Dark Galaxy Heirloom Tomato Review

I got the seeds from Popenko. The description from his catalog read:
“Round, rusty-red with golden spots and speckles and purple splashes spreading from the shoulders, up to 2.5 oz (70g).. classic tomato flavor.”

Here is what actually grew for me.

The plant reached about 5.5 ft (160 cm). Definitely an indeterminate, it didn’t terminate on its own.
It set fruit beautifully without dropping any blossoms, even though many other varieties skipped 3-4 trusses for me this season.
Averaged about 7 tomatoes per cluster.
Inside, the flesh is red, and the taste is your classic tomato flavor.
It’s gorgeous, literally looks like a tiny galaxy with constellations on the skin.
Very vigorous vine and completely disease-resistant for me.

Edited November 12, 2016 by Drosera

SvetaR said:

The height was about 5.5 ft… It set fruit perfectly, without skipping… Mainly 7 tomatoes per cluster.

Gorgeous! Did they actually hit the advertised weight (2.5 oz / 70g)?

I didn’t own a kitchen scale back then. But eyeballing it – yeah, pretty close. The fruits at the very end of the cluster were a bit smaller.

Edited November 12, 2016 by Drosera

I’ll add a photo of the clusters on the vine. Only managed to find a picture of the green ones, though.

Edited November 12, 2016 by Drosera

SvetaR said:

I’ll add a photo of the clusters. True, I only found green ones.

Thanks for the photo. Fascinating color expression! 😘

My Galaxy seeds came from Redko. They turned out oblate (slightly flattened), incredibly beautiful, and super tasty. Weight was around 3.5 – 5 oz (100 – 150g). When sliced open, the flesh is intensely red and very meaty; there were surprisingly few seeds. I really regret not taking a picture of the cut–it’s stunning. The plant only got to about 3 ft (1 m) tall for me, even inside the greenhouse. As for maturity, it’s definitely mid-late. I harvested the first fully ripe cluster on September 1st. I’d rate the yield a solid B+ (4 out of 5). I am definitely planting it again next year, and in larger numbers.

I caught myself just staring at them constantly. Such a unique color pattern, a true little cosmic tomato! 😄 Easily my favorite of the season in terms of pure beauty.

Mine were definitely smaller than Tatyana’s (Dona70), though. 🤷

But why are they turning out so different? Popenko’s are perfectly round, but Redko’s are different?? Mine from Redko look exactly like Dona’s oblate ones.

Anela said:

But why are they different from Popenko (round shape) and from Redko?? Mine from Redko are like Dona’s photo.

Good question! They even ended up with different skin coloring for us. But as for why; your guess is as good as mine.

Almost all of the recently introduced purple “varieties” are actually still unstable crosses.
True heirloom varieties aren’t created that fast in just a few years.
During the F2, F3 generations, genetic segregation occurs, which is exactly why you’re seeing different mutations in shapes and colors popping up.

I completely agree with Sveta! And this applies to all the new super-exotics hitting the market. We are basically growing segregations and mutations that are being passed off as stable varieties. 😢 And the cat is out of the bag, no way to stop it now… 😞

Anela said:

But why are they different from Popenko (round shape) and from Redko??

Brad Gates actually released this developing line into the world at the F4 stage. Hence the genetic variations, which he explicitly warned buyers about:

“Although this variety is only 3 generations old, it appears stable with the exception of some size variance.”

Alisa said:

Brad released this developing line into the world at the F4 stage. Hence the variations…

Well, if it grows true to type and gives me the exact same shape next year, I’ll be thrilled….

Dona70 said:

If the same shape repeats for me, I will be happy….

If you saved seeds from the biggest fruit with the most ideal shape, then you’ve got a decent shot at it growing true.

Alisa said:

If you took seeds from the biggest and most beautiful one in terms of shape, then there is a chance of repetition.

You have absolutely the same chance of repetition as you would if you saved seeds from any random ugly fruit on that same plant.

Drosera said:

Absolutely the same chance as if taking seeds from any other fruit on that plant.

I believe your statement is true for already established heirlooms, but not for unstable crosses currently at the F5-F8 stage.

Stable variety or segregating line,  it doesn’t matter.
Acquired physical traits of a specific fruit are not genetically inherited.

Drosera said:

Variety or hybrid – it doesn’t matter.
Acquired traits are not inherited.

Then what is the point of breeders selecting and rogueing lines for 8-11 years to stabilize new varieties?

Alisa said:

If you took seeds from the biggest and most beautiful one in terms of shape, then there is a chance of repetition.

I saved my seeds from an average-sized fruit, but I specifically chose the one with the most vibrant skin coloring. Just putting that out there for anyone I mailed seeds to!

What do they taste like? Is the variety resistant to foliar diseases?

Edited December 26, 2015 by Drosera

Fotinia said:

What do they taste like? Is the variety resistant to diseases?

The taste is typical for anthocyanin varieties. It doesn’t succumb to disease easily, and it has a nice sweet flavor with that characteristic earthy aftertaste.

Nadfi said:

Typical for anthocyanin varieties. Not prone to sickness, sweet taste with a characteristic aftertaste.

Very helpful information, thank you! 😘

This variety completely charmed me!
Grown unprotected outdoors, reached about 6 ft (1.8m) tall, set clusters without dropping blossoms despite our intense heat, and ended up being one of the very first to ripen. Absolutely stunning tomatoes-the unripe green fruits have dark black spots and stripes, which turn into golden sparks as they ripen. Hands down the most beautiful tomato of my season!
I really enjoyed the taste too: sweet tomato flavor, definitely not bland, and very juicy.
Seeds came from Katya-ZhavoronoK, thank you so much for sharing! 🌺
I have nothing but positive things to say about Dark Galaxy. Added it to my permanent grow list and will be planting it every year.

My Galaxy is from V. Redko. Grown in a greenhouse, reached about 5.5 ft (1.7m) tall. I thoroughly enjoyed this tomato. Incredibly gorgeous; the base color shifted from bright red to a deep brick-red, and honestly, every single fruit has a unique color pattern,, no two are alike. The flavor is a solid tomato profile with noticeable sweetness. Because of the extreme heat, I barely pruned it, intentionally leaving a thick canopy for shade. As a result, the fruits are on the smaller side, ranging from 2 – 3.5 oz (50 – 100g), but there are tons of them on every truss.

This variety naturally has wispy, sparse foliage, so in the extreme Southern heat, it desperately needs shade cloth. It also doesn’t put out many suckers, and I instantly regretted pinching them off. I really should have let it grow out to 3 or 4 main stems. Still, the plant is a beauty! Seeds from Anela, thank you!

I am eagerly waiting for fruit on this variety. But so far, it’s acting like a stubborn brat. It was the very first indeterminate to flower in my garden on June 7th. Today is July 9th, and it hasn’t set a single fruit yet. Aside from that, it’s a very pretty vine! I guess I’ll keep waiting!

Just like some other late-blooming indeterminates do, it flowered and flowered for weeks, and then suddenly decided to set fruit on all the trusses at once. Counted 36 little tomatoes on the vine today.

Seeds from ForumHouse. I have 5 plants growing right now. They are all in different microclimates, but the one thing they have in common is that they get shade or partial shade. It definitely sets fruit much better in partial shade. However, wherever the foliage heavily shades the fruit, you don’t get the dark speckling.

The coloring is incredibly inconsistent—on three plants the tomatoes have almost no stripes, on another one they look exactly like a peach, and for the last two it’s too early to tell since the fruit sets are still the size of ping-pong balls.

And here is my Dark Galaxy. Easily the crown jewel of my garden. The taste, the outer appearance, the sliced interior, everything is just amazing!

This is my second year growing it outdoors in the ground. Seeds from Gusev. Completely disease-resistant! Even with this brutal summer we had, it didn’t let me down.

Grew Dark Galaxy for the first time this season.
I had two plants in the greenhouse: one was in full baking sun, and the second ended up in partial shade. Both topped out around 5.5 ft (160 cm). The first plant threw out perfectly round tomatoes, slightly larger than a ping-pong ball. On the second plant, all the fruits were slightly oblate and noticeably larger. The skin coloring, however, was identical on both and perfectly matches the variety description. Extremely beautiful, tasty, and productive tomatoes.

Edited August 29, 2017 by amarant

This beauty finally ripened! Extremely delicious!

Isn’t ‘Blue Chocolate’ the exact same thing as this? Unfortunately, I probably won’t get to taste test it properly, as only one fruit is ripening on the vine right now. The seedling almost died, took forever to recover, and I was going to cull it. But I decided to spare it, and since I had no room left, I shoved it into a tight corner on the edge of the bed. Shockingly, it still fruited. 😕

I planted Dark Galaxy, and honestly, early in the season when we had an abundance of other varieties, it didn’t impress me. But we just ate some of the late harvests, and I actually really liked it! Firm flesh, holds up very well in storage. I remember harvesting them when they were only 25% ripe, which means we ate the ones that ripened off the vine in cardboard boxes indoors. Looks like I will be repeating it next year specifically for late-season consumption.

Dark Galaxy definitely segregates. I’m currently growing 2 distinct forms of it, as far as I can tell. One throws large fruits, the other is noticeably smaller. This year the large one produced tomatoes so big I was genuinely amazed.

It’ll grow anywhere, but it definitely performs best under a polycarbonate roof. And the more sunlight hits the skin, the darker the purple anthocyanin gets. However, the plant itself really prefers to be slightly shaded, and the fruits swell up larger in those cooler spots.

The flavor is just regular tomato, but honestly, for a visual pattern like that, all sins are forgiven. Even if the plant only produced 2 tomatoes all year, I would still grow it.

Here is the smaller form (it slowly gets bigger year after year as I save seeds).

And here is the large form (in the photo, that marker is 1/2 inch (1.5 cm) thick, just to give you a sense of scale).

Edited January 27, 2021 by Ellis_Cu

Well, my Dark Galaxy from Popenko wasn’t very impressive at all. Just a few dull speckles and the faintest hint of blue on the shoulders. 😞

Now I’m debating what to do. What will grow if I plant these saved seeds? Is there a chance that if I put it in a better location next year, the tomatoes will look prettier? Or should I just cut my losses and buy fresh seed from a different vendor?

The skin coloring on Dark Galaxy depends heavily on UV lighting. The more direct sunlight the fruit catches, the darker the purple anthocyanin gets.

Re-uploading the photos, the old links broke.

The vine was absolutely smothered in small, stunningly beautiful tomatoes.

I’m growing Dark Galaxy for the second year now. The visual appeal, the taste;;it has it all! I can easily forgive the small fruit size because of it.

This year, one of the tomatoes actually swelled up to a decent size:

In the greenhouse, I had 2 plants pruned to a single leader. Outdoors in-ground, I grew 1 plant pruned to 2 stems. The greenhouse plants grew super vigorous, while the outdoor one stayed much smaller. It definitely loves heat and will continue setting fruit even in scorching temps. The stems are very thick. The leaves are large, but the canopy itself isn’t too dense. It’s a heavy feeder and responds well to fertilizer. The canopy density on a single-leader plant is about 40-50%. The spread of a single stem is at least 16 in (40 cm) wide.

The flavor is wonderful, very tomatoey. It’s not a pink tomato flavor, not yellow, and not brick-red—it has its own unique profile, maybe a distant hint of cherry sweetness: a solid 5 out of 5. But it makes me wonder: is it really worth planting a whole vine just for fresh eating? It’s a bit too sweet for general salads, IMHO, and there are far better varieties for making juice. Seeds were from V. Redko.

Edited August 4, 2020 by Valtwelve

Dark Galaxy definitely segregates. I’m currently growing 2 distinct forms of it, as far as I can tell. One throws large fruits, the other is noticeably smaller. This year the large one produced tomatoes so big I was genuinely amazed.

It’ll grow anywhere, but it definitely performs best under a polycarbonate roof. And the more sunlight hits the skin, the darker the purple anthocyanin gets. However, the plant itself really prefers to be slightly shaded, and the fruits swell up larger in those cooler spots.

The flavor is just regular tomato, but honestly, for a visual pattern like that, all sins are forgiven. Even if the plant only produced 2 tomatoes all year, I would still grow it.

Here is the smaller form (it slowly gets bigger year after year as I save seeds).

And here is the large form (in the photo, that marker is 1/2 inch (1.5 cm) thick, just to give you a sense of scale).

Edited January 27, 2021 by Ellis_Cu

Dark Galaxy

Beautiful. Productive. Completely unimpressed by the taste…

I am making a significant amendment after 3 years of growing Dark Galaxy. Namely: it turns out this variety absolutely despises heavy pruning and yields exponentially more when allowed to grow out 4-5 leaders (stems), meaning almost zero sucker pinching. Of course, this only works if you feed it heavily.

It also turns out that, given the massive yields from this method, they are actually fantastic for canning whole in brine. I didn’t take any photos this year, unfortunately, even though I had plenty to show off. The attached photo is from last year, grown to 2 stems, I believe. I will keep planting it; the variety is solid, I like it, and it’s definitely a keeper for me. Looking at photos from other gardeners in this thread, I also notice there’s a totally different Dark Galaxy line out there that looks nothing like mine. Again, my seeds were from V. Redko.

Edited November 17, 2022 by Valtwelve

Still going strong with this variety. Even though May was bitterly cold, my 2 plants out in the open garden pushed through and managed to produce. Photo taken 08/01/2024.

Edited August 5, 2024 by Valtwelve

In the photo, those fruits look completely pitch black. Are they really that dark, or is it just the lighting in the picture?

Ariya said:

In the photo the fruits are completely black. Are they really like that, or is it just the photo?

That’s just because they are growing in the outdoor sun-more direct UV rays mean heavier anthocyanin expression, plus they haven’t ripened yet. Once they fully ripen, the bottoms will turn red with golden star speckles, and the black anthocyanin will recede and look much less intense, just like in the other photos.