First Cherokee Purple that I have been able to take a picture of. My wife said the other two looked so good she ate them. She said they were most delicious.

You can see them in the back. That is about two days worthof harvest. I have twice that many in another basket that are still more on the green side of things.

Just picked up a Cherokee Chocolate plant at my local mom and pop hardware store, to add to my other dark tomatoes. Couldn't resist as it's the first time I've seen them for sale around here. Hoping they do better than my abysmal record with Cherokee Purple. Only a little hope, not a lot.

Black from Tula and Black Krim are knocking us out with production. Still a tie, with husband leaning a little toward preferring BK and me leaning more toward BfT.

If the dark red or brown trait is dominant, I just might have another dark tomato. It looks like one of my Husky Cherry Red F3s is possibly half Black Plum, by the fruit shape. The Husky Cherry Red F2 was an early, round, very sweet cherry with long keeping abilities (the F1 was early and round, at least, but prone to splitting and tasted a lot like a Roma tomato). I grew Black Plum all around the F2, pretty much, last year. The only other potential varieties to have crossed with it to get a long fruit were Martino's Roma and Pomodoro San Marzano. The F3 tomatoes are a little rounder/fatter than Black Plum was, though.

UPDATE:

I started this thread a little over 3 months ago and then I started planting out until the end of April (80 days ago ). Late May all the way to early July we had very cool temperatures and every variety is almost 3 weeks behind compared to previous years.

As of this date I have no ripe tomato from any of my Dark Tomatoes. But they have green ones . It seems that CP, IS and BFT are competing nicely. But still it is too early to tell which one will win the contest in my garden:

Here is the situation:

=1= Ananas Noire (Black Pineapple) >>> Doing poorly

=2= Black from Thula >>> doing good

=3= Black Seaman >>>> Doing just ok

Actually this turned out not to be BSM. It is indet and has different regular leaves.

=4= Brown Heart ....>>> Doing poorly

=5= Cherokee Purple >>> doing good

=6= Danjel Burson. .>>> I Pulled it few days ago. It had no fruits set And was sick from mold.

=7= Indian Stripe >>> doing good

=8= Kumato (F3) >>> Doing poorly. I am growing this one just as an experiment. The original seeds cam e from store bough tomatoes.

On the positive note, temperatures are improving and are mostly in high 70s.

Sey

Sey, I hope you still have tomatoes just a bit later.

My blacks are very good this year. BFT potato leaf and BFT x Japanese pink truffle were very productive and fun to grow. They are having break now and I hope for the second fruit set in September. Black cherry is prolific and reliable, it keeps going on.

Here is the picture.

Below is BFT x JTP, I will call it Tula's Truffle.

It is bright pink inside.

Salsa from black tomatoes and tomato jam from yellows.

My biggest BFT PL.

Antmary, please share your recipe for tomato jam. We've made jams from various fruits and hot peppers but never tomatoes yet.

I have a bumper crop of black tomatoes as well. Our cherries are doing outstandingly well. I picked close to 5 bushels last picking after a 5 day period. My 28 cherry varieties include Black Cherry, Brown Berry, Chocolate Cherry, Chocolate Pear and I include Tsungshigo with those. Slightly larger Black Prince and Pol Robeson Angolan (sic) are also ripening 8-10 fruits per plant every picking. But of all the Black varieties Kakao is probably my highest producer.

If my tomatoes ever decide to actually ripen from their green state I will have some Japanese Black Trifle and Dwarf Wild Fred which I understand is supposed to be dark.

Both are new varieties for me. I grew CP last year, but it wasn't a huge producer for me, and I have over 50 varieties of seeds so I wanted to mix it up this year. My only repeats are Sungold and Green Zebra because my husband requested them.

I have one little black prince tomato plant. I got my first tomato a few days ago. I've had a few more since. Pretty tasty little tomatoes.

I have nothing close to ripe.

Here is some CP as of today, just sampling. BFT and IS have some too.

I forgot to mention that I got ripe Purple Bumble Bee tomatoes some time ago. They tasted okay, but I think they needed to ripen more, honestly. I tasted another one today, and it was awesome. Some of them were bigger than I had expected.

I've had a number of Jackie tomatoes, too (a couple of those were among the first to ripen). They were kind of sweet.

I got a ripe Black tomato (the sort from territorialseed.com), today. The Black tomato seeds I planted this spring were actually black, but it appears that's not a genetic trait (because the ones today are just regular tomato seed color). The tomato had a really interesting creamy texture (not mealy), but I didn't taste a lot of flavor; maybe later ones will have more taste.

Husky Cherry Red F3, the plum-shaped one, did not turn out to be a black tomato like Black Plum (just red).

My other black/purple/brown tomatoes are likely either under layers of tomato jungle, or else haven't produced ripe fruit, yet. I'm glad next year I'll be growing tomatoes in a long strip of ground instead of a rectangular patch (so, even if there's a jungle, it should be easier to sort through).

Progress Report.

My CP, IS, BFT are setting like crazy and the early ones are growing well too.

My other mystery ( Black SeaMan look alike) is also doing pretty good.

Overall my dark varieties are doing much better than the reds.

Sey

I'm growing Pink Berkeley Tie Dye. Dark brown with green stripes. Very good tasting but one of the squishy-est tomatoes I've grown. This is my first time growing so I'm trying to pick them at different levels of ripeness but I'm having trouble. So far, most I've picked seem over ripe but still tasty.

Here is sliced Noir de Crimee to the right of 2 Cherokee Purples. I let Noir get too ripe on the counter top so it was a little mushy, but the taste was excellent.

NVM

I think I've read you should pick Pink Berkeley Tie Dye before it's mostly "pink" somewhere. It was a post with a picture, but I haven't been able to find it.

My blacks; Dwarf Fred Tie Dye , Adelaide Festival, and Dwarf Chocolate Lightning. Not in that order.

Haven't had time to post much this year. Most of my early plants are done. Some still have growing fruits. Sey, Kellogg grows like mad in this heat , Jap Trifle bestbof last 3 years. Purple Bee makes random Siamese fruits. Sold my last batch todsy to Hot And Hot Fish Club, local expensive eatery, made an even 100 lbs I sold them over the last 4 weeks. Gold Medals x 5 made some beautiful fruits this season. Been a good year.

Welcome back, deadhead !

I know that a lot of tomatoes do much much better in warm/ho weather than in our cool/cold PNW. But most dark tomatoes don't mind it here.

Sey

Well, I don't have any ripe dark tomatoes yet but I can show them with green tomatoes:

Black from Tula. Many more tomatoes further up not seen in this picture.

Cherokee Purple

Indian Stripe

Black SeaMan la

They are all doing fine. Need some warmer weather to move them.

Sey

Question about Paul Robeson.

If you are growing it, how does it compare to other dark tomatoes in your garden ?

The reason I am asking is that I have Paul Robeson tomato to save seeds from. I bought it from farmers Market.

Sey

Hi Sey, I decided not to grow PB this year. I finally picked a GGWT and haven't tried it yet. It's been a weird growing season. Finally getting a few ripe fruit. Still waiting for ISPL Daniel Burson Cherokee Carbon Carbon Copy and GGWT to start ripening. I'm also fighting off squirrels like crazy.

Posting my objective opinions on the 4 dark tomatoes I grew this year .Indian Stripe Potato Leaf-I can see why almost everyone loves it.It is sweet and rich and who doesn't like sweet?Which is why I think the stinkbugs seem to prefer it.It is productive and is setting fruit in heat and humidity but they don't seem to be ripening well in my garden.The green shoulders don't seem to want to go away, but this may resolve itself later and seems to be already.Some odd shapes also, some are beefsteak shaped and some are oval and pointed.Paul Robeson-Great tasting tomato.Can tell it doesn't like the climate here.Hot and humid don't seem to set well with this tomato.Stingy.Carbon-This plant sets so many early beautiful tomatoes.Very uniform in shape and productive.Totally shut down in the heat and humidity, but the huge early set of tomatoes offsets this and now that the weather is better it is loading up with flowers again.The fruit in color and taste is almost identical to Cherokee Purple.Cherokee Purple-A workhorse here.Steady production of tomatoes.it keeps setting tomatoes right thru the heat and humidity.No core.Great taste as always.It has that great complex tomato taste which I prefer.Conclusion-Cherokee Purple remains the king, but Carbon is a great compliment to CP and if you put 5 of each in front of me that were similar in size and shape and mixed them up I'm not sure I could tell the difference.Sorry about the lack of spacing, didn't know how to do that here.

I grew Cherokee Purple and Margaret Curtain this season. I had one CP already, but the rest are taking their sweet time ripening. MC is DELISH and production appears to be better. I will do a taste test between the two as soon as I am able.

Linda

REMEMBER THIS ?.

It is a big grape shape. I took the seeds from sore bought OP tomato. Here it is:

It kept its sweet time to fruit. Some early blossoms dropped . From the very early seedling stage , it was the weakest one I had. Few times I almost got rid of it but then didn't. I think it had some kind of root problem.

Now it has about half a dozen or more tomatoes, still green.The size and shape is similar to Juliet. ( They are growing in a pot next to each other)

The plant is indeterminant, RL very similar to most cherry varieties, w/ weak and lanky stems. I will save seeds and should grow it as ornamental.

Sey

UPDATE:

Hear are the tomatoes as of 8-20-16

This is a good thread I´m going to come back to for next years seed selection... Growing "Black Plum" this summer, too, a vigorous grower with a good amount of fruits - they do seem to take their time getting ripe in that spot, but on the other hand, no diseases at all so far, not even after a longer period of rain.

Stay Tuned !

I will soon be back to review my dark/black/purple tomatoes.

Very interesting . Darks beat reds in my garden, in productivity.

Sey

Taste test between Margaret Curtain, Indian Stripe and Rosella Purple.

There was not much in it, and each one tastes fabulous to me when eaten alone. Indian Stripe tasted the best. Margaret Curtain was the earliest, but had some cracking. Rosella Purple was the latest to produce, but hopefully will give a lot more fruit before the frost kills it.

Linda

Thanks for the review, Linda. Of those in your list I am growing Indian Stripe but nothing ripe of it yet.

Sey

Dark tomatoes won 2 blue ribbons at our county fair for me, one for heirloom tomato class and another for plum tomato class. I even think a dark tomato centered on my market basket helped to win a blue ribbon for it and "Best of show" ribbon for all vegetables.

Well done Barrie!

Seyson, sorry you are having to wait so long for your I.S. It will be worth the wait though :)

Linda

Congrats Barrie.

Congrats, Barrie. Now seems that dark tomatoes are getting the recognition.

Thanks, Linda. My IS, CP, BFT are getting bigger and bigger. I estimate some of them approaching one pound. Today I notices one BFT breaking color. I decided to give it couple of more days before picking.

Sey

Here is my first normal size ripe BFT.

It is not black like Black Krim. It is more like Cherokee Purple in color. But BFT is more productive than CP and it is a bit early too.

It is the one in the center. Weight = 7.5 oz

Sey

My dark tomatoes are getting ripe slowly. I picked the first Ananas Noire at color break two days ago now it is ripening on the counter nicely.

The other day I saw some Indian Stripes getting color. But so far CP has no ripe ones but the fruits color is getting almost white.

I will post pictures later.

Sey

A Little Review :

I listed the following in my opening post: And I planted them.

=1= Ananas Noire (Black Pineapple)

=2= Black from Thula

=3= Black Seaman

=4= Brown Heart

=5= Cherokee Purple

=6= Danjel Burson.

=7= Indian Stripe

=8= Kumato (F3)Now I have the following choices for 2017:

=== Ananas Noire (Black Pineapple : actually a bi/multi color)

== Cherokee Purple

=== Black from Thula

=== Indian Stripe

and " Black Seaman". Actually this was /is NOT Black Seaman. The closest match I have found is "Sara Black". In some respects it is similar to Indian Stripe too. This has been the the best performer in productivity next to Black from Thula. So these two are def coming back next season.

Ananas Noire and Cherokee Purple are just my favorites despite their lackluster production. So They will also come back.

Indian Stripe is kinda on the fence right now. I have not tasted any tomatoes from it yet. How do you review your dark tomatoes ?

Sey

Finally CP !

Today I picked my first Cherokee Purple, half ripe.

I have another one coming, bigger than this one.

Sey

This ( as pointed in the picture below is a grape shaped dark tomato . This is not yet fully ripe bur showing nice watermelon like color. The size is almost the same as Juliet, that I have growing next to it.

When ripe it should look like the one shown below

To me this is just a novelty , not so much for eating.

Sey

One of my plants this year was labeled "Lemon Boy" and showed a bright yellow fruit in the picture. The first one went from green to mahogany, almost black, so it was obviously mislabeled. After much research I am guessing Black Krim. The first, about the size of a baseball was the best tasting tomato I ever ate. Right now I have one about the same size and another even bigger that will be ready to pick by Saturday, and 5-6 more coming if the weather cooperates. I have a greenhouse and wait until mid-May to plant due to our short season. I also have a Black Cherry but it's just now starting to show color, while we are totally overwhelmed with the number of Sungolds, picking 15-30 a day.

hemlock,

If you bought the plant from nursery, then it must be tag switch or mislabeling. And probably you are right that it is Black Krim. That is the most likely black tomato plants grown and sold commercially. Fruit description also matches that of Black Krim.

BTW: doe this plant get leaf role ?

Sey

New record for CP

Sey

Most years Cherokee Purple is my best tomato, and some fruits in past years could compete with Brandywine (in different ways, of course). But this year, the Cherokee Purples were duds (as were the Brandywines) and Ponderosa Pink was the star of the garden. You just never know, so that is why we grow a variety of heirlooms every year. ;)

Where are you gardening, Mark ? Location, zone ?

I had a bad year too. Everything is late by about 3 weeks, compared to previous years.

Sey

It has been a bad year here in Western Washington as well. I am finally getting ripe tomatoes and just in the last week. I have 61 plants and of those Cherokee Carbon is producing the first ripe fruit, other than Sun Sugar which has been doing good for about a month. Other varieties are close and will produce some, but nowhere close to what the previous few years have yielded. I am looking forward to having ripe Ananas Noire, Hawaiian Pineapple, Black From Tula and a few other varieties within the next week or so.

Nice thread, this has been an outstanding year for most all of my tomatoes, the dark ones continue to produce well, the CP, B from T, and Black K all look and taste great, our #1 this year has to be Vorlon, great taste very productive from a huge plant, large beautiful fruits and still setting fruits with no sign of disease yet.

Thanks worlad,

As I have mentioned before, my dark varieties all have been doing better than reds. I am growing an unknown dark ( from store bough heirloom) That is either Sara Black or Orlon. Along with B from T it has been pumping a lot of fruits, plus it was the first dark to have ripe tomato.

Here is a picture.

The one that is cut was fully ripe but the rest had to be kept on the counter for a few day. As you see they have faint stripe. They disappear when get fully ripe. Can you post a picture of one of yours ?

Regardless of the name, this one and BfTwill be on my next years list.

Sey

Say, thanks for starting this thread. Fun to read now in the off season. What makes the dark varieties special? Is the taste much different?

Sorry for typo. Meant to say Sey.

Black from Sandhill

For 2018 I am growing five new to me black tomatoes. A couple Big Beef are actually the only red tomatoes I will be growing next year.

BKX - Black Krim potato leaf.

Carbon

Indian Stripe

JD's Special C-Tex

Black Cherry