Favorite Anthocyanin Tomato

Blue tomatoes are often good storage tomatoes, so I've read. I'm not sure how true that is.

I've only grown Jackie (this year), and the shape was a bit oblong. At first I thought it was cross-pollinated, but now I'm not as sure. You could grow Brandywine in that soil and I wouldn't be utterly surprised if it came out looking like a plum tomato. Anyway, Jackie had decent taste in the early season, but it really tasted awesome in the late season (hard to describe; it tasted like something I had had before; maybe some kind of candy or fruit). It had poor production for me, but it did produce all season, and it was one of the earliest of about 100 varieties. It might do better from saved seed. Jackie doesn't seem to have much anthocyanin on it, in my experience, though (just some at the top).

Because I've only grown one anthocyanin tomato (actually, I also grew Indigo Rose, last year, but it didn't get any fruit), I'll list some that I'd like to grow based on things I've read about them and/or their descriptions:

* First and foremost, Red Beauty looks the most interesting to me (not to be confused with this older tomato with the same name)
* Fahrenheit Blues (this is perhaps one of the more productive ones; tell me if I'm wrong; I haven't read many opinions on its taste)
* Helsing ★★★★★★★★ Blues (I actually have seeds for this; it sounds pretty good all-around)
* Indigo Apple (I have seeds for this, too; people seem to like it, although the size seems variable depending on the source)
* Black Beauty (this one gets high marks for taste and anthocyanin coverage)
* Lucid Gem (heat-tolerant; taste; keeps well)

I wouldn't recommend Indigo Rose; for one thing, it's PVP (if you want to be able to sell, trade or give away seeds you grow without permission, this variety won't work, legally—in the USA, anyway).

Blue Berries sounds interesting to me, but it's kind of a late tomato (so I probably won't be growing it next year); it gets mixed reviews on taste. It's supposed to be very productive and keep well (that's nice for its size).

I have seeds for Dancing with Smurf's, too. I don't know enough about it to really recommend it, though. There are mixed opinions about it.

[Al@NC]

Shule1,

Double Helix has a nice write up on Jackie:

"With Jackie I think I have found the perfect blend of anthocyanin and flavor. They get very purple as they mature on the vine and ripen to a deep black and red. But unlike so many other tomatoes with "blue" in their name, Jackie has a great tomato flavor and a high sugar content. The sugar content comes from one of the parents in this cross and all along the way for selecting it over the years have been based on sweetness. I gave this tomato its name as a Mother's Day present to my Mom Jackie this year. I think it was the best present she got and I am very proud of this tomato."

I've noticed some of the same results as you have as far as tomatoes tasting differently. For instance this season I grew Fireball thought it was pretty good!

So far I'm set on Lucid Gem and probably Indigo Apple for next year. I read how Indigo Apple was tested and it supposedly has almost 4 times the Lycopene of a commercial beefsteak tomato!

Al

Originally Posted by GrowingCoastal

Yah, I keep arguing with myself about leaving the tomato skins and seeds in, then, when I check google, I find that those things contain lots of vitamins......so blender it is.

I love the skins and the seeds of tomatoes. The seeds blend up on the highest blender setting (but not the lowest). The skins blend up well on at least the highest setting (but probably others, too), as long as there's enough juice left in the tomatoes, which is to say, enough for a thin paste or a thick sauce (but taking as much juice as possible out first and adding some later to help blend it up doesn't really work in my experience). I've heard that some people have trouble digesting the seeds and/or the skins, though.

Originally Posted by Al@NC

Shule1,

Double Helix has a nice write up on Jackie:

"With Jackie I think I have found the perfect blend of anthocyanin and flavor. They get very purple as they mature on the vine and ripen to a deep black and red. But unlike so many other tomatoes with "blue" in their name, Jackie has a great tomato flavor and a high sugar content. The sugar content comes from one of the parents in this cross and all along the way for selecting it over the years have been based on sweetness. I gave this tomato its name as a Mother's Day present to my Mom Jackie this year. I think it was the best present she got and I am very proud of this tomato."

I've noticed some of the same results as you have as far as tomatoes tasting differently. For instance this season I grew Fireball thought it was pretty good!

So far I'm set on Lucid Gem and probably Indigo Apple for next year. I read how Indigo Apple was tested and it supposedly has almost 4 times the Lycopene of a commercial beefsteak tomato!

Al

Awesome. That's great to know about Fireball. For those who don't know what we're talking about, I edited that part of my post out, but I was saying some tomatoes taste awesome in my yard that might not taste the best in other locations. It seems to be mostly early and maybe stuffing varieties that are like this, though.

That's great to know about Indigo Apple. If you like the high lycopene, you might try eating red tomatoes with cheese. Fat is supposed to help you absorb the lycopene better, I hear (I'm not sure if that's fat in food or fat in the body, though, but I'm guessing fat in food). Cheese improves the taste of red tomatoes, too, I think. It feels more like a sandwich. You also might be interested to hear that certain kinds of orange tomatoes are supposed to be superior for absorption of some carotene or other, by its effects. I think that's tomatoes with the Beta Carotene gene (but it could be the Tangerine gene, but based on how I feel when I eat tomatoes with the Tangerine gene, I'm guessing it's the Beta Carotene gene they meant). I'm not sure where I read that. Cooking red tomatoes also increases the lycopene, it's availability, or something like that.

[BigVanVader]

Well I grew HJB and Blue Berries last year. HJB were spitters and splitters. If you said rain in earshot half of them would split instantly. Eating them was similar to eating a muscadine with really nasty flavor. I'm not sure how they have a skin so thick and still split that bad but they do. Worst tomato I have ever grown hands down.

Blue Berries was better and I think prettier. They look like candy and were pretty much bullet proof. No issues with splitting, disease free and they came up wild everywhere this year and produced the exact same little pink/blue berries. That being said I still wouldnt regrow unless it was for chicken feed.

Glad to hear the glowing review of Lucid Gem, I will be growing it this year along with Amethyst cream and maybe one more. So far the antho lines have not impressed. Fred we are waiting on Blue Jazz brother, lets hurry it up ok?

[Fred Hempel]

There will be no Blue Jazz. I am leaving the "Blue" breeding to others. I have done a bit of exploration with blue crosses, and it has not been working out.

After tasting Indigo Cherry Drops that someone else grew in 2015, my interest was piqued again. But after my own experiences with a few ICD hybrids I constructed in 2016, my interest has again flat-lined.

Originally Posted by BigVanVader

Well I grew HJB and Blue Berries last year. HJB were spitters and splitters. If you said rain in earshot half of them would split instantly. Eating them was similar to eating a muscadine with really nasty flavor. I'm not sure how they have a skin so thick and still split that bad but they do. Worst tomato I have ever grown hands down.

Blue Berries was better and I think prettier. They look like candy and were pretty much bullet proof. No issues with splitting, disease free and they came up wild everywhere this year and produced the exact same little pink/blue berries. That being said I still wouldnt regrow unless it was for chicken feed.

Glad to hear the glowing review of Lucid Gem, I will be growing it this year along with Amethyst cream and maybe one more. So far the antho lines have not impressed. Fred we are waiting on Blue Jazz brother, lets hurry it up ok?

[Gardeneer]

I have Grown INDIGO ROSE in past 2 season, mostly for its ornamental feature (to me ). Anti oxidant aside, it taste tangy. Ok when mixed in a salad.
here is from past September.
Sep 6- ndigoRose 2.jpg

Oh, yes ! I grew Indigo Apple too.'
Sep 1-ind apple -1.jpg
They were not as blue as IR.

[AlittleSalt]

Gardeneer, they do look really good. I need to look through the Antho tomato seeds I have saved. I might have some that would be new to you.


I received some Gargamel seeds today. You know I have to plant them beside the Dancing with Smurfs

[Gardeneer]

Robert ,
I will try a new one next season ::
INDIGO CHERRY DROPS

I have read many good reviews on them .
How did you like them ? I think it was on your 2016 grow out list.

[AlittleSalt]

Indigo Cherry Drops is actually an improved Indigo Rose. These sites seem to all agree https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q...ed+indigo+rose

We liked them a lot.

Indigo Blue Berries produced an unbelievable amount of tomatoes too. I did like the Indigo cherry drops better, but both are worth growing.

Actually, this thread just reminded me of something I had forgotten until now. I need to add Indigo Apple to my list of wanted seeds. I got some last year through the MMMM or a trade. Anyway, they turned out to not be Indigo Apple.

They grew larger tomatoes than I have ever grown. I saved seeds, but not knowing what to call them, I labeled them, "Big *** Tomato."