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Growing Tomatoes

Do these tomatoes look like Opalka ?

13 years ago

Hello everyone,

I bought some Opalka seeds from the Seed Savers Exchange, but the fruits that have formed on the plants do not look like all the photos that I've seen of Opalka tomatoes. Could there have been a mix up in the seed that they sent me? Or does it take a while for the fruit to form the elongated appearance that I have seen in Opalka photos. These tomatoes don't even look like a paste tomato.

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Comments (10)

anney
13 years ago
Well, they don't look like the Opalkas I'm growing, though I see one of them with a slightly-pointed end. Here's a picture of a couple of mine before they ripened:

And another:

So, yours aren't Opalkas. They may be a heart variety. If you email SSE and send them a picture, they can probably tell you what variety that is and send you some replacement seeds.

If they taste good, count your blessings!
carolyn137
13 years ago
No, they aren't Opalka.

Did you buy the seeds from the SSE Public catalog as opposed to being an SSE member and getting them from someone else?

I'm pretty sure I've seen someone else who got their seeds from the public catalog and they were Opalka but I don't remember the sepcifics as to when a sin this year or a preceding year.

But mistakes can happen, that's for sure, and in the latest non SSE publication for members they were describing a new machine they have that can fill seed packs automatically and if indeed it's a goof I bet there should be others out there growing the non Opalka as well.

If you're sure there was no mistake at your end you can go to the SSE website at seedsavers.org and contct someone that way or you can call direct at (563)-382-5990.

Carolyn
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Frank, I have never considered Amish Paset to be a true paste used for sauces, etc. The reason being that's it far too juicy. Nothing wrong with the taste, so it just means that you have to cook it down more. Back when, some folks named varieties just based on the shapes of the fruit. I think that's how Amish Paste was perhaps named. Another one is Lillian's Red Kansas Paste, which in no way is a paste variety. The issue with paste varieties is that they should have dense fleash and few seeds, but so many of the paste varieties that folks cling to like the romas and costolutos, etc., are far more susceptible to BER as well as Early Bight. Which is why many folks don't bother to even grow paste ones, they use the best tasting ones from the garden that have dense flesh and few seeds, usually the heart vareiies, which have some of the best tastes, as well as some of the large red and pink beefsteak ones that have dense flesh and few seeds. Carolyn, but there are some paste varieteis that I do think work out well.
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I like them but I'm finding many of them this year to be a bit puffy, i.e. air gaps inside. I am more impressed with Mama Leone this year. This is a large (5 oz) pointed paste that looks a lot like hearts. The plants are wispy like Opalka, but the tomatoes are solid and meaty with a nicely balanced tomatoey flavor. Definitely invited back for next year! TomNJ
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Did you notice if there was any improvement in flavor between the early tomatoes and the later ones? All my early tomatoes were bland and watery due to the cool growing conditions this summer. After we got the heat wave that started in mid-August, everything improved in flavor and became much sweeter. I've always liked Opalka. Great as a paste and good enough to eat fresh.
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when the tomatoes is done it will look like what you see in the store with the green sepal and pedicel stem part left on the top.. on the other end where you see the small dot that is the brown stuff you are seeing .. that brown stuff is the male anther cone and pedals parts.. and the tip of the stigma and style (female parts)... they dry up after the plant is polinated// We hope.. There is only a short time line for polination if that fails they will still dry up and fall off... the pollen from the anther cone has to get on the end of stigma so it can flow down the stlye into the ovary.. condition have to be right or the pollen will clump up or dry out.. if the green part called sepal is turning brown you have issues.. refer here again for names of parts... http://www.kdcomm.net/~tomato/Tomato/xingtom.html you will see the male parts dry up and shrink around the stigma and style that is why they just don't fall off... now the part you have to watch is the ovary to see if it is growing.. it is hard to tell but one day you will go out and say oh boy I'm a parent,, I had a bunch that turned brown and made a tiny tiny tiny tomato,, (very very small but the heat killed the plants along with the worms)... and it takes days to see some results cause you are growing a tomato from microscopic cells.. I wonder how fast the cells double... some days I'll get a grant an do a study... also I read somewhere it takes allot of pollen down into the overay so you will get a big tomato.. it may be bull but the more pollen the more seeds you get so the tomato has to be bigger to support the multi births of seed.. This is what I learned in my growing tomato class 101 this year... Don't worry I had the same question this year so I asked before and watch the plants grow... as far as I can tell the ovary is at the end of the pedicel but is also included a small way into it.. so when the ovary start to expand the pedicel will also expand is your pedicel staring to get erect and hard ?????????????????.. As some one else here said a watched tomato will never grow like the old staying a watched pot of water will never boil... hope this helps if anybody has anything to add jump in I'm just trying to pass on what you all helped me with even though my plants flopped
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bdank
Original Author
13 years ago
What a bummer! I really really wanted to try Opalka. I got these from the public catalog. The package says they are Opalka (see photo), I guess they must have been packaged wrong. I will contact them and let them know. I wonder what I do have growing. I hope it's worth the garden space.
bdank
Original Author
13 years ago
I also wanted to add that I'm positive there was no mistake on my part. These are the only tomatoes I grew from seed this year, all my others were purchased as plants from Burpee. I bought these seeds because I really wanted to try opalka. And I direct sowed them into a earthbox the day I received them in the mail. So there couldn't of been a mix up on my end.
wcthomas
13 years ago
Definitely not Opalka. Lots of "Fauxpalkas" out there - it took me three tries before I finally got the right seeds last year (TGS has the true Opalkas).

I saved the seeds and they germinated strongly this year, and all eight plants are giving true Opalkas. If you would like some seeds, just drop me a PM with your address and I'll send them along.

TomNJ
carolyn137
13 years ago
So there couldn't of been a mix up on my end.

****

That's good to know and you can tell them that you showed pictures of what you have and several folks who know Opalka well said it wasn't Opalka.

I don't thinkthis is a fauxoplalka situation I think it could well be a packaginf error b'c those fruits don't resemble Opalka in any way.

So if they can figure it out you may have an interesting variety that you're growing anyway, said Carolyn trying to soften your disappointment. ( smile)

Carolyn
shlacm
13 years ago
Aw man!!! They are pretty cool looking though! I hope it turns out to be your new favorite tomato!!! :(
ikea_gw
13 years ago
I got opalka seeds from seed savers exchange this spring and the fruits look to be the right shape. Plenty of green fruits but nothing is turning red yet. When did you order your seeds?
greenmulberry
13 years ago
That's too bad, I am growing seed savers opalka from seed that was packed for this season AND from an older pack from last season, both came out looking true, I wonder if they mixed up a few pouches?
wiringman
13 years ago
i guess i was lucky. i got my starter seed from TGS last year and they turned out to be true OPALKA's

we saved seed and this year i have 200 OPALKA plants in my garden.

i am amazed at how good the production is from such a wimpy plant.

long live the OPALKA!!

Dean

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