📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Gopak
- 🌍 Origin: A Ukrainian commercial/heirloom variety named after the traditional high-energy Ukrainian Cossack dance. However, be aware: there are multiple different strains sold under this name by various seed companies!
- 🌿 Plant Habit: The strain discussed most positively here is an indeterminate plant that adapts very well to open ground, bouncing back quickly after transplanting. There are other strains sold that are short/determinate.
- 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: The forum favorite strain produces beautiful, large pink hearts or oblate beefsteaks (usually weighing around 4.5 to 10 oz / 130-300 g) with a dense, meaty, watermelon-like interior. Other commercial strains under this name are sold as red plum/paste tomatoes.
- 👅 Flavor & Maturity: Known for being exceptionally early for its size and producing a heavy yield. Growers rate the flavor very highly—sweet, meaty, and reminiscent of the famous Bull’s Heart variety.
Grew it in the greenhouse, tall, the taste is somewhat similar to Bull’s Heart, sweet, meaty, delicious.
Wow, what a beauty 👍!
Marisha, what was the yield like? What about the ripening time?
Gopak made me really happy this year too. It was one of the first to start fruiting and the yield was quite decent. Compared to other varieties, it took off and started growing very quickly after being transplanted out into the open ground. My seeds were from the Ukrainian company GL Seeds. When I get home from work I’ll try to find some photos and post them. 😉
Could you please tell me, does the Gopak variety only grow well in a greenhouse? Or can it be grown outdoors in open ground too?
You can grow it in open ground. I’m going to try it this season too.
Galina P. wrote:
Marisha, what was the yield like? What about the ripening time?
It was one of the first to ripen, and the yield was above average.
Fotinia wrote:
Could you please tell me, does the Gopak variety only grow well in a greenhouse? Or can it be grown outdoors in open ground too?
You can do it in a greenhouse, or you can do it outdoors. This year it grew in both spots for me, but it turned out better in the greenhouse. Though this summer wasn’t a great indicator for us, it was very cold and rainy.
My seeds came from someone here on the forum.
Marisha, how tall is it?
Tall, both in the greenhouse and in the open ground.
What a handsome guy! The cross section looks straight up like a watermelon! 👍
But the other day I came across a different Gopak on the internet, maybe they mistranslated it or something. (link removed)
I just remembered it because I really love plum/paste tomatoes!
Yeah, Lena, they are totally different depending on the seed supplier, here’s another variant (link removed).
Here is the photo I promised 😉
I had exactly one plant of this Gopak. It was a sturdy seedling, but it just couldn’t handle the cold snap (outdoors). It started yellowing, withering, and by the looks of it, it just wanted to commit suicide. Yanked it out yesterday. 😢 😢 😢 Eh.
And here is my “Gopak,” very tasty, meaty, sweet with just a tiny bit of tang… One of those varieties that everyone ate up instantly 😂 barely managed to save any for seeds…
I grew two very productive bushes. Tasty and early tomato. On the scale, the tomato is 4.6 oz (130 grams). Seeds were from Lenochka Leo. 👍
In this thread, growers bring up a very important issue for seed collectors. Under the name Gopak, there are actually multiple completely different strains sold by commercial seed companies in Ukraine and Russia.
The strain grown by Marina and Lena (which came from GL Seeds or private trades) is a tall, indeterminate plant that produces large pink, meaty hearts. However, other companies sell a “Gopak” that is a short, determinate bush producing small red plum/paste tomatoes! If you are trading for or buying this seed online, make sure to ask the seller which strain you are actually getting.
