Rosella Crimson Tomato
A four foot dwarf from the world's first open source tomato breeding project that can approach Brandywine flavor by its own creator's judgment, delivered with his equally honest warning about its disease struggles.
Flavor & performance
The honest verdict
What's great
- Flavor that can approach Brandywine, by the project founder's own assessment
- Real half pound slicers on a plant only 3 to 4 feet tall
- Bred by the Dwarf Tomato Project, the first open source tomato breeding effort
- Crack resistant fruit and sturdy tree type stems suited to containers
- OSSI pledged: seed saves true and may never be patented by anyone
Watch out for
- The project's own founder notes it can struggle with foliage disease
- Flavor and yield vary noticeably by season, per project reviews
- Yield reports split from about 15 fruit per plant to overwhelming crops
- Heavy fruit loads can flop branches without a cage or stake
- No formal disease resistance of any kind
Grow it in your zone
| Trait | Rosella Crimson Tomato | Rosella Purple | Brandywine |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Pink dwarf slicer | Purple dwarf slicer | Pink heirloom beefsteak |
| Family | Sleepy cross, 2014 release | Sleepy cross, 2011 release | Heirloom, 1800s lore |
| Height | 3 to 4 ft | 3 to 4 ft | 6 to 9 ft |
| Fruit | 4 to 13 oz | 6 to 12 oz | 16 to 24 oz |
| Flavor benchmark | Approaches Brandywine | Cherokee Purple dead ringer | The benchmark itself |
| Save seeds | Yes, OSSI | Yes, OSSI | Yes |
The Rosella Crimson tomato exists because two hobbyists decided the seed industry was ignoring an entire category. One was a retired chemist in North Carolina, the other a gardener in Australia. Their fix became the Dwarf Tomato Project, the first open source tomato breeding effort in the world.
Rosella Crimson is one of its proudest results. A four foot plant carries half pound pink slicers that can, in a good year, taste like Brandywine. The man behind the project says exactly that, and also says when it doesn’t.
This guide keeps both halves.
The project behind the plant
In 2005, Craig LeHoullier, the heirloom expert who later wrote Epic Tomatoes, posted a frustration on a garden forum. Dwarf tomatoes were a tiny, neglected category. Patrina Nuske Small in Australia answered, and a plan formed.
Cross big flavored heirlooms onto compact dwarf plants, then let volunteer growers worldwide stabilize the results.
The idea itself was a century old. LeHoullier’s inspiration came partly from a 1915 seed catalog describing New Big Dwarf, a cross of Dwarf Champion and the giant Ponderosa. If breeders could put big fruit on small plants in 1915, modern gardeners could do it again, and better.
The design was clever. With teams in both hemispheres, the project ran two growing seasons every year, halving the usual breeding timeline. Cross families took working names from Snow White’s seven dwarfs, and over a hundred volunteers joined.
The reward system was charming too. When a volunteer’s selection proved worth stabilizing, that grower typically earned the right to name it. The result is a catalog full of parrots, family names, and inside jokes, over a hundred released varieties by 2019, with the project formally wrapping at the end of 2018 even as stragglers kept arriving.
The releases were pledged to the Open Source Seed Initiative. Nobody may ever patent them.
Rosella Crimson comes from the Sleepy family. That cross joined Budai Torpe, a small red dwarf, with Stump of the World, a big pink potato leaf heirloom. Patrina made the cross in Australia and selected and named this line for the Crimson Rosella parrot.
It reached the public in 2014.
What the plant actually is
Dwarf tomatoes are not determinate bushes, whatever some labels claim. The dwarf gene builds a thick central stem, half height growth, and crinkled, dark rugose foliage. Meanwhile the plant keeps flowering and fruiting until frost, like an indeterminate.
The project itself calls the habit compact indeterminate, and the retail tags saying determinate are simplifying.
Expect the Rosella Crimson tomato to reach 3 to 4 feet in the ground, roughly a fifth shorter in containers. The fruit is a pink slicer under clear skin, oblate and slightly ribbed. It averages around 6 ounces, with a documented range of 4 to 13.
Maturity claims run 70 to 78 days depending on the source. Even the project site and its official seed outlet disagree.
The flavor claim, from the source
The benchmark attached to this variety is not seller invention. LeHoullier himself wrote that in a good season this variety’s flavor can approach Brandywine in intensity and quality. He marked it among his personal favorites of the entire release list.
For a plant half the size of Brandywine, that is a remarkable sentence.
The same reviews carry his caveats, and they deserve equal billing. Performance varies season to season, stabilizing the line was difficult, and the plant can struggle with foliage disease. A Nebraska grower from the development team adds the field version.
Very good tasting for a dwarf, he reports, with modest yields of about 15 fruit per plant in his beds.
Other growers report the opposite problem, two plants producing more fruit than they knew what to do with. The honest summary is a variety with a high ceiling and real variance, in both flavor and count.
The stewardship continues, which says something. In 2023, LeHoullier grew Rosella Crimson again in a North Carolina greenhouse trial, judged it as performing reasonably well, and banked fresh seed under a new accession number. Twenty years on, the man who started the project is still personally curating this line.
Why the sibling matters
The same Sleepy cross produced Rosella Purple, released in 2011. Many project followers consider it the best tasting dwarf of all, routinely calling it a Cherokee Purple dead ringer. The two make the tidiest comparison in the dwarf world.
Crimson is the pink one chasing Brandywine; Purple is the dark one channeling Cherokee Purple.
One oddity for the record keepers. The origin story describes Crimson as the original pink selection, with Purple appearing as a surprise segregant. Yet Purple reached the market three years earlier.
Early generation lines existed long before either name stabilized, and the paperwork simply does not resolve the sequence. We flag it rather than smooth it over.
Growing the Rosella Crimson tomato
Starting and transplanting
Start seeds indoors 6 to 8 weeks before last frost and transplant after frost into full sun, about 24 inches apart. In containers, choose a pot at least 20 inches deep, per the specialty growers who trial these. Mulch the surface to steady moisture.
Support, water, and feeding
The trunk holds itself, but branches carrying half pound fruit flop without help. Give it a cage or a short stake. Water evenly and mulch, which supports the variety’s documented crack resistance through heavy rain, per our watering guide.
Feed steadily per our guide to fertilizing tomatoes.
Health and harvest
Take the creator’s disease note seriously. Give the dense rugose foliage extra airflow and water at the base. Prune the lowest leaves clear of the soil, and visit our leaf problems guide at the first blemish.
Harvest at full crimson pink with a slight give, starting around 74 days and continuing until frost.
Grower's Picks for Rosella Crimson
The gear that matters most for growing Rosella Crimson well, so you can buy the right thing once.
Seed saving, by design
This variety was built to be saved. It is stable, open pollinated, and OSSI pledged. You may grow it, save it, share it, sell it, and breed from it.
Neither you nor anyone else may ever patent the results. Saving seed from a project like this is not just thrift; it is participation in the point.
Rosella Crimson vs Rosella Purple vs Brandywine
Against its sibling Rosella Purple, the split is pure taste preference. Purple carries the smoky, complex Cherokee Purple profile and the bigger reputation. Crimson answers with the brighter pink Brandywine style balance.
Same plant architecture, same project, same care. Serious dwarf growers simply plant both.
Against Brandywine itself, the question is what you pay for the benchmark. Brandywine brings bigger fruit and the legend. It arrives on a sprawling 6 to 9 foot vine that demands serious support and a long wait.
Crimson delivers a credible fraction of that flavor at half the height, weeks earlier, in a patio pot. On a balcony, the choice makes itself.
The verdict
The Rosella Crimson tomato is proof of concept for the whole dwarf idea. Genuine heirloom class flavor grows on a plant that fits where heirlooms never could. It comes with honest fine print, seasonal variance and fussy foliage, written by its own creator.
That is exactly the transparency the open source label promises.
Grow it in a big pot with airflow and steady water, and save the seed. At its best you get Brandywine’s ghost at knee height. Even its ordinary years beat most tomatoes that size.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Rosella Crimson tomato?
A 2014 Dwarf Tomato Project release from the Sleepy cross of Budai Torpe and Stump of the World. The 3 to 4 foot tree type plant bears pink oblate slicers of 4 to 13 ounces.
Does Rosella Crimson really taste like Brandywine?
In a good season it can approach Brandywine, per the review of the project’s own founder. He notes equally that flavor varies by season.
What is the difference between Rosella Crimson and Rosella Purple?
Same cross, different selections. Crimson is pink and Brandywine styled; Purple is darker, Cherokee Purple styled, and was released three years earlier.
How tall does Rosella Crimson get?
About 3 to 4 feet, slightly less in containers. The thick trunk supports itself but wants a cage under full fruit load.
Can I save seeds from Rosella Crimson?
Yes. It is open pollinated and OSSI pledged, free to save, share, and breed from forever.