📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Babushkin Sekret (Grandma’s Secret)
- 🌍 Origin: A very popular commercial Russian variety introduced by the seed company Sibirskiy Sad (Sibsad). The name translates to “Grandma’s Secret”.
- 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate, but relatively well-behaved and not overly tall. Usually tops out around 1.5m – 1.8m (5-6 ft). Has distinctively soft, fuzzy foliage. Performs well in both greenhouses and open ground.
- 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Large to massive pink/raspberry-red beefsteaks. The seed packet claims they can reach up to 1000g (2.2 lbs), but growers typically report sizes from 300g to 700g (10-24 oz). Shape is oblate, sometimes slightly blocky (“like a little chest”). The flesh is dense, meaty, and very few-seeded.
- 👅 Flavor & Texture: Highly dependent on growing conditions! In sandy soil or with overwatering, it can taste “cottony/mealy” or watery. In clay, mineral-rich soil with controlled watering, it is highly praised for a classic, sweet, “sparkling” watermelon-like texture.
- ⏳ Yield: Generally rated as high-yielding when properly trained (2-3 stems) and fed.
If you haven’t planted it, you should try it! I haven’t encountered such a true, real tomato flavor like this one has, and I’ve been growing tomatoes for 17 years. Company is Sibirskiy Sad (Sibsad).
Edited February 24, 2014 by Pomidoroved
Lyudmila, if you opened a thread about this variety, please write a bit more detail about what it’s like. How tall does it get, where did it grow for you – in a greenhouse or in open ground? What is its yield? What exactly did you like so much about it?
Galina P. said:
Lyudmila, if you opened a thread about this variety, please write a bit more detail about what it’s like…
Galina, it grew in the greenhouse, not very tall, up to 1 m (3.3 ft), not small, 300-500g (10.5-17.5 oz), pink. When you cut it in half, it looks like a pink watermelon inside. As for the taste qualities, well I can’t even explain it, it’s just simply very tasty. The yield wasn’t extremely high, but I just don’t have very good soil, it’s solid clay, and I don’t really bother much with feeding and high-maintenance care for my tomatoes. I’m sure professionals would get a better yield than I did. Try a bush, you risk nothing.
hoya said:
The two biggest ones – that is the secret!
On the old forum, Olya Cherry described it, and she didn’t like the taste, said it was mealy/cottony. For me, Babushkin Sekret was very productive and large. The taste is really not for everyone, meaty, but not juicy. Grew in the greenhouse, height no taller than 1.80m (6 ft), trained to 2 stems. Sowed it again this year – it has a very cool shape, like a little chest. Looks very much like the picture on the packet of Tsarskiy Podarok (Tsar’s Gift). I want to compare the two.
KsenaZ said:
On the old forum, Olya Cherry described it, and she didn’t like the taste, said it was mealy/cottony. For me, Babushkin Sekret was very productive and large. The taste is really not for everyone, meaty, but not juicy.
I just don’t like watery tomatoes, the ones where you cut it and there’s a puddle on the cutting board. But with this one, the cut surface sparkles like sugar crystals, and I can’t say it’s dry or mealy, I disagree. Maybe it all depends on the soil and the growing location. Plus, everyone’s tastes are different!
I also planted this tomato last year, I really liked the taste, but it wasn’t particularly high-yielding for me either. It was a late-season ripener (at least mine was), in the greenhouse it was about 1.3-1.5 meters (4-5 ft). The tomatoes were large, especially the first ones.
My Babushkin Sekret, still hanging on the vine.
Lyudmila’s tomato grew in clay. Which inherently implies a mineral-rich soil, whereas Olya has sandy soil. Therefore, different tastes. A question for Ksyusha. Did you manage to compare them? 😳
Nadine said:
My Babushkin Sekret, still hanging on the vine.
Mine look exactly like that too. I really liked them 😋😋, Lidusik and Ksyukha hooked me up with seeds, thanks. I trained them to two and three stems, but got the best result with two, didn’t even expect it. 👍👍
Edited December 8, 2014 by Drosera
hoya said:
The two biggest ones – that is the secret!
For some reason those don’t look like “Babushkin Sekret” to me……. 📝
Nadine said:
My Babushkin Sekret, still hanging on the vine.
Oh, how beautiful!!!
Edited December 8, 2014 by Drosera
tomatinka said:
Question for Ksyusha. Did you manage to compare them? 😳
Verochka, they are incomparable. Only the fruits look similar on the outside, but the bush of Tsarskiy Podarok was quite flimsy for some reason, an indeterminate. Big difference in yield too. Babushkin Sekret was decorated like a Christmas tree, while the “Gift” was just so-so, average. Plus, you can’t confuse the leaves of Babushkin Sekret with any others – they are soft, fuzzy, and its growth is somewhat restricted – it grows to about human height, gives its harvest, and that’s it.
KsenaZ said:
Verochka, they are incomparable. Only the fruits look similar on the outside…
Ksyusha, which tomato did you like more in terms of flavor?
Very productive, complex trusses, meaty.
Angelina said:
Very productive, complex trusses, meaty.
Simply gorgeous! 👍 Mine didn’t turn out like that, apparently they dumped the wrong seeds into the packet.
We’ve been planting Babushkin Sekret for 2 years now. This year 1 bush was sitting in a plot among 12 other varieties, and a specific trait of this variety immediately caught my eye – a powerful, straight main stem up to a height of 1.5 m (5 ft). None of the varieties sitting next to it had a stem like that.
Good slicing variety, powerful plant.
Rodebielesumer said:
This year 1 bush was sitting in a plot among 12 other varieties, and a specific trait of this variety immediately caught my eye – a powerful, straight main stem up to a height of 1.5 m. None of the varieties sitting next to it had a stem like that.
Just like on the picture from the packet 👍
Edited February 1, 2015 by Drosera
I’m also planting it for the second year. The tomato is excellent both in taste and for making juice. But for some reason, this year on two bushes the fruits look like this. While on the others… This one is left for seeds. Tomorrow I’ll pick it and take a photo.
Babushkin Sekret 710 grams (1.5 lbs), really loved both the taste and the size, a real tomato!!!
Edited October 20, 2015 by Khozyayushka
Guys, how tall does it get out in the garden (open ground)?
In the greenhouse it was about 150 cm (5 ft), in open ground about 100 cm (3.3 ft). Seeds from Sib. Sad. The flesh is watermelon-like, but to my taste it was a bit dry.
MADanilich said:
I’m also planting it for the second year. The tomato is excellent both in taste and for making juice.
And how many trusses does the variety set?
Edited February 9, 2016 by Drosera
VALENTINA/Abakan said:
And how many trusses does the variety set?
This year (…well, last year..’15) it set mostly 5-7 trusses with 3-4 fruits per stem, considering that the 2nd and partially the 3rd truss were lost (blossom drop), it’s not bad. Planted 10 bushes. Fruits weighing 350g (12 oz) were the smallest ones, mostly 400-550g (14-19 oz). The very top trusses were maybe around 250-300g (9-10 oz).
I use fruits like that for juice and canned tomatoes in their own juice. The flavor is, of course, a little more bland than, say, “Severyuga,” but for juicing along with other varieties, it’s totally AWESOME!! 👍
I will definitely keep planting it.
The plant height in my greenhouse is around 2 meters (6.5 ft), I trained it to two or three stems, but gave preference to growing with TWO 👍
Mashunya said:
In the greenhouse it was about 150 cm, in open ground about 100 cm. Seeds from Sib. Sad. The flesh is watermelon-like, but to my taste it was a bit dry.
In my opinion, that depends on the watering regimen. For me, it’s the exact opposite…. super juicy… I probably should reduce the watering a bit, which is why there are fewer sugars in it.
I plant a minimum of 4-6 roots per variety and… each variety needs a specific approach. Keep a journal, record the watering schedule….. Though what am I saying?!? 😳 Many people plant just one bush of each variety…. you can’t figure out anything that way. 💃
This year (…well, last year..’15) it set mostly 5-7 trusses with 3-4 fruits per stem, considering that the 2nd and partially the 3rd truss were lost (blossom drop), it’s not bad. Planted 10 bushes. Fruits weighing 350g (12 oz) were the smallest ones, mostly 400-550g (14-19 oz). The very top trusses were maybe around 250-300g (9-10 oz). 👍
Now I’m going to suffer in agony… how can I fit it in….? I have no space left… everything is already mapped out… 🙂 I’ll buy the seeds and leave it on my wish list for next year 👏😋
The Babushkin Sekret variety turned out very productive for me in the high tunnel, up to 2 meters (6.5 ft) tall. The fruits are beautiful, very tasty, sweet. A good balance of juice and flesh.
My Babushkin Sekret tomato was from Sibirskiy Sad. The description on the seed packet – “Large-fruited tomato variety of Siberian breeding, with sweet and meaty fruits weighing up to 1000g (2.2 lbs), mid-season. The plant is 150-170 cm (5-5.5 ft) tall, indeterminate type. Fruits are oblate, red-raspberry color, few-seeded, with excellent flavor qualities…”
For me, the variety matched the description, except for the massive size, but that’s explained by underfeeding; I don’t feed my tomatoes much. I really loved the variety, a true tomato flavor, solid flesh of the most tender consistency, juicy but not watery, which is due to the small seed locules with tiny seeds. An excellent variety – for lovers of real tomatoes. Good for everything! Salads, any tomato products.
Planted in 2019. Grew in open ground. A sturdy bush up to about 1.5m (5 ft) tall. It had 3-4 stems. The fruits are large, of a classic red color (maybe even with a slight orange tint), quite firm and juicy. The flavor is classic tomato, but with a noticeable sweetness. Good for salads, juice, and we quite happily ate it just sliced. A productive variety.
