Quick Summary of Ruslan
- 🌍 Origin: A commercial Russian heirloom variety known for its vibrant color and rich taste.
- 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (vining), but tends to grow wide rather than just shooting straight up. The foliage is unusually light green but very dense. Pro Tip for Hot Climates: The fruits naturally hide deep under the canopy, providing excellent protection against sunscald!
- 🍅 Fruit Characteristics (The TRUE variety): Large, deep orange/yellow-orange beefsteaks weighing up to 500 g (1.1 lbs). The skin is thick and crack-resistant. They have no “green shoulders” (hard green tops).
- 👅 Flavor: The authentic Ruslan has a dense, meaty texture with an amazing, rich, sweet flavor. It also boasts excellent shelf life and “hang time” on the vine.
- ⚠️ Beware of Off-Types: As seen in the forum discussion below, there is an “imposter” strain floating around. If your Ruslan produces small (60 g / 2 oz), lemon-yellow, perfectly round fruits with thin skin that crack easily and taste mediocre—you got the wrong seeds!
I grew these from a packet of “Russian Seeds” brand that expired way back in 2003.
It’s indeterminate, but it doesn’t rush upward; it grows more in width. The bushes are powerful with short internodes. Strangely, the foliage is light green, which looks a bit odd on such a robust bush. The yield is good. We picked the first ripe one on July 27th (outdoors in open ground), so for us, it’s a mid-season to mid-late variety.
The fruit in the photo is one of the largest; the smaller ones are round. It doesn’t crack. The tomatoes are dense, meaty, and have a good taste. A great bonus: the fruits hide under the leaves, which will perfectly suit growers in southern, hot climates.
Note: On a Ukrainian forum, I saw photos where Ruslan had green shoulders near the stem. Mine, grown from the original seed packet, had absolutely no green shoulders; they ripen to a perfectly even color.
Galochka, thank you! It is a very beautiful fruit—a bright yellow-orange color. I tasted it today and saved the seeds. Mmmm, they are so delicious!!! :yep:
I planted the Ruslan variety this year. My fruits are yellow, perfectly round, without any indentation at the stem. They are prone to cracking, have very thin skin, become overripe quickly, and the size ranges from medium-small to tiny. As for the taste, I’d give it a C-minus (4 out of 5, minus); it’s totally bland. The yield is average, but the season is still in full swing, so we’ll see how it behaves in early autumn.
Marina, did they crack indoors in the greenhouse or outdoors? And when do you water: morning, day, or evening? Are there other yellow varieties growing in the same spot that actually taste good?
I am growing it in my greenhouse for the second year—it definitely remains a favorite.
The fruits are large, up to 500 g (1.1 lbs), and there are no small ones at all. They are very dense with a slightly thick skin—which gives them excellent shelf life and hang time on the vine. None of them cracked. And the taste is absolutely amazing! :niam:
Quote from Zulfiya:
Marina, did they crack indoors in the greenhouse or outdoors? And when do you water…
I water all the tomatoes in the greenhouse via an underground drip pipe beneath the soil, usually in the evening after work. I have other yellow (or rather orange) varieties growing there—like Medovyi Spas (Honey Salvation)—and they are very tasty. In the end, my Ruslan produced an okay yield, but the tomatoes were barely larger than an egg, maybe 60 grams (2.1 oz) each.
Quote from Oksana:
I am growing it in my greenhouse for the second year—it definitely remains a favorite.
I get the impression that either you or I are not growing the real Ruslan! :-[ Mine are lemon-colored, while yours lean heavily towards orange. And as I mentioned about the size, mine are tiny.
Quote from Marina:
I get the impression that either you or I are not growing the real Ruslan… Mine are lemon-colored, and mine are tiny.
Marina, you definitely got an off-type (wrong seeds). My Ruslan tomatoes grew exactly like Oksana’s. They are extremely delicious, deep, rich orange in color, and very large.
