Dana’s Dusky Rose Tomato Review & Photos

Got the seeds from V. Popenko. Here’s his description: “(Dana’s Dusky Rose, USA). Originator of the variety is Dan Gilmore. The variety is still rare even in North America. Indet. Fruits are oblate, dark pink, excellent flavor, weighing up to 10.5 oz (300 g).”

I grew it both in the greenhouse and outside. It was the earliest to ripen of all my varieties. Yielded better in the greenhouse than outdoors. Fruits ran about 8.8 oz (250 g). Really enjoyed the flavor.

Edited January 17, 2015 by Drosera

Grew Dana’s Dusky Rose from V. Popenko’s seed. The variety grew in the greenhouse, the vine had average foliage cover, yielded well, and the tomatoes were gorgeous and firm. Good, solid tomato flavor.

Len, those are some funny-looking tomatoes you ended up with, they’re triangular 😆. Total UFOs 😎.

Svet! That first tomato totally was a UFO 😆 The rest turned out more uniform and rounder, it’s a shame I couldn’t find my other photos of them ripe. Did find a pic of them on the vine, though.

Loved it, both for production and flavor — juicy and sweet. Mid-early for me outside. The color is a really interesting smoky-pink, kicking myself for not taking a picture…

First truss of Dusky Rose. The actual color is a bit darker, not quite this bright in real life. When the cluster first started ripening, I actually panicked and thought the tomatoes were rotting because they just turned dark. But then they started blushing pink.

Edited June 26, 2016 by Drosera

Nadine said:

First truss of Dusky Rose. The actual color is a bit darker, not quite this bright in real life. When the cluster first started ripening, I actually panicked and thought the tomatoes were rotting because they just turned dark. But then they started blushing pink.

What an amazing iridescent color, absolutely gorgeous 😘 Can you tell me what the flavor is like? I’ve got two plants going this year, but they’re just now starting to bloom (first cluster). Really hoping I get to taste them.

Flavor is good, typical of the black varieties, low acid and sweet. I liked it.

Nadine said:

Flavor is good, typical of the black varieties, low acid and sweet. I liked it.

Thanks 🌸 Really hoping my plants turn out to be stunners like yours.

Really interesting flavor. Yield was a little below average. I’m growing it again just for the taste, hoping it’ll be more productive from saved seed.

Hands down one of the MOST DELICIOUS dark varieties out there. Dana’s Rose tasted great during our non-existent summer of 2015 and in the heat of 2016. Some of the fruits get an unusual “smoky” colored spot near the stem instead of green shoulders. Vines stay on the shorter side, so you aren’t going to get monster yields from this one. Big shoutout to Lyudmila (Ovechka) for the seeds 🌸

Super curious how you guys prune/train this one to boost production. Those of you who’ve grown it, chime in!

Drosera said:

Vines stay on the shorter side

Could you clarify the description for me, is it a det or an indet?

It’s an indet by growth habit https://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/Dana%27s_Dusky_Rose
But it never got very tall. Does pretty well if you prune it to two main stems.

Spot on with the description. “Dark pink-purple with slightly olive shoulders, 7-17.5 oz (200-500 g), meaty, sweet, excellent flavor.” Average yield for me. 🎩

Grew this outside in 2019. It ended up in the shadiest spot in the bed, “by the fence”. These were VERY, very, very delicious tomatoes! Just incredibly sweet with totally unique, memorable notes. Hands down one of the best tasting black varieties I’ve ever had. It’s a short, compact vine – didn’t even hit 3 feet (1 m) outside despite being an indet. Yield was low, only threw 3 clusters in total. I’m hoping that’s just an acclimatization issue and not how the variety always behaves. Growing 2 vines again this year from saved seed. At first I was gonna move them to a different spot, but changed my mind. I have a sneaking suspicion it got so sweet specifically because it was at the very end of the row and only got whatever water was left over.

Fruit color is an interesting dark coffee-pink and smoky, with dark shoulders. The shoulders don’t stay hard and they taste good too. Here’s a pic. I just accidentally wrote Misty instead of Dusky on the label.

Just following up on Dana’s Dusky Rose with my thoughts from 2020 and 2021.

1) In its second year from saved seed, it yields 1.5 to 2 times more, and the fruits get quite a bit larger.

2) It holds its flavor all season long, but you definitely want to give it some potassium and make sure not to overwater, otherwise the flavor gets washed out. When I grew a plant at the front of the row where it got way more water, the taste was still good, but nowhere near as sweet and complex as the fruit from the plant at the far end.

3) Absolute favorite for flavor in our outdoor climate, just my overall darling.

4) The fruits and clusters are heavy, so even though it’s a short, sturdy plant, you’ve gotta stake and tie it up really well so it doesn’t topple over.