🍅 Quick take: Opalka is an indeterminate, mid-season red paste tomato with famous Polish roots. True to its oxheart/paste heritage, the plant features very thin, wispy foliage that looks frail but produces exceptionally well. Growers highlight its massive yields, meaty texture, and perfectly balanced sweet flavor, making it a top-tier choice for sauces and sun-drying. Full summary ↓
Growers’ Notes and Photos (USDA Zones 3-4 Experience)
Got the seeds from V. Popenko. His catalog says: “Opalka, Poland. Indeterminate. Banana-shaped red fruits, very tasty, up to 7 oz (200 g).” Grew mine in the greenhouse. I remember someone on the forum joking and calling it “O-palka” (O-stick) because the vine is so skinny 😄 I pruned it to a single leader, for some reason it just never forked on its own. As of late July, I’ve got 3 trusses with 3 tomatoes per truss.
Opalka. Mid-season indeterminate variety with fairly wispy foliage. The fruits are elongated red pepper-shaped pastes with a little tip. Perfectly balanced flavor with a nice touch of sweetness. Pretty heavy yielder, I absolutely loved it and will definitely be repeating it.
Oh man! This thing is an absolute tomato machine. Reminds me a lot of Sheboygan. Just a crazy heavy yielder. It’s a real looker too. The flavor is pretty standard tomato, nothing too fancy, but it is extremely meaty. Perfect for making sun-dried tomatoes. Got my seeds from Angelina.
Full Summary: Plant, Yield, Taste & Uses
- 🌿 Plant & Foliage: An indeterminate vine with distinctly wispy, “weeping” foliage. The spindly appearance is normal for this variety and shouldn’t be mistaken for a lack of vigor. It can be easily pruned to a single stem, as it doesn’t tend to fork aggressively on its own.
- 📈 Yield: Exceptional. Growers describe it as a “waterfall of tomatoes” and a highly productive workhorse in the garden.
- 👅 Fruit Shape & Taste: Produces elongated, banana or pepper-shaped red paste tomatoes that usually max out around 7 oz (200 g). The flavor is highly praised as well-balanced with a noticeable sweetness, avoiding the dry blandness of some commercial paste types.
- 📦 Best Uses: Thanks to its dense, incredibly meaty flesh with very few seeds, Opalka is considered a top-tier processing tomato. It is highly recommended for sauces, canning, and making sun-dried tomatoes.
👨🌾 Editor’s Note: The Real History of Opalka & The “O-stick” Pun
Ovechka jokes about the nickname “O-palka.” In Russian, the word palka literally means “stick.” Because the Opalka vine is famous for its skinny, wispy, droopy foliage that looks almost like a bare stick early in the season, Russian growers love making this pun.
Ovechka jokes about the nickname “O-palka.” In Russian, the word palka literally means “stick.” Because the Opalka vine is famous for its skinny, wispy, droopy foliage that looks almost like a bare stick early in the season, Russian growers love making this pun.
The Origin: Opalka is actually a famous Polish heirloom that holds a special place in American tomato history. The seeds were originally brought to Amsterdam, New York around 1900 by the Polish Opalka family. Many decades later, a coworker of the late, legendary tomato expert Dr. Carolyn Male brought her some fruits from his wife’s family (the Opalkas). Carolyn recognized its superior quality, saved the seeds, and introduced it to the Seed Savers Exchange (SSE). It has since become widely regarded as one of the best-tasting paste tomatoes in the world.
🍅 Grown Opalka? Did you use it for sauce, sun-drying, or fresh eating? Share your zone and how it did for you in the comments below, and add your photos!
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