curl virus affects the top leaves, stunts them, discolors them and causes upward cupping. You potatoleaf Black Krim is almost certainly a stray seed. It is a fairly common thing. I have gotten some very nice "extra" varieties from stray seed, some of which were distinctive enough to identify. May I ask where you bought your seed from. Spontaneous mutation from RL to PL is so rare as to in far last place as the cause (and plant size would not be affected), and crossed seed would take two generations to show up meaning that the seed grower would have had to plant seeds from a hybrid plant that probably did not look like Black Krim. If you do want to breed a PL Black Krim-like tomato I would cross Japanese Black Trifele (PL) with Black Krim and then select out the PL plants in the second generation, and select for flavor from those plants.

There are different types of cracking and both are influenced by genetic characteristics, though in each case it is different genetic characteristics. Radial (or Longitudinal) cracks, from top to bottom, or out from the stem along the top, is fairly common in some types of small tomatoes (like Sungold and Sweet 100s which will crack if you look at them) and less likely in other types, like Black Cherry or Isis Candy. It happens in larger tomatoes too, and is influenced by the shape of the tomato, the thickness of the skin, etc. Tomatoes that have this trait will often crack right after watering, especially if they are allowed to get fairly dry, then watered in large amounts. If this is a problem, watering small amounts much more frequently often helps. Concentric cracking, then healing and leaving 'scar circles' is a different genetic tendency that some tomatoes, like Black Krim, have. It is also clearly influenced by environmental factors. It often is unsightly, but in my opinion it is less likely to affect flavor or cause rotting. Concentric cracking has been blamed on letting tomatoes get too ripe, and on rapid changes in moisture levels, from wet to dry or vice-versa. But it seems less clear cut to me, and is also almost certainly affected by other growing conditions, levels of fertilizer, plant health, etc. I have never worried about it, because it seems harder to predict or control than the longitudinal or radial cracks, EXCEPT to recognize that some varieties are prone to it.

Hi seysonn, I have also planted BK and found it extremely slow. The joke is I removed a sucker, planted it directly in my perennial garden where I had a spot and its got fruit! The rascal has grown faster and better than the seedling. I have had maybe 5 or 6 tomatoes from my BK so far and there are a few more growing, but honestly at this rate, I think the sucker is going to outproduce the parent plant. I'm zone 5b Montreal. I have had really good results with Black from Tula, it's earlier - 65 days or so, produces large, tasty fruit. Not sure I would grow BK next year. My seedlings also were not very robust compared to BFT or other seedlings. I don't know Black Prince, so I can't comment. I'm also growing Black Russian, which is a heavy producer of fruit, but I am not liking the taste.

Many Thanks Bets, I posted a photo of the salad I made with those tomatoes. I was just confused because they both were not right and was checking out cross breading peppers the other day. This is my old ladies recipe that the photo shows. I am sure it is common and simple recipe but for all the time you masters help with my questions I want to help try to pay back. The trick is to put the appropriate amount of garlic/basil/oil ratio to tomato taste. - olive oil (a tad bit more as you would put in salad) - 2 cloves of garlic finly chopped - dash of salt to taste - 2 choped up basil leafs - and the tomatoes. I can't wait til my Kelloggs Beefsteak matures for this so I can mix all the varieties together. The first buds just starting to come out. Edit: Thanks again Dave I posted this before I saw yours and I remember about the other topic of the Ramapo and 4th. You guys are the best :) Also to note the seeds were from a generic seed company with a printed label. Next year I will go namebrand labels. This post was edited by thebutcher on Wed, Aug 7, 13 at 15:25