Cherokee Purple vs. J.D.'s Special C-Tex vs. Cherokee Chocolate

[Shule]

I'd like to hear some discussion on how these three tomatoes compare. Have you grown two or more?

Cherokee Purple:
http://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/Cherokee_Purple
https://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/552/#b

J.D.'s Special C-Tex:
http://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/JD%27s_Special_C_Tex
https://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/129643/#b

Cherokee Chocolate:
http://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/Cherokee_Chocolate
https://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/123618/

[Toomanymatoes]

I have limited experience, but grew both Cherokee Purple and JD's Special C-Tex last season. One plant each and seeds were from open pollinated commercial seed sources. I am in Zone 6a and grew them in 20G containers.

I preferred Cherokee Purple for taste (I like sweeter tomatoes). It also seemed to be a bit more productive, but at the same time produced slightly smaller tomatoes. Concentric cracking was about the same on both varieties, but probably had more to do with how I grew them. I do not recall splitting being much of a problem on either, but did have some.

[Paulf]

Having grown all three on a fairly regular basis, Cherokee Purple is still my favorite. Those who say production is lower on CP may be right but for flavor it cannot be beat. Cherokee Chocolate, a cousin to CP is very close in all aspects. Both will be in this year's lineup and I have no problem getting both size or production from these excellent tasting tomatoes. JD's Special C-Tex is an elusive bugger for me. Rarely will this one produce much of anything. Perhaps JD doesn't like my soil, weather or me. For several years I have tried and gotten very little. When fruits are harvested they are OK but not spectacular.

[rxkeith]

i had a real good year with jds special c-tex two years ago. productive, and larger tomatoes than i remember it having.
i grew cherokee chocolate last year, and was not wowed with the flavor. it was good, don't get me wrong, but not enough
to make my grow every year list. i would take jds over cherokee chocolate. i would need to grow cherokee purple again to
evaluate better. i haven't grown that one in awhile.



keith

[SpookyShoe]

I have grown both the JD's and the Cherokee Purple. Because I live in a suburban area with limited space for a vegetable garden I prefer the JD's because it is a more compact plant.

[worth1]

On a good year Cherokee purple is the winner.
Grow c tex once bad year no comment.
Never grown c chocolate.

[Shule]

Thanks, everyone! This is very helpful.

[JosephineRose]

I grew JD's in 2018 in an earthbox and it had middling production, lots of BER and "meh" tasting fruit. My notes said those first fruits were relatively early.

I had a crazy, messed up year this year and resowed super late, transplanting in June. Something possessed me to try it again, and this time I planted it in ground. I got an amazing multiflora that was prolific with giant fruits on giant trusses, but 90 days from transplant. The first group of fruits was not sweet, but the sweetness hit with the second truss. Overall it was large, prolific and heavy producing. My kitchen was filled! I pulled when disease set in after a rare rainstorm on Oct. 30.

[Whwoz]

Cherokee chocolate did well here in this La Nina season, need to see it in a hot year to fully assess. Have not grown C. Purple for a long time and it was in much poorer soil, need to regrow to be honest. C- Tex haven't grown, not sure if I have seed

[o0sunsi0o]

I grew JD's in 2018 in an earthbox and it had middling production, lots of BER and "meh" tasting fruit. My notes said those first fruits were relatively early.

I had a crazy, messed up year this year and resowed super late, transplanting in June. Something possessed me to try it again, and this time I planted it in ground. I got an amazing multiflora that was prolific with giant fruits on giant trusses, but 90 days from transplant. The first group of fruits was not sweet, but the sweetness hit with the second truss. Overall it was large, prolific and heavy producing. My kitchen was filled! I pulled when disease set in after a rare rainstorm on Oct. 30.

I still say ground grown tomatoes just taste better, I get to experiment a little on that assumption. My neighbor has a ground garden and I have growbags. I want to try the same varieties in her garden and compare taste to my growbag ones.

[PlainJane]

I grew JDs last year and it did very poorly. What little fruit I got was cracked.
Cherokee Purple has good flavor but other black tomatoes like Daniel Burson do better in my conditions.
A surprise hit this year was Cherokee Carbon. Will be back again next year for sure.

[CrazyAboutOrchids]

I grew JDs last year and it did very poorly. What little fruit I got was cracked.
Cherokee Purple has good flavor but other black tomatoes like Daniel Burson do better in my conditions.
A surprise hit this year was Cherokee Carbon. Will be back again next year for sure.

I was so excited the year I grew JD's but it did poorly for me as well and I didn't try a second year as I often do with newbies. I've grown Cherokee Carbon in my CT garden a few times now and have been pleased. It didn't make the cut this year but is always on the list now as a possibility. Problem is I go reading on these two forums and get the bug to grow something new to me that I read about.

[Seven Bends]

Another thumbs-up here for Cherokee Carbon. It's been great for me three years in a row -- healthy, prolific, delicious.

[Cranraspberry]

Excited to read all the good feedback about Cherokee Carbon - we have one planted and it’s our only black, so fingers crossed for good results.

[karstopography]

I love Carbon.Seriously great tasting and mostly clean, uncomplicated looking fruit. I had Cherokee Carbon in a bad spot in the garden a couple years ago so can’t fairly evaluate that one. Cherokee Purple seldom made simple fruit, they tended to be fused blossoms, zippered, scarred and otherwise misshapen. I decided I liked more symmetrical and uncomplicated shaped tomatoes so I moved on to other dark tomatoes. I don’t regret that move.