Dark Galaxy Heirloom Tomato Review

I got the variety from Popenko. Description from his catalog:
“Round, rusty-red with golden spots and speckles and purple splashes from the shoulders, up to 70g (2.5 oz).. regular taste.”

This is what grew.

The height was about 160 cm (5.2 ft). Looks like an indeterminate, didn’t terminate on its own.
It set fruit perfectly, without skipping any, even though many varieties missed 3-4 trusses for me this season.
Mainly 7 tomatoes per cluster.
Inside the fruit is red, the taste is regular tomato.
Beautiful, really looks like a tiny galaxy with constellations.
Healthy, didn’t get sick.

Edited November 12, 2016 by Drosera

SvetaR said:

The height was about 160 cm… It set fruit perfectly, without skipping… Mainly 7 tomatoes per cluster.

Handsome! Did the weight match the stated one (70 g)?

I didn’t have a scale back then. But by eye – yes, roughly so. The fruits at the end of the cluster were smaller.

Edited November 12, 2016 by Drosera

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

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. Very interesting coloring! 😘

My Galaxy was from Redko. They turned out oblate (flattened-round), incredibly beautiful and tasty tomatoes. Weight 100-150 grams (3.5-5.3 oz). On the cut, it is intensely red in color, meaty, there were few seeds, I regret not photographing the cut – it’s beautiful. The bush was not tall for me, about a meter (3.2 ft), sat in the greenhouse. In terms of ripening, it is rather mid-late. I harvested the first entire cluster on September 1st. Yield gets a B+ (4 out of 5). I will definitely plant it again, and more of it.

I constantly admired them, a unique coloring, a cosmic little tomato 😄. My favorite in terms of beauty.

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

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

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 turned out different in coloring for us. But why – who will tell us?

Almost all recently appeared purple “varieties” are actually hybrids.
Varieties are not created at such a speed in a few years.
In F2, F3, etc., segregation occurs, which is why different variations of shapes and colors appear.

I completely agree with Sveta! And this applies to all super exotics. Segregations and mutants, everything is passed off as varieties. 😢 And it’s unrealistic to stop it now… 😞

Anela said:

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

Brad [Gates] released this hybrid variety into the world at the F4 stage. Hence the variations, which he warned about

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

Alisa said:

Brad released this hybrid variety into the world at the F4 stage. Hence the variations…

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

Dona70 said:

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

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

Alisa said:

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

Absolutely the same chance as if taking seeds from any other fruit on that 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 varieties, but not for hybrids at the F5-F8 stage.

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

Drosera said:

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

Then what is the point of selecting new varieties over the course of 8-11 years?

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 took my seeds from an average-sized fruit, but I chose the brightest coloring. Just for the information of those I sent it to.

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

Edited December 26, 2015 by Drosera

Fotinia said:

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

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

Nadfi said:

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

Useful information, thank you! 😘

The variety simply charmed me!
Grows outdoors (open ground), about 1.8m (6 ft) tall, sets clusters without skipping despite the heat, turned out to be one of the first in terms of ripeness. Very beautiful tomatoes, on green fruits – black dots and stripes, when ripe they turn into golden sparks. For me, this is the most beautiful tomato of the season!
I liked the taste too, sweet-tomato, not bland, juicy.
Seeds are from Katya-ZhavoronoK, thank you so much for them! 🌺
From the Dark Galaxy tomato I have only positive impressions, wrote it down as a favorite, will plant it annually.

My Galaxy is from V. Redko. Grows in a greenhouse, height 1.7m (5.5 ft) or so. I really liked the tomato. Incredibly beautiful, the color changed from bright red to brick, all fruits are of different colors, no two are the same. The taste is good tomato with sweetness. I practically didn’t prune it because of the heat, so the bush would be thicker, therefore the fruits are small from 50 to 100 gr (1.7-3.5 oz), but there are many tomatoes on the clusters.

The variety has sparse foliage, in the extreme heat in the South it needs to be shaded. There are very few suckers, I regretted pinching them off. Should have left 3-4 stems. The variety is a beauty! Seeds from Anela, thanks!

I am really waiting for fruits from this variety. But so far it’s being a hooligan. It was the first of the indeterminates to bloom on June 7, today is July 9, there is no fruit set. Otherwise, the bush is pretty! I’ll wait!

Like some late-blooming indeterminates, it bloomed and bloomed, and then started setting all clusters at the same time. Counted 36 little tomatoes on the bush today.

Seeds are from ForumHouse. Currently 5 plants. In different conditions, one thing in common – shade and partial shade. It sets fruit better in partial shade. Where the foliage shades it closely – there are no spots.

The coloring is really diverse – on three plants the tomatoes are almost without stripes, on one – exactly like a peach, and two more – it’s unclear, since the fruit sets are still the size of a ping-pong ball.

And here is my Dark Galaxy. Definitely the pearl of the collection. The taste, the appearance, the cut – everything is amazing!

Planted for the second year in OG (open ground). Seeds from Gusev. Doesn’t get sick! Even this summer it didn’t let me down.

Planted Dark Galaxy for the first season.
Two bushes grew in the greenhouse, one completely in the sun, the second ended up in partial shade. Height for both is up to 160 cm (5.2 ft). The first one had round shaped tomatoes, slightly larger than a ping-pong ball. On the second one, all fruits are slightly oblate and a bit larger. But the coloring is the same for both – corresponds to the variety. Very beautiful and tasty tomatoes, productive.

Edited August 29, 2017 by amarant

The beauty has ripened! Very tasty!

Isn’t Blue Chocolate a twin to this? The thing is, I probably won’t have time to try it, only one fruit is ripening now. The seedling itself almost died, then it recovered for a very long time, I wanted to throw it away, but decided to see, and there was no space, so I planted it almost on the edge, in a corner. And it fruited. 😕

I planted Dark Galaxy, and at first, when there was an abundance of others, this variety didn’t catch my attention. But we just ate them now, and I even liked it! Firm, good keeper. I remember collecting 25% ripe, which means we ate the ones that ripened in boxes. Looks like I will repeat it for late consumption.

Dark Galaxy yes, it segregates. I have 2 forms right now, as far as I understand. One large, the other smaller. This year it produced such large tomatoes for itself that I was amazed.

Grows anywhere, but it does best under a polycarbonate roof. The more light, the darker DG is. It really likes to grow where it is slightly shaded, and it gets bigger there.

The taste is regular tomato, but for its coloring, absolutely everything is forgiven. Even if there were only 2 tomatoes on the bush, I would still grow it.

Small form, but gets bigger and bigger year by year.

Large form (in the photo the width of the marker is 1.5 cm, to understand the size)

Edited January 27, 2021 by Ellis_Cu

And my Dark Galaxy from Popenko was not festive at all. Just a few speckles and a faint hint of blue 😞

Now I’m thinking, what will grow from the saved seeds? Is there a chance that in a more favorable spot the tomatoes will be prettier? Or shouldn’t I bother and just buy it again from someone else?

The coloring of Dark Galaxy depends heavily on lighting, the more light the fruit catches, the brighter the coloring.

I’ll insert photos, the previous ones disappeared.

The bush was simply showered with small tomatoes of extraordinary beauty.

I am growing Dark Galaxy for the second year. Beauty, taste – it has it all! You can put up with the fruit size.

This year one tomato was more or less large:

Greenhouse – 2 plants in 1 stem. In OG (open ground) – 1 plant in 2 stems. The bushes in the greenhouse are vigorous, in OG – much smaller. It loves heat. Sets fruit in the heat. The stems are thick. The leaf is large, but not dense. Responds to feeding. The density of a bush in 1 stem is 40…50%. The width of 1 stem is not less than 40 cm (16 in). The taste is wonderful, tomatoey, but not pink, not yellow, and not rusty, it’s its own with some kind of tint – maybe with a distant hint of cherry, sweet: 5 points out of 5. But I think, is it worth planting just to eat a tomato? For salads it is a bit too sweet, IMHO, there are other varieties for juice. Seeds from V. Redko.

Edited August 4, 2020 by Valtwelve

Dark Galaxy yes, it segregates. I have 2 forms right now, as far as I understand. One large, the other smaller. This year it produced such large tomatoes for itself that I was amazed.

Grows anywhere, but it does best under a polycarbonate roof. The more light, the darker DG is. It really likes to grow where it is slightly shaded, and it gets bigger there.

The taste is regular tomato, but for its coloring, absolutely everything is forgiven. Even if there were only 2 tomatoes on the bush, I would still grow it.

Small form, but gets bigger and bigger year by year.

Large form (in the photo the width of the marker is 1.5 cm, to understand the size)

Edited January 27, 2021 by Ellis_Cu

Dark Galaxy

Beautiful. Productive. Unimpressed by the taste…

I am making a significant amendment after 3 years of growing Dark Galaxy, namely: it turned out that Dark Galaxy does not like heavy pruning and yields much more when grown in 4-5 stems, i.e., almost without pruning (removing suckers). Of course, with good nutrition. It also turned out that, with good yield, it is quite suitable for canning. I didn’t take a photo this year, unfortunately, though there was something to shoot. The photo is from last year, in 2 stems I think. I will plant it, the variety is good, I like it, we suit each other. In the photos of other gardeners in this thread I also see a different Dark Galaxy, not like mine. My Galaxy is from V. Redko.

Edited November 17, 2022 by Valtwelve

The friendship continues. Even though May was very cold, something still grew – my 2 bushes in OG (open ground). Photo 01.08.2024.

Edited August 5, 2024 by Valtwelve

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

Ariya said:

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

This is open ground – more sun and more anthocyanin, and they haven’t ripened yet. When they ripen – they will be red on the bottom with dot-stars and the anthocyanin will be less noticeable like here.