Rosella Cherry Review

[KaguyaCloud]

Reference images here: https://imgur.com/a/pNnndmJ

Rosella Cherry, not to be confused to Rosella Purple or Rosella Crimson, is a regular leafed indeterminate cherry tomato.
This is a very vigorous tomato. Suckers will grow everywhere so pruning isn't necessary unless you're growing indoors or in a limited space. Height will depend on the pot you grow it in and other growing factors. The leaves of the seedlings weirdly smell like chocolate and grass for some reason, just an observation.

This specific variety will begin to flower after 8 true leaves grow out. The first truss will typically have 13 flowers and the second truss will have 20+ flowers.

Fruits measure 1-1.5 inches across and are spherical in shape. Flavor profile is sweet, fruity, and a tiny bit umami. The aftertaste is also pleasant. The tomatoes are ripe when they are a deep burgundy red, slightly squishy, and separate from the curled sepals easily. Do not pick them when they're pink or red. They get darker! I haven't grown many tomato varieties(5 micro dwarfs, Orange Paruche F1, and Rosella), but Rosella Cherry is the tastiest tomato I've grown so far.

[maf]

It is a good one for sure. Developed here in the UK with a view to making a good tasting/performing cherry for the home gardener rather than for the big ag side of things that tends to dominate commercial tomato breeding. I have never grown it unpruned so i will take your word for it that it grows well in that format. I grow it in a greenhouse up a string (as no doubt the breeder Mark Rowland did) pruned to a single vertical stem and it easily reaches the 10 foot high roof in a season. Very prolific, with long trusses of good quality fruit of consistent size and very good flavour.

From Gourmet Genetics:

Gourmet Genetics™ was established in 2011 to market the range of cherry tomatoes bred by Mark Rowland. The business operated from Laughing Owl Nursery near Spalding, Lincolnshire and rapidly built a reputation for innovation and excellence. The name was chosen to reflect the commitment to innovative breeding for outstanding flavour and quality. Breeding objectives were focused on the amateur market, where there is a real need for modern, high quality open pollinated varieties.

https://www.gourmetgenetics.com/tomato/tomatoes.html
https://www.gourmetgenetics.com/tomato/rosella.html

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[KaguyaCloud]

It is a good one for sure. Developed here in the UK with a view to making a good tasting/performing cherry for the home gardener rather than for the big ag side of things that tends to dominate commercial tomato breeding. I have never grown it unpruned so i will take your word for it that it grows well in that format. I grow it in a greenhouse up a string (as no doubt the breeder Mark Rowland did) pruned to a single vertical stem and it easily reaches the 10 foot high roof in a season. Very prolific, with long trusses of good quality fruit of consistent size and very good flavour.

Oh I have yet to grow them unpruned. I think they'd do well since pruning cherry tomatoes isn't that required, especially at the size that Rosella's fruits put out. Personally I would recommend pruning them if you plan to grow them indoors or in a constrained space, as the side shoots tend to grow past the boundaries of the lights.

Have you grown any of the other varieties under Mark Rowland(Sweet Aperitif, Black Opal, etc)? I'm curious to know how different they taste from each other, as I'm currently crossing Rosella Cherry with micro dwarfs for improved flavor.

[maf]

No, I haven't tried any of the others yet. I like cherry tomatoes but I don't like to grow too many of them each year as they are only really good for fresh use, rather than processing/storing, and I always seem to have something else in the mix.

This year I will be planting Ruby Falls to see how compact it is and if I can tell what size reduction gene is in use (most likely an indeterminate dwarf). The pictures on the internet are not good but from what I can see of the leaves it looks probably dwarf (d) but the sepals seem quite long which is throwing me off a bit. Haven't seen any pictures that show the flowers.

From the official descriptions and other feedback I formed the impression that Rosella was the best tasting of the "dark" ones in the Gourmet Genetics lineup, but I would like to try Black Opal for a slight size up and Sweet Aperitif for a straight red. Bite Size sounds like it would be too small in fruit size for my taste.

Also trying a couple of their hot peppers for the first time this year.