Unusual Volunteer Tomato - What is it?

[bcday]

Originally Posted by Walrus

Would not this volunteer be a "hybrid", i.e., a cross between two tomato plants from last year's garden?

It could be the result of a cross between two of last year's plants, but it also could have come from a Juliet blossom that was self-pollenized, i.e. not crossed with any other plants. Even if your volunteer came from a self-pollenized Juliet blossom instead of from a cross with another plant, it could still look very different from Juliet or either of Juliet's parents, because Juliet is itself a first generation hybrid that in turn might not look like either of its own parents. There can be a lot of variation in the F2 (second generation) and later generations even when they are self-pollenized. This is why it often takes 7 or 8 generations to stabilize a new variety and this is why the Dwarf Project plants are being grown out for so many generations before they are released.

Originally Posted by Walrus

As it grows, it looks more and more like the San Marzano/Super Marzano.

If this volunteer is the result of a cross or if it's the F2 generation from a self-pollenized Juliet F1, it can't be called a Roma or a San Marzano or any other known variety that it might look like, because it would be genetically unstable at this point and no one knows what the next generation will produce.

So to answer the first question in this thread, if you have seeds for Opalka and dropped one there, yes it could be an Opalka. Just have to wait and see what it looks like when it is ripe and carefully check all of its characteristics against your other Opalka plants and the description for Opalka.