When is Danko ripe?

Mark0820 · July 16, 2011

This is my first time growing Danko, and I have one tomato that is orange colored. I looked at a picture on Gleckler's website, and it appears to have some orange color mixed in with red (but photos can be deceiving with colors).

Will my Danko turn more reddish/orange when it is ripe or do they look like an orange tomato? Right now, mine looks like it is an orange tomato, and the entire tomato is colored.

Tom C zone 4/5 · July 16, 2011

About soon sounds like time for a test run on ripeness. Repeat as they change color, it won't take many trials to get it right.

chalstonsc · July 16, 2011

My Danko have been pretty red

**carolyn137** · July 16, 2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark0820

This is my first time growing Danko, and I have one tomato that is orange colored. I looked at a picture on Gleckler's website, and it appears to have some orange color mixed in with red (but photos can be deceiving with colors).

Will my Danko turn more reddish/orange when it is ripe or do they look like an orange tomato? Right now, mine looks like it is an orange tomato, and the entire tomato is colored.

Marko, I don't know where you got your seeds, mine were from a friend of a friend who was in the CIS ( new name, Commonwealth of Independ States as Andrey notes), formerly called by most of us Russia, and they have always been red, no orange tint, just lovely tasty red hearts.

And it's that seed that I've been offering here in my annual seed offer for the last few years as well as SSE listed and I've also sent Danko to those seed places where I've know the owners well .

probably I'm the one who sent them to Adam Gleckler, also Mike at Victory seeds, also Glenn at Sandhill Preservation and also Linda at TGS. Andrey also SSE lists them as well from his own source. And I think some others might have gotten their seeds from Andrey but I didn't check that out.

And I didn't check my notebook to confirm all the places I sent Danko seeds for trial b;c I don't want to right now. The temp is heading to near 90F, I'm in the middle of a good book, some tennis starts at 4 PM, so there you go.

Mark0820 · July 16, 2011

I got my seeds from your Jan. 2011 seed offer.

I took a closer look, and it appears the fruit truss is slightly torn from the stem (from the weight of the tomato). I don't know the full impact of this, but maybe the tomato isn't getting enough nutrients and won't fully ripen.

I do have a second tomato on another plant, and it looks orange as well (although it is only half ripe with green shoulders). I will have to watch to see how the color changes on this second tomato.

I guess I will leave the first tomato hang from the plant for another day or two to see if it changes color. I thought maybe the color progression for Danko was from green to orange to a darker shade of red. However, this tomato has been orange for 2 days and does not appear to be getting any darker.

**carolyn137** · July 16, 2011

I guess I will leave the first tomato hang from the plant for another day or two to see if it changes color. I thought maybe the color progression for Danko was from green to orange to a darker shade of red. However, this tomato has been orange for 2 days and does not appear to be getting any darker.

******

I don't know what the problems is Marko. All I can say is that I started offering Danko, which are 2007 seeds, here at Tville as well as listing it in the SSE YEarbook in 2008 and no one has reported anything other than a red fruited heart. No orange anything anywhere.

Can you at least see that the shape is a heart?

Most reds I grow never go through an orange phase before turning red. They get kind of a pink blush starting from the blossom end which eventually turns to all red.

OTV Brandywine is one that is red with orange overtones but off hand I can't think of any others although there must be some others I've grown that are red with orange shoulders or an orange tint to them. I guess it gets down to color perception as well for some folks.

Mark0820 · July 16, 2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by carolyn137

Can you at least see that the shape is a heart?

It is definitely a heart. And, the growth habit of the plant is similar to Danko (per descriptions I have read). All four plants are probably around 3 feet tall. I guess I will wait a couple more days and see if the orange one gets darker, and watch the second tomato to see what the final color is for it.

Mark0820 · July 17, 2011

The second tomato is colored completely, and it looks very similar to the first tomato. I would say both are a reddish / orange, but there is a good amount of orange in the color of the skin. The shoulders have more orange than red in the color at this point. When they first turned from green, they both looked orange, and then some red was added to the color.

I picked the first one, and it feels firm. It doesn't appear as though the color has changed much. I guess the only way I will know if it is ripe or not, is to cut it open and see.

Mark0820 · July 18, 2011

I cut into the first tomato, and it is not completely ripe. I guess this is why the skin looked kind of orange to me. I will have to wait until it has more of a red color.

Even though it wasn't completely ripe, it still had a pretty good flavor to it. I think I am going to like this tomato once it is fully ripe.

**carolyn137** · July 18, 2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark0820

I cut into the first tomato, and it is not completely ripe. I guess this is why the skin looked kind of orange to me. I will have to wait until it has more of a red color.

Even though it wasn't completely ripe, it still had a pretty good flavor to it. I think I am going to like this tomato once it is fully ripe.

You will like it when it's completely ripe and honest the color will be RED.

July 16, 2011	#1
Mark0820 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Cincinnati Posts: 907	When is Danko ripe? This is my first time growing Danko, and I have one tomato that is orange colored. I looked at a picture on Gleckler's website, and it appears to have some orange color mixed in with red (but photos can be deceiving with colors). Will my Danko turn more reddish/orange when it is ripe or do they look like an orange tomato? Right now, mine looks like it is an orange tomato, and the entire tomato is colored.

July 16, 2011	#2
Tom C zone 4/5 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: SE Ohio Posts: 253	About soon sounds like time for a test run on ripeness. Repeat as they change color, it won't take many trials to get it right. __________________ Beyond the mountains, there are more mountains.

July 16, 2011	#6
carolyn137 Moderator Emeritus Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Upstate NY, zone 4b/5a Posts: 21,169	I guess I will leave the first tomato hang from the plant for another day or two to see if it changes color. I thought maybe the color progression for Danko was from green to orange to a darker shade of red. However, this tomato has been orange for 2 days and does not appear to be getting any darker. ****** I don't know what the problems is Marko. All I can say is that I started offering Danko, which are 2007 seeds, here at Tville as well as listing it in the SSE YEarbook in 2008 and no one has reported anything other than a red fruited heart. No orange anything anywhere. Can you at least see that the shape is a heart? Most reds I grow never go through an orange phase before turning red. They get kind of a pink blush starting from the blossom end which eventually turns to all red. OTV Brandywine is one that is red with orange overtones but off hand I can't think of any others although there must be some others I've grown that are red with orange shoulders or an orange tint to them. I guess it gets down to color perception as well for some folks. __________________ Carolyn

July 16, 2011	#3
chalstonsc Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: sc Posts: 339	My Danko have been pretty red

July 17, 2011	#8
Mark0820 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Cincinnati Posts: 907	The second tomato is colored completely, and it looks very similar to the first tomato. I would say both are a reddish / orange, but there is a good amount of orange in the color of the skin. The shoulders have more orange than red in the color at this point. When they first turned from green, they both looked orange, and then some red was added to the color. I picked the first one, and it feels firm. It doesn't appear as though the color has changed much. I guess the only way I will know if it is ripe or not, is to cut it open and see.

July 18, 2011	#9
Mark0820 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Cincinnati Posts: 907	I cut into the first tomato, and it is not completely ripe. I guess this is why the skin looked kind of orange to me. I will have to wait until it has more of a red color. Even though it wasn't completely ripe, it still had a pretty good flavor to it. I think I am going to like this tomato once it is fully ripe.