Growers’ Notes and Photos (USDA Zones 4-6 Experience)
Oaxacan Jewel. Indet, late season, heavy producer. Big, beautiful slicers. Vines topped out right around 5 ft (1.5 m) for me. Flavor has zero tartness, sweet and mild.
Edited January 21, 2017 by Drosera
Oaxacan Jewel from Popenko seeds. Regular leaf. Had one monster ripen up, pushing nearly 2.2 lbs (almost 1 kg). The texture really caught me off guard: crazy juicy, juice just ran everywhere. The shoulders stayed green and underripe while the bottom went completely soft. ??? Flavor was good though, pleasantly sweet.
Grew this beauty this season. Absolutely delicious tomato!
Here is my Oaxacan Jewel. Loved this variety! Sweet, gorgeous colors, and every single fruit was a hefty slicer.
I loved this Jewel too! Heavy producer, delicious, rich and sweet.
Mine turned out on the smaller side with potato leaf foliage, but it was still early and tasty. Reminds me an awful lot of Gold Medal. I was actually scooping seeds from both side-by-side, eating slice after slice… honestly couldn’t tell them apart by flavor. Looks-wise, the tomatoes were dead ringers. Both indeterminate vines, potato leaf.
Oaxacan Jewel turned out mid-to-late season for me. In the hoophouse, the plant hit nearly 6.5 ft (2 m). Regular leaf foliage if I recall correctly. Average yield. The tomatoes were sweet and delicate with very soft flesh, but they went overripe fast. Really liked the flavor.
Grew seeds from V. Redko. Raised in the greenhouse, pruned to 2 stems. Sturdy plant, medium canopy density. Main stems are thick down low but tend to taper off under fruit load. Foliage is slightly larger than average, not terribly long. Canopy density pruned to 2 stems sits around 40-50%. Spread per stem is about 20 inches (50 cm).
My overall yield took a hit because of rootbound, overgrown seedlings and a few early-season grower mistakes, only pulled about 9 lbs (4 kg) off the vine. Flavor is outstanding, neither tart nor overly sugary, tastes more like a rich pink beefsteak than a typical mild yellow. Solid 5 out of 5 stars. Definitely keeping this one in the rotation.
Oaxacan Jewel grew into an absolute heavyweight for me. Super juicy with very tender skin, but doesn’t keep well on the counter at all.
Grew it outdoors. Plant stopped at 5 ft (1.5 m). Standard regular foliage. Matured as a mid-to-late season vine. Great overall yield. Every single beefsteak was a bruiser, easily 21+ oz (600+ g). Sweet, mild flavor without tartness, dripping juicy. It is way better to let these ripen fully on the vine, as fruit ripened off the vine loses noticeable flavor, at least that was how it went for me.
Full Summary: Plant Habits, Yield, Flavor, and Handling
- 🌿 Plant & Foliage: Indeterminate vine. Reaches 5 ft (1.5 m) in open ground and easily climbs to 6.5 ft (2 m) under plastic. The true standard type is regular leaf (RL), though one veteran grower reported a potato leaf (PL) strain that performed identically to Gold Medal. Prunes cleanly to 2 stems.
- 📈 Yield & Fruit Size: Highly productive producer of mammoth bicolor beefsteaks. Fruits regularly exceed 21 oz (600 g) and can flirt with 2.2 lbs (nearly 1 kg). Vines get heavily weighed down, requiring sturdy staking or trellising.
- 👅 Flavor Profile: Very sweet, fruity, and low-acid. Described as eating more like a complex pink heirloom than a standard mild yellow slicer. Very soft, juicy carpels with delicate skin.
- 📦 Storage & Ripening Notes: Extremely short counter life. Prone to green or firm shoulders while the bottom blossom end is already dead ripe. Grower recommendation: Do not harvest early to ripen off the vine; letting them finish 100% on the vine is essential for sugar retention.
- 🌎 Reviewed Growing Zones: USDA Zones 4 through 6 (Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Samara/Bashkiria, Belgorod). Performed reliably both in protected hoophouses and planted directly outdoors.
