Black Tomatoes

Black tomatoes are among the most striking tomato varieties of all. Depending on the variety, their colour ranges from brownish red and dark purple to almost black shoulders or fruit with strong anthocyanin colouring. Besides their unusual looks, the varieties also differ clearly in fruit size, flavour and use.

We raise our black and dark tomato varieties ourselves as young plants in Illmitz. The range includes both traditional dark tomatoes and modern breeds with intense purple or blue-black colouring.

Why are some tomatoes black?

Not every tomato called "black" gets its dark colour in the same way. Traditional black tomato varieties often produce brownish-red, dark red or purple fruit. Their colour comes from the interplay of different plant pigments.

In modern anthocyanin tomatoes, on the other hand, the parts of the fruit exposed to the sun can turn strongly purple to almost black. This sometimes produces spectacular colour combinations.

For our shop selection we deliberately group both types under "Black Tomatoes", because they meet the same interest in exceptionally dark tomato varieties.

From Black Krim to Indigo Rose

Traditional representatives include varieties such as Black Krim, Cherokee Purple, Brandywine Black and Tshernij Prinz. Black Cherry and Black Opal also produce small dark fruit.

Modern varieties such as Indigo Rose, Dark Galaxy, Indigo Blue Beauty, Indigo Pear Drops or Brad's Atomic Grape, by contrast, show particularly intense purple, anthocyanin-rich tones. Ananas Noire, Purple Sunrise and Antho Pink Panther add further multicoloured and exceptionally dark varieties.

Black tomatoes from cherry to beefsteak

Dark tomatoes are not a uniform fruit type. In this collection you will find small cocktail and cherry tomatoes as well as medium-sized salad tomatoes and large beefsteak tomatoes.

If you prefer small fruit, you will find, for example, Black Cherry, Black Opal or Karma Purple Multiflora. For large-fruited tomatoes, varieties such as Cherokee Purple, Black Krim, Brandywine Black or Indigo Blue Beauty are a good choice.

This lets you choose black tomatoes not only by colour but also by fruit size, flavour and intended use.

Flavour and use of dark tomatoes

Dark colour alone says little about the flavour of a variety. Depending on the tomato, the aroma can be sweet and fruity, rich, spicy or a balanced sweet-and-sour.

Use differs too: small dark varieties are excellent for snacking and salads, while larger beefsteak tomatoes are especially interesting for eating fresh, snack platters and cooking.

On the individual product pages you will therefore find more detail on the flavour, fruit size, growth and use of each variety.

Ordering black tomatoes as plants

Pre-orders for our tomato plants open in early January. Plants ship in spring, once the young plants are strong enough and temperatures allow safe transport.

Our variety pages stay online outside the selling season. This way you can compare different black tomato varieties and choose your favourites before pre-orders open.