Quick Summary of Saratovskie (Saratov)
- 🌍 Origin & Name: A Russian heirloom named after the city of Saratov on the Volga River. Ironically (and amusingly), local growers from Saratov note that this variety is completely unknown in the city itself!
- 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall) and extremely vigorous. In a greenhouse, it easily exceeds 2 meters (6.5 ft). The vines are thick and the trusses are very strong, which is absolutely necessary to hold the massive weight of the fruit.
- 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Gorgeous, massive pink/raspberry beefsteaks. These are true giants, frequently reaching and exceeding 1 kg (2.2 lbs). The flesh is very dense and meaty with very few seeds.
- 📈 Yield & Performance: Growers affectionately describe this variety as a “wall of uniform giants.” It has phenomenal fruit set and does not suffer from truss abortion or blossom drop (кисти не отсыхают), even under heavy loads.
- 👅 Flavor: A classic, rich tomato flavor that becomes intensely sweet when fully ripened on the vine. Excellent for fresh salads and makes a fantastic, thick tomato juice.
🍅 Have you grown this variety? Scroll down to add your review and photos in the comments below!
Real Grower Reviews & Photos
Mid-season indeterminate salad variety. The bush is quite vigorous, and the fruit trusses are very strong. The fruits are very large, pink-raspberry colored, of good quality, the flesh is dense with a small amount of seeds. The taste is a good, classic tomato flavor; these tomatoes are exceptionally good for making tomato juice.
It looks very much like Queen Elizabeth (Tsar’s Gift) based on its appearance.
I will add the description from the seed catalog:
Saratovskie (Mid-season / 1.80m [6 ft] / 1000g+ [2.2 lbs+]). A favorite, vigorous bushes, a wall of beautiful, uniform giants.
It definitely does not look like Tsar’s Gift from SibSad. Tsar’s Gift is a determinate, semi-dwarf (tree-type), and you don’t even have to stake it until the fruits start swelling, plus the fruit shape is different.
I planted it in the greenhouse, pruned it to 2 stems. I can’t speak for the taste, as my family picked and ate them all without me 🙄. But the fruits are very large and heavy. The trusses didn’t dry up (no blossom drop). I really liked the yield. And it is still setting fruit right now at the very top of the plant.
A candidate to grow again next year.
I really liked this variety. It truly is a “wall of large fruits.” The fully ripened ones are very sweet. In the greenhouse, it grew over 2 meters (6.5 ft) tall. It set fruit with practically no skipped blossoms. A candidate for future plantings.
This is the smallest one:
And this is the largest one:
They are still hanging on the vine even now…
An excellent, productive, and very tasty variety. The fruits are very large (mine reached up to 1 kg / 2.2 lbs) and sweet. In the greenhouse, the bushes were vigorous, over 2 meters (6.5 ft) tall.
I am also absolutely delighted with Saratovskie. I didn’t manage to take photos; for some reason, it ripened late for me, and I didn’t have time for a photo session right then. But I will definitely repeat it this year.
It’s funny that here in the actual city of Saratov, no one has ever heard of this variety! 😃
