Tomato 'Paul Robeson'

Fabulous flavor! Of all the "dusky" cultivars I've grown & eaten (and there have been many!), this one's my fave. Good yield, earthy, a...Read Morelmost smoky flavor. I also liked this because, unlike some of the other dusky varieties (Cherokee Purple, Black Krims, I'm lookin' at you!), this one isn't very susceptible to cracking and seems to have a bit of a thicker skin.

I grew this out in the summer of 2011. It produced pretty well, even in mid summer, and had a unique flavor that set it apart from the pa...Read Moreck. The first one I ate was from a plant in a container, and it had a fruity flavor that was unlike anything I've ever tasted. The rest of the season, they tasted deep, smoky, rich and acidic, like a good black tomato should. This has a permanent spot in my So-Cal heirloom garden.

I had only modest success in a poor year for tomatoes here in NJ.

I bought the seed because I live in Princeton NJ where R...Read Moreobeson was born; there are several things (including a street) named for him here. The history is not completely clear, but it seems he was not admitted to my alma mater, the famous university across the street from town, because of racial prejudice. At Rutgers he was valedictorian of his class and the first black All-American football player.

His frustration with racism in the US led him to travel to the Soviet Union where the communists were quite a bit more welcoming, and indeed the tomato named for him is a product of Soviet agronomy named in his honor.

Also, his artistic and literary pursuits ranged a lot farther than opera; check out his bio on Wikipedia.

I found 'Paul Robeson' just okay. Initially it would not set fruit, but I think that was because it was just TOO hot & sunny where I had...Read More them. After I started sheltering them they set better, but then I found that almost every fruit cracked. I don't mind that from a cosmetic standpoint, but these cracked so badly that many were inedible. When we were able to eat some, I found the flavor underwhelming. My husband liked them a lot, though, and preferred them to the more zippy, acidic tomatoes we had. I may grow it again for him, but I'm going to try some other varieties first.

My girlfriend who lives 20m miles west of me grew these for me, and they refused to set fruit at all, not one all year long. Right next t...Read Moreo them, she grew 'heart of compassions' and they were fine. I grew black paste tomatoes this year and they too, grew normally. Also, FWIW, we had a wet, cool year.

Nice tomato but the first of my 13 or so varieties to fall prey to 2009's late blight. Had to pull up all of my plants of this variety, ...Read Moresalvaged one ripening fruit and several green ones. I'm keeping an eye on the varieties planted adjacent to it and have so far been able to get by with selective defoliation of those.
I will try it again but note that it is susceptible to late blight.

I am underwhelmed with this tomato: while it has grown well (in containers) it is soft in texture and bland in flavor. Having read up on ...Read Moreit, I believe it can be variable and we have had a fair amount of rain, interspersed with high (90s) temps, so maybe that's the reason. It shows reasonable disease resistance, but I won't be growing it again.

Wester Pennsylvannia

My first season growing tomatoes, I grew a half dozen varieties in large pots trained up ropes under a swing set. The Paul Robeson was th...Read Moree first to set fruit, but only produced a half dozen tomatoes per plant this way (I know, it wasn't an ideal setup). It was the best tasting tomato and my first true taste of a ripe black. I had a lot of problems with rotting around the stem end that didn't affect other varieties, and they cracked more than the others but the taste was amazing and they didn't even get as dark as some of the pictures here. I'll do a better job this year and can't wait to see the results.

Delicious tomatoes and a beautiful dark red/black. Didn't make as many or as big as my other beefsteaks this year, but I will still grow ...Read Moreit again on account of the taste.

I loved this tomato...it is so amazingly sweet and delicious. My only knock it that it wasn't a huge producer, but the tomatoes that I g...Read Moreot were spectacular...one of my favorites.

I'm not usually a fan of the 'red-black' tomatoes, generally, liking the 'pink-black' ones. Paul Robeson is an exception.

...Read MoreIt's a very full-bodied flavor that is quite pleasing and one of the best dark fruited tomatoes I've had.

It's decently productive here in West KY, despite the horrible heat we had this summer, but it did get a fresh flush when the temps moderated.

It's Oct 10, and I still have a good set of fruit and they're of a respectable size despite the late season and declining light.

I give it an 'A'

Ok my negative rating below was premature. I noticed NOW the plant is busting out with new little tomatoes all over, and in very hot weat...Read Moreher. No foliage disease at all, and its May in Texas.




Plant simply refuses to set fruit. The plant is big and healthy, but has exactly one tomato on it...blossoms die and fall off. This is NOT happening to any of the others, including the Brandywine, so. By comparison, the Cherokee Purple has about 3 dozen little tomatoes on it. Will not grow Paul Robeson again.

One of my favorite tomatoes. Great flavor. Gets very dark here in the south.
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One of the best darks of the y...Read Moreear in '06, and I grew several.

One heck of a tomato, rich, juicy, nice acid but not too tangy. Very flavorful, incredible tomato. No green shoulders. Don't know aver...Read Moreage size yet, first one was about 1/2 lb.

Incredible flavor! A favorite.

I grew a "Paul Robeson" in a planter on my sunny balcony in Oakland, CA. I had heard that heirlooms do not do well in pots, but I tried ...Read Moreit anyway. 75-90 days to fruit, and set tomatoes well into late November! The size was smaller than what I could expect this plant to produce had it been set in the ground, but still pretty impressive fruits 3/4-1 pound each. Color is very dark purple with a dark green top. Flavor is rich, smokey, and acidic. Makes a great salsa, sauce, or just for slices. I fermented the seeds and passed them on to my mother in the midwest where I expect it will grow very well in the warmer climate.