Opalka x Romeo

DiggingDogFarm · June 22, 2011

Has anyone made this cross?

I plan to attempt it this year, but I only have one Romeo plant.

I'm praying that nothing bad happens to it!

Goal: A Romeo sized tomato with the flavor of Opalka.

I love the fact that Romeo is so large, has few seeds, so much flesh and it's easy to filet off the skin for easy processing.

Pic of Romeo.....

~Dig

lurley · June 22, 2011

These are photos of my own family heirloom, I think they could compare well

I have grown Opalka, Polish Linguisa, and San Marzano Redorta before ( and still do) but my own is still my favorite, all meat and almost no seeds or gel. I am growing Romeo, Wes, Federle, SPP, Giant Russian Paste, and a few others I can't think of at this moment for the first time this year to see how they compare. I have been selecting for fruit size for over twenty years and now I always have several plants that pump out whoppers. Once I have my favorites down to a few, a couple planned crosses could be very interesting

brasscow · June 22, 2011

I am new to this, so I can't comment on crossing a romeo and opalka, but I just had to say that those are absolutely beautiful, Lurley!

dice · June 23, 2011

I have Black Prince X Romeo F2 seeds and
(Sheyenne x (Black Prince x Romeo)) F1s growing.

Flavor of the Black Prince x Romeo F1 was good, but it had
more split fruit than Romeo in a rainy summer. Fruit were
around 6-10 oz and oblate red spheres with slight green
shoulders.

dahoss2002 · June 23, 2011

I grew san marzano redorta and opalkas this year. The redorta is as big as that romeo and tastes as good if not better than the opalka. Very few seeds.

travis · June 24, 2011

To the OP: I think Romeo x Opalka will be a great cross. I agree that Opalka has better flavor than Romeo, but Romeo's flavor is decent for an extremely low gel fruit, and it cannot be beat for flesh content in a paste tomato.

I caution you to use the Romeo as the female parent because Opalka pistils are very thin and fragile, in my experience. I know this sounds counterintuitive, because Romeo produces so few seeds. But I have tried and failed many times to successfully make crosses using Opalka as the pollen recipient due to broken pistils.

DiggingDogFarm · June 24, 2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by travis

I caution you to use the Romeo as the female parent because Opalka pistils are very thin and fragile, in my experience. I know this sounds counterintuitive, because Romeo produces so few seeds. But I have tried and failed many times to successfully make crosses using Opalka as the pollen recipient due to broken pistils.

Thanks for the heads up!

The Romeo is off to a slow start, I've got an old bird cage over it so that something doesn't lop it off at ground level or the like! LOL

Can't wait to try the cross!

~Dig

DiggingDogFarm · August 7, 2011

Apparently the Romeo plant has joined a union and went on strike, zero fruit set as of today, August 7th.

Better luck next year!

Mark0820 · August 7, 2011

I've had the same problem. I have 2 Andine Cornue plants and 2 Sarnowski Polish Plum plants. To date, I have had one tomato from the four plants (Andine Cornue). The Andine Cornue have started to set fruit, but still nothing from Sarnowski Polish Plum.

I've been blaming the extreme weather changes we have experienced this year. To me, it seems like paste tomato plants are a little more sensitive to changes in their environment than other tomato plants. Although, I could be wrong and maybe my two Sarnowski plants joined the same union as your Romeo.

June 22, 2011	#1
DiggingDogFarm Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: New York State Posts: 286	Opalka x Romeo Has anyone made this cross? I plan to attempt it this year, but I only have one Romeo plant. I'm praying that nothing bad happens to it! Goal: A Romeo sized tomato with the flavor of Opalka. I love the fact that Romeo is so large, has few seeds, so much flesh and it's easy to filet off the skin for easy processing. Pic of Romeo..... ~Dig

June 23, 2011	#4
dice Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: PNW Posts: 4,743	I have Black Prince X Romeo F2 seeds and (Sheyenne x (Black Prince x Romeo)) F1s growing. Flavor of the Black Prince x Romeo F1 was good, but it had more split fruit than Romeo in a rainy summer. Fruit were around 6-10 oz and oblate red spheres with slight green shoulders. __________________ -- alias Last edited by dice; June 23, 2011 at 10:58 AM. Reason: clarity

August 7, 2011	#8
DiggingDogFarm Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: New York State Posts: 286	Apparently the Romeo plant has joined a union and went on strike, zero fruit set as of today, August 7th. Better luck next year! __________________ "The best thing about a vegetable garden is all the meat you can shoot and trap out of it!"

June 22, 2011	#2
lurley Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Central Ohio Posts: 741	These are photos of my own family heirloom, I think they could compare well I have grown Opalka, Polish Linguisa, and San Marzano Redorta before ( and still do) but my own is still my favorite, all meat and almost no seeds or gel. I am growing Romeo, Wes, Federle, SPP, Giant Russian Paste, and a few others I can't think of at this moment for the first time this year to see how they compare. I have been selecting for fruit size for over twenty years and now I always have several plants that pump out whoppers. Once I have my favorites down to a few, a couple planned crosses could be very interesting

June 22, 2011	#3
brasscow Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Iowa (Z5) Posts: 3	I am new to this, so I can't comment on crossing a romeo and opalka, but I just had to say that those are absolutely beautiful, Lurley!

June 23, 2011	#5
dahoss2002 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Louisiana Posts: 43	I grew san marzano redorta and opalkas this year. The redorta is as big as that romeo and tastes as good if not better than the opalka. Very few seeds.

June 24, 2011	#6
travis Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Evansville, IN Posts: 2,984	To the OP: I think Romeo x Opalka will be a great cross. I agree that Opalka has better flavor than Romeo, but Romeo's flavor is decent for an extremely low gel fruit, and it cannot be beat for flesh content in a paste tomato. I caution you to use the Romeo as the female parent because Opalka pistils are very thin and fragile, in my experience. I know this sounds counterintuitive, because Romeo produces so few seeds. But I have tried and failed many times to successfully make crosses using Opalka as the pollen recipient due to broken pistils.

August 7, 2011	#9
Mark0820 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Cincinnati Posts: 907	I've had the same problem. I have 2 Andine Cornue plants and 2 Sarnowski Polish Plum plants. To date, I have had one tomato from the four plants (Andine Cornue). The Andine Cornue have started to set fruit, but still nothing from Sarnowski Polish Plum. I've been blaming the extreme weather changes we have experienced this year. To me, it seems like paste tomato plants are a little more sensitive to changes in their environment than other tomato plants. Although, I could be wrong and maybe my two Sarnowski plants joined the same union as your Romeo.