Indigo Rose Heirloom tomato

This year, I tried this variety. I chose it based upon its name--it sounded cool. The plants grew beautifully and as the name implies, the stalks and the tomatoes are a deep indigo blue--almost black. Really pretty. However, the taste is bland and not very tomato-ey. I won't grow these again because I'd rather have taste AND look. This is just an FYI.

Laurie in zone 5A

Laurie,

Thanks for the tomato review!

Rooster, why don't we have a new thread of section for reviews, particularly of heirloom varieties? It could include appearance, taste, disease resistance (by location), size, etc.

My sister in Seattle grew them in a pot on her very protected patio. She said they taste kind of like plums.

Hello all,

I wanted to alert folks that Indigo Rose tomato seeds are on sale from Amazon.  I've read some good reviews regarding these tomatoes.  I've been watching the price on these slowly go down on Amazon.  Right now, they are $1.50 for 20 seeds.  Shipping is $1.50.  As of now, there are 2 in stock.  The link for these is here:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006R11C62/ref=oh_details_o07_s00_i01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Happy gardening all! 

I'm glad to hear a review on Indigo Rose.  I have two plants in the ground and am awaiting my ripe crops.  I had hoped for a tasty tomato.  They, at least, give us the color range that is missing from most tomatoes and its said that different colors are healthier for us.

Here is my Indigo Rose:

 

The cluster can hold as much as 10 - 12 tomatoes.  It took me a while how to figure out when it was ripe.  It's ripe when you see red on the bottom of the tomato. Taste is ok; I'm growing it to have a colorful variety in my salads.

quiltbea wrote:I'm glad to hear a review on Indigo Rose.  I have two plants in the ground and am awaiting my ripe crops.  I had hoped for a tasty tomato.  They, at least, give us the color range that is missing from most tomatoes and its said that different colors are healthier for us.

 Hi quiltbea,

Evidently these tomatoes are high in anthocyanin.

I did a little research on this substance and I found out the following.  The name derives from Greek (anthos) = flower and (kyanos) = blue.

Ok, here's a weird thing from Wikipedia:  Some tomatoes have been genetically modified with transcription factors from snapdragons to produce high levels of anthocyanins in the fruits.^[19][20][21] 

General research
Richly concentrated as pigments in berries, anthocyanins were the topics of research presented at a 2007 symposium on health benefits that may result from berry consumption.^[39] Laboratory-based evidence was provided to demonstrate potential health effects against:

• cancer
  
• aging and neurological diseases
  
• inflammation
  
• diabetes
  
• bacterial infections
  
• fibrocystic disease^[40]
  

A growing body of evidence suggests anthocyanins and anthocyanidins may possess analgesic properties in addition to neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory activities.<sup>[41]


The information above is from a Wikipedia article that I read through a moment ago.  The above is just a synopsis, but the entire article is fascinating.
You can find the Wikepedia  article here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthocyanin


Roseinarosecity,

Your tomato plant is beautiful.  Low and behold, these tomatoes truly are blue~  I also want these tomatoes for color in our salads.  However, now that I know about anthocyanis, I think I going categorize it as therapeutic as well.</sup>

Windmere....Thanks for the added info on the Indigo Rose tomato. I like to have yellow, orange, pink, red, wine, green and now blue tomatoes for that healthy variety. Now I can't wait to try an Indigo Rose fruit.

Blue tomatoes have some affiliation w/ breeding efforts out of Oregon State University. I BELIEVE Indigo Rose came out of there. As such, I don't believe their heirloom (yet?), though they're surely Open-Pollinated. I.R. is famousnotorious for being bland. My understanding is that the goal that led to I.R. was a stable blue tomato. Mission accomplished. I believe others have taken up the task of improving the flavor of blue tomatoes, but off the top of my head I can't recall specific varieties.

There is another blue variety I know of called Blueberry Blend.  I have one that is flowering and worried after reading this thread that taste has been sacrificed for color.  You would think the people developing the different color types would remember to keep the flavor intact.

'Does the new variety taste good?

"People are passionate about their tomatoes," Myers said. "The purple color draws their interest and because it's extraordinary, people tend to expect impressive flavor as well. It does have a good balance of sugars and acids and tastes just like a tomato. Anthocyanins are essentially tasteless."

Myers cautions not to pick the tomato too soon. Indigo Rose must be allowed to ripen fully for complete development of sugars and acids. It's easy to harvest too early because the usual visual clues won't be there.

The tomatoes will be purple where exposed to light, Myers said, and they tend to have a purple crown. They are ripe when their color changes from a shiny blue-purple to a dull purple-brown. The fruit also softens similarly to regular tomatoes, and the bottom of the tomatoes will turn from green to red when ripe.'



http://oregonstate.edu/ua/ncs/archives/2012/jan/purple-tomato-debuts-%E2%80%98indigo-rose%E2%80%99

So glad to hear all the info above. I, too was intrigued by the name, and thought it would be nice, for variety. So I bought one plant at The Seedling Sale at my favorite farm. We'll see how it goes (grows  ).  Hopefully at least half as nicely as Roseinarosecity's!

Thanks for the nice comments, Windmere and Nicola.
But if you look closely, Indigo Rose has a tendency to roll its leaves.  At first I thought it was sick but other growers mention the same rolling of the leaves in their Indigo Rose; I stop worrying about it.  I spritz it once a week to make sure the leaves are clear of dust and insects. I'm not sure if it's helping but it makes me feel good.