Sweet Ozark Orange Tomato Review & Photos

Sweet Ozark Orange
A magnificent American variety developed from a cross between Dr. Wyche’s Yellow and German Red Strawberry, bred by Sam Wammack. Fully stabilized around 2015.Tomato connoisseurs often claim Sweet Ozark Orange has the most vibrant, intense orange color in the tomato world.
The plant is an indeterminate, mid-season vine and a heavy producer. Extended harvest window that keeps bearing right up until frost. The vine is vigorous with dense, regular leaf foliage. Clusters hold 3 to 4 fruit that color up beautifully and uniformly, with zero green shoulders.
The tomatoes themselves are oblate with ribbed shoulders and subtle fluting, running 9-14 oz (250-400 g) and often bigger. Very meaty with remarkably few seeds. Phenomenal sweet flavor with very low acidity. Makes an incredible slicing tomato for platters and summer salads. A massive hit at farmers markets, and great for throwing into sauces when you want to add a rich, natural sweetness.
I grew mine from seeds gifted by Latvian collector Tatyana Nagle, who told me more than once that this was her absolute favorite yellow-orange tomato. The seeds patiently sat in my seed stash for four years before I finally got around to starting them.
The results completely blew me away, and it has easily cracked my all-time top 3 yellow/orange slicers. The fruit came out exceptionally uniform, averaging right around 10.5 oz (300 g). The texture is rich, dense, and buttery, and the flavor is truly world-class. Made unbelievable fresh sandwiches all season long. It has earned a permanent spot in my garden.
Photo credit: LanaD

Sweet Ozark Orange (USA). Sourced my seed from Popenko.
Mid-season indeterminate vine, grew to about 5.5 ft (1.7 m). Yield was about average for me: our heatwave scorched quite a few blossoms, and I pinched off a couple of fused megablooms early on.
Down on the lower clusters, though, the tomatoes grew huge, pulling 14-18 oz (400-500 g). Beautiful, sweet, dense, and meaty. Definitely keeping this one in my grow list.
Edited March 22, 2017 by Drosera

PanIrina: Sweet Ozark Orange (USA)…

I always assumed “orange” in the name referred strictly to the color of the tomato, rather than the citrus fruit. “Ozark” refers to the Ozark Mountains region in Missouri where the breeder lives.
Historical records note that it was an intentional cross of Dr. Wyche’s Yellow × German Red Strawberry made in 2009 and stabilized to the F5 generation by Sam Wammack out of Missouri.
Edited January 11, 2017 by Drosera

Grew it inside the greenhouse. Yield was about average, but in my soil, the flavor turned out pretty bland and washed out. 🤷

Alisa: …stabilized by Sam Wammack (‘Ozark’) of Missouri…

The way that lineage note is written makes it sound like “Ozark” was Sam’s online forum handle rather than just the geographic location.
As for whether Sam meant the fruit color or citrus flavor notes, you’d have to ask him directly! 🙈

Drosera: …makes it sound like “Ozark” was Sam’s online forum handle…

That actually was his handle on the American gardening boards, and he used it because he lives right in the Ozark region of Missouri.
If he intended it to mean a literal sweet citrus fruit, in English it would typically be phrased as “Ozark’s Sweet Orange.” It’s almost certainly referring to the color.

Fair point. Some seed vendors listed it as “Ozark Sweet Orange Fruit,” which always sounded a bit confusing.

Right, just like there is an “Ozark Pink,” this is simply the sweet orange variety from the Ozark region.

It’s common in American heirloom naming to link the geographic origin with the color or fruit type – like “California Wonder” or “Cherokee Purple.” So “Sweet Ozark Orange” naturally signifies a sweet, orange-colored heirloom originating from the Ozarks.

Drosera: As for whether Sam meant the fruit color or citrus flavor notes, you’d have to ask him directly! 🙈

I actually reached out to the breeder himself, and Sam Wammack emailed me back! He explicitly confirmed that the name refers to the intense orange skin color, specifically to distinguish it from yellow heirlooms.
Direct quote from Sam:

“…This new variety ripens evenly to a bright orange, including the inside and with no green shoulders. I wanted ‘orange’ in the name to remind people that it’s an orange variety when ripe, not yellow. These are very sweet when orange-ripe, but a few days before reaching full ripeness they look like fully-ripe yellow tomatoes. If you like tomatoes to be more tart than sweet, then pick these while they’re still yellow… I’m ‘Ozark’ on the garden forums….”

Sam specifically wanted to emphasize that this is a true ORANGE, not yellow. When the tomato reaches full glowing orange, it turns remarkably sweet. But a few days before that, it looks like a ripe yellow tomato. So growers who prefer a tangier, acidic slicer can actually harvest them early at that yellow stage!
For those keeping track of the breeding history: Sam made the original cross between Dr. Wyche’s Yellow and German Red Strawberry in 2009. He grew out F1 in 2010, F2 in 2011, F3 in 2012, F4 in 2013, F5 in 2014, F6 in 2015, and F7 in 2016.
Edited March 21, 2017 by Alisa

Whether the name was meant for the color or not, I absolutely loved it! The fruits are sizable, beautiful glowing orange, smooth, and genuinely delicious: juicy, sweet with a subtle, lively acidity – honestly, it really did remind me of an orange citrus note.
Yield out in the open garden patch was about average for me, but I’m definitely repeating it this season.

Sam noted that in his home climate, individual fruits frequently surpass 1 lb (450 g) and the vine is a prolific producer. Once it acclimates to our local northern soils over a season or two, its full yield potential should really come through.

Completely agree – saved seed from your own garden always produces much better vigor and yield in subsequent seasons.

Dropping an update from the 2017 and 2018 seasons: Grown from my own saved seed, it performed exceptionally well. Huge fruits and a fantastic harvest!