Blue tomatoes?

[potager]

Different places I have seen tomatoes described as "purple" or even "blue". But whenever I have tried to order seeds and grow them they always turn out as what I would describe as brown or reddish brown. This applies for "black" tomatoes as well.

Does there exist a thing as true blue, black and purple tomatoes, or have I just not found the right varieties yet? It would be interesting to see a real black tomato or a purple one (I mean real purple as purple podded peas, for example)

You can see pictures of the tomato varieties I have tried (well at least some of them). Sorry - the text is in danish, but the pics are international.

[carolyn137]

Brian, please look below on this first page and you'll see that there already is a thread that addresses part of your question.

It's titled Define Black tomato.

I will say a couple of things here.

First, the word purple has been used in the past to mean pink and that started out in the late 1800's. Aunt Ginny's Purple, Eva Purple Ball, they're all pink.

The only two varieties that I think have some degree of purple, that I've grown, are Noir des Cosebeauf and Purple Calabash.

As for the so called blacks, I divide them into two groups, red/blacks, such as Black Krim, Carbon, and pink/blacks such as Cherokee Purple and Black from Tula.

Color can vary with all of them both depending on the location where being grown, and most specifically, those who grow in the warmer areas of the US where the UV is highest seem to get the darkest colors with the so called blacks.

Finally, there is a thread(s) here or posts or both about blue tomatoes that are really blue. Maybe a search will bring it up for you or maybe someone knows exactly where it is. Seeds for these blue tomatoes are not available to the public.

[nctomatoman]

Carolyn, I have a different view of color categorization than you have -

Your note - The only two varieties that I think have some degree of purple, that I've grown, are Noir des Cosebeauf and Purple Calabash.

My response - I've grown each of them, and those two, when grown in my garden anyway, are the same color as Cherokee Purple, Black form Tula, or Carbon (and this was also shown when lining them up all together at our various Tomatopaloozas). the depth of color of any of these has some variables such as temperature when ripening, and overall ripeness (as any of these sit on my counter, they deepen significantly in hue).

Your comment - As for the so called blacks, I divide them into two groups, red/blacks, such as Black Krim, Carbon, and pink/blacks such as Cherokee Purple and Black from Tula.

My view - Except for Black Krim, which has a subtly different hue that is hard to characterize, these are all pink blacks because they all have clear skin. To me, the red/blacks are those with yellow skin, such as Paul Robeson and Cherokee Chocolate and Black Prince. The pink/blacks tend to look purplish, esp. when very ripe. The red/blacks tend to look chocolatey brown colors, esp. when very ripe. Even Black Krim has clear skin - but as I said there is sometimes (not always) a subtle difference in the color.

Your comment - Color can vary with all of them both depending on the location where being grown, and most specifically, those who grow in the warmer areas of the US where the UV is highest seem to get the darkest colors with the so called blacks.

My view - I think the temp thing is more around the fact that pigment in all tomatoes develop poorly at very high temps, so in fact, some of these are not well pigmented when on the plant. Once picked and taken indoors, the color deepens significantly.

I am attaching a pic I took yesterday that shows hopefully and clearly some colors that seem to be confused.

This pic shows pink (upper left, Stump of the World), red (Shannon, upper right), pink/black or purple (lower left, Cherokee Purple), and red/black or brown (Cherokee Chocolate, lower right). Note that the colors are more distinct when looking at the tops/shoulders.

[carolyn137]

Craig, I'm sticking to my story.

I shared with others what I see in my zone 5 garden and said that differences could be seen due to geographic location.

Remember ARGG and you seeing
no amber color and sending the same seeds to me and to Jeff and we saw amber with those same seeds? And some others in southern climes, I think it was in TX, also saw no amber with ARGG.

There will be differences in color and whether it's due to temperature controlled genetic expression of pigments or or due to higher UV, or a combo or whatever, I think it's hard for anyone to categorize a color for a variety other than the person reporting it as grown by them.

[nctomatoman]

What part of the story? as far as pink/black and red/black, it is simply not correct, no matter what garden you grow in. So, I stick to mine as well!!!

[potager]

Wauw - I hope I havn't started the third world war

But no matter the reason for "my not so dark black tomatoes" this is in the colder part of the world: Denmark, Scandinavia.

It would be fun to see a real blue one anyway!

[Andrey_BY]

Brian, it is always a very difficult to grow blacks (of any combination of colors ) in our cold part of Europe. I can do this only indoor and the results are pretty much the same for one and the same variety here in my greenhouses
P.S. What a nice web-site you have with all these unusual bugs/vegetable photoes

[Suze]

Irrespective of actual flesh color (there can be some brick red or burgundy hues predominating a bit over the dark effect at times with this "dark" variety), I consider Carbon to be a pink black because the epidermis is clear.

carbon.jpg

Contrast to Cherokee Chocolate and Paul Robeson, where the yellow epidermis gives the fruits more of a orangish-brown hue -- at least to my eyes anyway:

Cherokee+Chocolate.jpg

Paul+Robeson.jpg

As for Purple Calabash, I personally don't get too much of the purple effect -- just a hint of a sort of wine-like coloration. It more or less looks like one of the darker pink blacks when I grow it.

purple+calabash.jpg

I will say all the dark varieties I grew were quite a bit darker last year, to the point where people were asking me what my 'secret' was to get such depth of color, lol. The weather was consistently a good 8-10 degrees hotter with a lot more sun, which seems to be a factor.

[feldon30]

potager,

If you are looking for a blue tomato that could pass for an oversized blueberry, or a black tomato that's as black as a black beauty eggplant, then there is no such thing. (EDIT: At least not available to the public )

In the tomato world, "black" refers to dark pink or dark red. And in climates in more northern climates, so-called "black" varieties will not mature as dark as those grown in southern climates.


As for the red-black (Paul Robeson) vs. pink-black (Cherokee Purple, Indian Stripe, etc.), the difference is unmistakable in my garden. Paul Robeson looks almost mahogany brown to me. Cherokee Purple looks dark pink.

I offer this photo:

Indian Stripe vs. Paul Robeson

By the way, there is an imposter Paul Robeson out in the wild which is pink-black.

[squibT]

Very nice web site Brian...

[Fusion_power]

I'm starting to enjoy posting this photo. Yes Potager, this is really a tomato and it is growing in my garden right now. I took this photo about a week ago.

[potager]

Originally Posted by feldon30

In the tomato world, "black" refers to dark pink or dark red. And in climates in more northern climates, so-called "black" varieties will not mature as dark as those grown in southern climates.

Yes, it's quite strange whit color scheme for tomatoes - totally different from "real colors". Also "white" tomatoes are not real white - rather light yellow.

Interesting to have a look at your tomato pics! and yours as well, Suze. It certainly looks as if they get darker in your climate than here.

Originally Posted by squibT

Very nice web site Brian...

Thanks

You may want to take a look at my other website. No tomatoes there yet, but pictures of pretty vegetables - and... the text is available in both english and danish.

Originally Posted by Fusion_power

I'm starting to enjoy posting this photo. Yes Potager, this is really a tomato and it is growing in my garden right now. I took this photo about a week ago.

Wauw .... This one looks really dark. What is the variety name? And what would it take to convince you to send me some seeds?

[carolyn137]

Wauw .... This one looks really dark. What is the variety name? And what would it take to convince you to send me some seeds?

*****

Brian, if you go to the thread here about defining black tomatoes you can read all about that dark one that Fusion is posting.

He gives the background, as in not bred my him, and explains why seeds are not available.

[potager]

Originally Posted by carolyn137

if you go to the thread here about defining black tomatoes you can read all about that dark one that Fusion is posting.

He gives the background, as in not bred my him, and explains why seeds are not available.

Oh - I didn't see that. What a pity that the seeds can't be shared. I would really like to try that one! I'll just put a link here to the explanation: http://www.tomatoville.com/showthrea...5945&page=2#14