This tomato started as a fantasy; it would be orange, sweet, passionfruit-size, and would have especially bright juice.

I thought that Wapsipinicon Peach and Zlatava could be good starting points based on photos of size and color, but after having grown them, they aren’t what I am looking for, they are nice looking but lack depth.

I found a tomato that is a cross with a wild relative at the Tomato Genetic Resource Center at UC Davis, that carries the Intense Pigment (Ip) gene, which could be interesting, but it will take time to see if it makes a brighter juice without sacrificing flavor or vigor.

I noticed the brightness of Tangerine Grape compared to other orange tomatoes, and so I made a cross with KBX and will see what happens with that next year.

I also just got some seeds of Fred Hempel’s Orange Caprese. It looks to be the size I had in mind, and is noted for its juiciness and good flavor (Purple Cherokee heritage).