Mrs. Schlaubaugh’s Famous Strawberry Tomato Review & Photos (Iowa Amish Heirloom)

Seeds from V. Redko, first time growing it. Ran four plants: one in the greenhouse and three outdoors in open dirt.

Talking about the greenhouse vine: tall, slender plant. Matured as a mid-late cropper under plastic. Yield was about a 3 out of 5. The fruit came out massive, gorgeous raspberry-colored hearts. Pruned to two stems.

Did not care for the bottom fruit at all, they tasted totally flat and washed out. I honestly wondered what on earth made this variety so “famous.” Harvested about 6.5 lbs (3 kg) off the plant so far, and now it is setting heavily right up under the greenhouse roof rafters.

Here is the kicker: starting from the third cluster up, the flavor completely transformed. I got super critical with this tomato, ate every single one myself, taking mental notes on each fruit. The flavor turned rich, complex, and wonderfully balanced. Solid 5 out of 5 on flavor now.

Outdoors, yield was a miserable 2 out of 5, just 1-2 tomatoes per plant. Still blooming out there trying to set, we will see. Definitely running it again next year to see if the flavor holds and if the yield improves.

Edited August 21, 2016 by Drosera

Ran Mrs. Schlaubaugh’s Famous Strawberry this season as well.

For me, the flavor was decent standard tomato, nothing exceptionally sweet. My rating hovered between a 4 and 4.5 through the summer. Elegant, gorgeous fruit, but won’t be repeating it. Seeds were from Redko.

Absolute top-tier flavor 😋😋😋

Gotta start seeds on the early side and prune to a single leader. Heavy feeder that loves fertilizer. Practically zero seeds, and what few exist are tiny.

Angelina, how early is “early”? I sowed Yusupovsky on January 25, and even then it only ripened about two weeks later than the rest. When should I sow the Mrs.?

Figure about two to three weeks ahead of your main seed-starting schedule. It takes longer to germinate and seedling growth is slow early on.

Angelina: Absolute top-tier flavor… start early and prune to single stem…

Totally agree with Angelina and Sofiya, this Strawberry is pure bliss to eat! 😋

Even though I am gardening way further north than the southern folks, the flavor was outstanding. The meat is dense, juicy, with virtually no seed pockets, slices like softened butter. True depth of flavor and sweetness only show up at dead-ripe maturity, mostly toward the back end of the summer.

Seeds courtesy of a Ukrainian collector. An intriguing variety with untapped potential, definitely locked into my future lineups!

Edited November 18, 2016 by Yaroslavna

Grew it inside the greenhouse, trained to two stems. Tall, handsome plant. Fruit started ripening around mid-July (sowed March 1, transplanted April 21).

My opinion evolved through the season, went from total confusion to complete appreciation. Bottom clusters tasted flat, but then the sugars kicked in. Ripens up exceptionally sweet when counter-ripened. Dense meat structure. Yield was average.

Stunning looks and great flavor. And virtually zero seeds!

In the first ten fruit I cut, there weren’t even seed cavities, let alone seed embryos. Just solid meat. Managed to scrape together a few seeds eventually.

Took its sweet time getting going for me too, but once it did, it pumped out large, gorgeous, tasty fruit 👍

Vera, look at that! Our fruit are carbon copies of each other, hitting exactly 12.5 oz (354 g)!

Yup! Almost all of mine came out right around that same weight. Maybe we photographed the exact same tomato 😄

Staying on my keeper list for next season, even though yield is on the lower side in my garden.

One of the tastiest pink oxhearts in existence, right up there with Wolford Wonder and African Vining 😘👍😋

Solid producer in the greenhouse trained to two stems both years I ran it. Not an early cropper, fruit are virtually seedless, reaching up to 14 oz (400 g). Seeds from Popenko.

Grew it again this year. Started early, first week of February, and transplanted into the greenhouse early April.

First ripe tomatoes came off in July. Great yield, pulled the last ones in October. Very few seeds. Outstanding flavor.

Gorgeous, delicious, pure meat 👏 Vine is slender and tidy, doesn’t sprawl out of control. Kept bearing for a very long stretch. Top-notch variety!

Plant it every single season. On raw yield it is honestly one of my lowest croppers, only gives me a handful of massive fruit, but I forgive it completely for that flavor. Ran short on fertilizer this year, summer was scorching, and the plant threw a fit.

Turned out mid-late for me. Pleasant, delicious tomato! Cross-section shows just how juicy the meat is. Looks like a giant strawberry.

Dying to try this one. Can anyone who grew it chime in on where to stick this lady in a polycarbonate house? Does it burn in direct sun? Do you get yellow shoulders?

Tatyana Kemerovo: Where to stick this lady in a polycarbonate house? Does it burn in direct sun?

As a rule, all oxhearts with this coloration hate intense baking heat. They want light dappled shade and decent airflow. I always tuck them into the second row back from the south side, so the front row filters the harshest direct midday sun.

Grew it back in 2017 from Popenko seeds. Very pretty fruit 🙂 but yield was just average here. Dropped a lot of blossoms during heat spikes.

Angelina: Absolute top-tier flavor… start early and prune to single stem…

What if I plant two plants in one hole and train each to a single stem with extra feeding?

Answering my own question 🙈 Probably not a great idea.

Listened to advice 👋 and started two seeds from different sources early alongside my late-season varieties on March 2. Sprouted March 10-11. Right now, this Mrs. is easily the biggest lady among all my seedlings 🙌 Stocky and vigorous from both sources.

After 7-8 true leaves, it threw a fat sucker that I completely missed, plus flower buds right off the main stem. Guess I am running it to two stems now. Leaving it alone for now, can’t plant out before May 15 anyway. Potted up into 0.5-gallon (2 L) pots today.

Edited April 20, 2019 by Tatyana Kemerovo

Here is my Strawberry!

Here are mine. Very delicious variety!

Sowed April 4, picked the first ripe ones today. They were the smallest on the vine and slightly overripe.

For me, it matched African Vining blow-for-blow on yield, maturity, and flavor. Only difference was that Mrs. Schlaubaugh was sturdier as a seedling (African Vining is ridiculously flimsy, scrawnier than Vater Rhein).

Flavor on these first fruit is very respectable, well-balanced with noticeable sweetness. Yield was a bit light this year, but definitely repeating it.

Shown here plated next to Sweet Carneros Pink.

Edited August 8, 2020 by T@tk@

Grew it this season. Here is how it looks today.

Flavor so far is strictly average, no sweetness, but let’s see how later fruit turn out. Drops blossoms when heat hits.

Edited August 15, 2020 by Kapitoska

I have two vines of this variety, but they produced completely different fruit in looks and taste.

One has glossy, pinkish-red fruit. The other has reddish-orange fruit with matte skin. The reddish-orange one actually tastes slightly better than the pinkish-red.

Which one is the true type?

Edited August 16, 2020 by T@tk@

T@tk@: Which one is the true type?

True type is deep raspberry-crimson hearts.

Mine ripened light pink, definitely not deep raspberry. Seeds from Zolushka. Looked just like Kapitoska’s photos. No elongated points either, broad blunt hearts. Mealy and bland. Didn’t leave much of an impression, but will give it one more shot to verify.

Mine forked into a slingshot right from the jump. One branch produced elongated hearts, the other threw slightly flattened ones. Super productive, trusses actually kinked under the load. Color is raspberry-pink, deepening into rich crimson when dead ripe.

Edited August 30, 2020 by Prostoy chaynik

Plant this variety every year, gorgeous, productive, and delicious 😋 Only one single flaw: it has practically zero seeds 🤦

Hello all! This variety ripened among the very first for me this year. Beautiful pink hearts (didn’t grab photos, ate them too fast). Flesh has that fine, sugary grain like a premium watermelon.

Seed saving is a nightmare: cutting open a dead-ripe fruit from the second cluster, there wasn’t a single viable seed, just tiny white specks the size of poppy seeds. Great for eating, but I need seeds for next year! Going to keep digging through later clusters.

Hi everyone. For me, this Mrs. is famous for all the wrong reasons: on a giant vine, it gave me exactly two fruit. Won’t even get to experience its true flavor. Clearly hates my greenhouse setup.

Since climate change isn’t cooling things down anytime soon, won’t be running it again, dropped nearly all its blossoms.

First year growing this variety. Have to say, hasn’t impressed me yet on fruit size or yield. Maybe the flavor will turn things around? Reviewing it in my latest video.

Some varieties definitely perform better outdoors in the ground, and 2021 offered great conditions for outdoor crops. But this variety flopped outdoors and performed beautifully in the greenhouse. Sharing my tasting and slice review from the greenhouse harvest.

Good day! Anyone grow the seed strain from Voronina? Specifically interested in Voronina’s line: yield, shape, days to maturity. Space is tight, can’t afford wasted spots on experiments. Thanks!

Seedlings were very scrawny. Outdoors, the leaves stayed constantly droopy, stood out from all my other plants. Vine topped 5 ft (1.5 m).

The tomatoes themselves are gorgeous, uniform elongated hearts around 7-10.5 oz (200-300 g). Expecting them to darken to raspberry when fully ripe. Flavor was on the bland side, similar to Batyanya, but I don’t blame the variety, our summer weather was awful. Average cropper. Saving seeds to retry.

Pretty tomato, and that is about it. Seedling was scrawny. Average yield, average size. Flavor was ordinary.

Now the fall rains have set in, and the taste turned completely flat and washed out. Will retry hoping for better weather. Had high expectations for this one, pretty disappointed 🙁

One definite plus for this variety: it counter-ripens sweet. Matures off the vine beautifully without softening or rotting.