Growers’ Notes and Photos (USDA Zones 3-6 Experience)
Marina’s Praise (translates into Russian as Pokhvala Mariny or Gordost Mariny).
My seeds came from Natalya Pavlovna Dryzhakova (@Yaroslavna) 🙏 Tall-growing, indeterminate tomato with impressive yields. Started coloring up among the earliest in the greenhouse and kept bearing right until we cleaned out the beds in early October. Reached about 5.5 ft (1.7 m) tall under cover.
Fruit are modest in size, dense, and nicely elongated. Sweet and very pretty to look at. True bicolors with solid shelf life. Natalya Pavlovna grew the F7 generation, so mine was already an F8.
Forgot to add: fruit weight averages +/- 3.5 oz (100 g).
Edited December 11, 2020 by Inn@
Inna, what was the fruit weight? And did your seedlings display variegation on the leaves?
Fruit weight is around 3.5 oz (100 g). Completely forgot to mention the variegation. Yes, it was definitely there, though not overly intense. Let me see if I can track down a photo.
P.S. Couldn’t find the photo, thought for sure I snapped one…
Edited December 11, 2020 by Inn@
Inna, thank you so much for starting a thread on this tomato! It is a truly fine variety that deserves every bit of praise it gets.
I grew it a year ago. In the greenhouse, the vines reached roughly 6 ft (1.8 m) tall, with strong main stems and great leaf cover. During the seedling stage, the leaf variegation was much more pronounced than on the mature vines.
Here is what I wrote in my garden notes for this variety:
Marina’s Praise is a magnificent result obtained from crossing Orange Russian 117 with Potato Leaf Variegated. Lovely, elongated hearts with scarlet blush down the sides and jammy, candy-sweet meat ripen reliably on the vines. Tall, heavy yielding, with an extended harvest that carries straight to the end of the season.
All I can add is that the fruit are not just pretty, they are insanely sweet with an unmistakable tropical fruity finish.
Turned out to be a very tasty tomato. Kept a tidy footprint, didn’t crowd the greenhouse roof, and delivered a very satisfying yield.
These elegant little hearts are versatile, great packed whole in canning jars, sliced into fresh salads, or halved for the dehydrator. Dense and meaty.
Huge thanks to Inna (@Inn@) for the seeds!
Edited August 18, 2021 by Lenhik
Lenhik: Turned out to be a very tasty tomato. Kept a tidy footprint…
Inn@: Marina’s Praise…
Hello everyone! Is the foliage potato leaf or regular leaf?
Marina’s Praise (Pokhvala Mariny).
A wonderful variety, gorgeous looks and thoroughly delicious to eat!
Grew it in the greenhouse. Well-behaved plant loaded with medium-small heart-shaped fruit. The flavor is delicate with subtle fruity undertones. Timed out as mid-season. Seeds were from Irina (@Iskorka). Thank you so much! 😊
Delicious tomato!
Adding photos of my Marina’s Praise seedlings showing the leaf variegation.
Hey y’all, growing this one for the first time and feeling super nervous since I am a total newbie!
I potted it into an 8-gallon (30 L) construction tub. Has anyone run this variety in containers? How does it handle container culture? Also, the spot gets light, dappled morning shade. Is that okay, or maybe even an advantage in our brutal southern heat?
Zi: Hey y’all, growing this one for the first time… planted in an 8-gallon tub… gets light dappled shade…
This variety performed great in partial shade for me last season. The scorching heat slammed us starting back in May, and we only got one solitary rain the entire summer.
Mine wasn’t in a container, but it handled some pretty rough Spartan conditions without complaint.
Thanks for the feedback, that puts my mind at ease! Sounds like we are on the right track.
It does droop its leaves pretty quickly if you miss a watering. It is super hot and windy here right now, but it has already set fruit!
Full Summary: Plant Stature, Foliage, Fruit & Versatility
- 🌿 Lineage & Foliage: Bred by American artisan grower Jason Haynes by crossing Orange Russian 117 with Potato Leaf Variegated. Plants express distinct variegated potato-leaf (PL) foliage. Cream-and-white marbling is striking during the seedling stage and softens to a subtle splash on mature vines.
- 📏 Growth Habit: Manageable indeterminate vine reaching 5.5-6 ft (1.7-1.8 m) in greenhouses. Well-behaved, non-aggressive canopy that thrives in tight greenhouse spacing or 8-gallon (30 L) patio containers.
- 🍅 Fruit & Size: Elegant, elongated blunt hearts averaging +/- 3.5 oz (100 g). Ripens from pale yellow to glowing amber with vivid raspberry-red marbling and blush.
- 👅 Flavor Profile: Extremely sweet with a jammy, marmalade texture and tropical fruity undertones. Meaty interior with small seed cavities and minimal gel.
- 📦 Kitchen Utility: Outstanding dual-purpose tomato. Slices cleanly for salads, holds firm for whole-fruit jar canning, and produces exceptional sweet sun-dried tomatoes due to high sugar solids and low water content.
- ☀️ Heat & Cold Resilience: Proven to fruit from USDA Zone 3 subarctic Siberia through the scorching, drought-prone steppe climates of USDA Zone 6. Benefits from light dappled shade during extreme southern heatwaves.
Marina’s Praise was bred by independent American breeder Jason Haynes, who named it in honor of Marina Michaelides, an active Canadian tomato collector and grower well known in international seed preservation circles.
Haynes crossed the beloved bicolor heart Orange Russian 117 with an heirloom genetic stock named Potato Leaf Variegated. The resulting cross combines three highly sought-after genetic traits in a single plant: recessive potato-leaf foliage, visual leaf variegation (white/cream splashed chlorophyll sectors), and glowing bicolor heart fruit.
Gardeners growing this line should note that leaf variegation is heavily influenced by light levels and temperature. Young seedlings grown under indoor lights or in cool spring greenhouses display vivid splashing. As summer temperatures rise and natural sunlight intensifies, the vine ramps up chlorophyll production to protect itself, causing mature canopy leaves to shift toward solid green while the genetic variegation remains fully active for subsequent seed generations.
