Quick Summary of Syzranskaya Roza (Syzran Rose)
- 🌍 Origin: An old, legendary heirloom from Syzran (often considered the tomato capital of the Volga region in Russia). The name translates to “Syzran Rose”.
- 🌿 Plant Habit: The true heirloom is indeterminate (tall) and mid-early, with a long and abundant fruiting period. ⚠️ Buyer Beware: Commercial seed packets sometimes contain wrong/crossed seeds (off-types) that grow into short, determinate bushes with terrible fruit quality. Always buy from reputable heirloom collectors!
- 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: The authentic variety produces massive, beautiful pink oblate (flattened-round) beefsteaks weighing 400–700g (14 oz to 1.5 lbs). The flesh is extremely meaty and has a distinct “sugary” sparkling texture when broken apart.
- 👅 Flavor: The absolute epitome of the rich, sweet, and complex “grandmother’s tomato” flavor.
Description: An old Syzran indeterminate variety, distinguished by high yield, abundant and long fruiting, and massive, beautiful pink fruits of amazing, unique taste! Ripening time — mid-early. Fruits weigh 400–700g (14 oz – 1.5 lbs), meaty, with a sugary texture on the break. The taste of real “grandma’s” tomatoes!
Copying from my 2020 report:
This was my unfinished business. It failed to germinate for me in 2018, which was my dedicated “pink” year.
I was slicing it for a salad and cut off a piece for a tasting. I probably caught it at the absolute perfect stage of ripeness. A thick, rich flavor, and a bright red cross-section. And suddenly, right at that moment, it seemed to me that this was the most delicious tomato of the year. (At other times there were other favorites). Thank you, @m_Kallista Yulenka, for the seeds!
But then I thought to myself that such a tomato—at least one classic pink, oblate variety like this—must absolutely be planted every single year! It’s a classic.
I grew it in open ground (outdoors) in 2025. Seeds from the commercial farm “Samarskie Semena”.
I didn’t even bother taking a photo, that’s how much I disliked this tomato.
Productive, sturdy, short bush. Sets fruit well in any weather conditions. Doesn’t get sick. The color of the tomatoes is pink. BUT… the tomatoes themselves are so tough, I would even say rock-hard (tough as oak). They were all a uniform size, about 150-200g (5.3-7 oz).
Taste-wise, they were absolutely nothing, tasted like grass.
We ended up hollowing them out and using them for stuffed tomatoes.
I don’t know, maybe it was an off-type (wrong seeds in the packet)? But I didn’t even bother saving seeds from it.
Judging by the photos above, I definitely grew the wrong thing.
