📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Abakan Pink (Abakansky Rozovyi)
- 🌍 Origin: A highly famous Siberian commercial heirloom. It is known for causing widespread confusion among growers because different Russian seed companies (like Siberian Garden, Poisk, and Altai Seeds) sell vastly different strains under this exact same name. Even the official State Register has two different entries for it!
- 🌿 Plant Habit: Highly debated! The true oxheart strain is typically an indeterminate (tall) plant with delicate, wispy (frail) foliage. Other strains grow as determinates (bush) with thick, stocky stems.
- 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: The most prized version produces large, pink/raspberry oxhearts weighing 200-500g (7-17 oz). However, many growers report getting flat-round, red off-types depending on the seed vendor.
- 👅 Flavor & Yield: Loved for its excellent, sugary-sweet, meaty flesh with a classic balanced flavor. Very productive and early for such a large beefsteak, making it a reliable choice for short-summer climates.
- ⚠️ Grower’s Note: Like many large pink hearts, it is prone to “hard/yellow shoulders” if there is a potassium deficiency. Growers recommend feeding with potassium fertilizers (like MKP) or wood ash early on during fruit swell.
The seeds were from the Siberian Garden (Sibsad) seed company, and the fruit color was claimed to be pink, but mine turned out red. I grew them both outdoors in open ground and in the greenhouse. I liked the outdoor ones better. At first, I didn’t prune the suckers because I just couldn’t find the time, so later I had to cut out the big ones that seemed unnecessary. For the suckers that had already formed flower trusses, I just pinched off their growing tips.
I had 10 bushes, which was more than enough for my needs.
Lada, how do they taste?
I grew Abakansky Rozovyi in the greenhouse, pruned to a single main stem. The bush is neat, beautiful, with a very thin, wispy stem. Trusses form every two leaves after the third one. There are up to 14 blossoms in a cluster, but it set about 6-7 fruits per truss. The fruits are dense, meaty, weighing 200-500g (7-17 oz), mine were also red and heart-shaped.
The freshly set fruit clusters look incredibly beautiful—so tiny, almost perfectly identical little hearts, which then grow into massive trusses. It fruited all summer long. Delicious tomatoes with a slight tanginess. I fell in love with this variety. It will definitely reward you for good care. My photos aren’t the best, I took them with a webcam. It is tasty and firm enough for pickling too.
Could you please describe the ripening time? It doesn’t say on my seed packet.
barbariska (Lada) said:
The seeds were from Sibsad and the fruit color was claimed to be pink, but mine turned out red. I grew them both outdoors and in the greenhouse. I liked the outdoor ones better.
Lada, how tall did the bushes get in open ground?
Valechka, thank you for the detailed description of the variety. 🌺
Valichka said:
I grew Abakansky Rozovyi in the greenhouse… My photos aren’t the best, I took them with a webcam.
They look pink in the photo, or is it just the way the camera captures the color?
lesia said:
Could you please describe the ripening time?
Ripening time is mid-season. It is definitely not early.
Meri said:
They look pink in the photo, or is it just the camera?
They are not pink, they are red, but the inner flesh has a pinkish hue. The bush in the greenhouse grew over 2 meters (6.5 ft) tall. It is highly productive.
Valechka, I completely agree with you!
Nadine said:
Lada, how tall did the bushes get in open ground?
I need to know the outdoor height too! 📝
It all depends on the limits of your support system. I left 6-7 suckers, let them form 2 trusses each, and then topped them (pinched the growing tips).
barbariska said:
It all depends on the limits of your support system…
And what was the height in that case (at least approximately)? It’s just that I have supports of “various limits,” so I want to figure out which ones to plant them next to…
Well, about waist-high, that was the height of the entire structure. I placed stakes, stretched strings between them, and tied the suckers to the strings.
Valichka said:
I grew Abakansky Rozovyi… mine were also red and heart-shaped…
Valyusha, how is it different from Abakansky Krasnyi (Abakan Red)?
Tomochka, when I grew Abakan Pink, I planted 8 bushes. Seven of them had red fruits, and one had pink fruits. I naturally saved seeds from both the red ones and the pink ones. So when I sent you the seeds, I labeled them accordingly: Abakan Red and Abakan Pink. That’s how that happened.
Abakansky Rozovyi (Abakan Pink) 2013.
Is it prone to cracking? How well does it store?
Mine didn’t crack at all. It was one of the very first to start ripening. Yield is good. It stores averagely—it doesn’t soften immediately, but it won’t lie around for 2 months either. Peculiarity: there are always 2 different fruit shapes on a single truss, and this happens every year. 😲
You can see it on the green truss, and on the ripe ones too.
Something different must have grown from my Sibsad seeds. First of all, the tomatoes were never pink, and secondly, the shape wasn’t heart-like at all. They were all round, maybe just slightly elongated, and red. The taste was good, though. The bush was powerful, moderately leafy, and highly productive. Grew in a standard poly greenhouse, pruned to two stems. Trusses had 5-6 fruits of roughly the same size, appearing every 2-3 leaves. It managed to set and grow 4 full trusses on each stem. Saved them for seeds. I liked it 🙂. Not a single fruit cracked.
Svetlana, we should swap seeds, plant them side by side, and compare. Are you in?
Alright Alya, I’m in!
From Sibsad. In the 2013 season, I planted a couple of bushes outdoors in open ground. It grew very large, round, and red. Set a lot of fruit, but first it started cracking in the heat, and then under the cold rains and cold nights, the whole plant got sick. 😞 Straight to the compost pile…
Such interesting seedling behavior! I sowed two seeds from Sibsad. Both are sitting there exactly waist-high to their peers, and you definitely can’t call them frail—the stems are much thicker than some of the others! Maybe it’s some sort of off-type (crossed seed), but to have two of them at once…
Matilda said:
Such interesting seedling behavior! I sowed two seeds from Sibsad…
Larisa, I also sowed Abakan Pink, but since I am a total novice at this, I chose my varieties randomly. If you don’t mind, I will compare how yours and mine are growing—please keep us updated. I have absolutely no idea how to prune these tall varieties (I also have “De Barao” pricked out into cups).
m_Kallista said:
Larisa, I also sowed Abakan Pink…
Yulia, I am not much of an expert either, but I have dealt with indeterminates before, which is why its appearance confuses me… They are sitting there stocky, thick, with wide paws (leaves), while all the other indeterminates are stretching up like crazy… they behave like typical determinate bush varieties. That’s why I’m afraid it might be an off-type, and I really wanted the true version.
As soon as mine “show their noses”, I’ll see what they look like. I sowed them a bit later than my Volgograd and De Barao seeds (I am in pleasant shock at how many varieties people here grow!). I’ll just practice on three varieties this year. 🤫 But it’s already obvious that De Barao has a lighter leaf color, while Volgograd is closer to dark green.
Yes, and the Volgograds are much stockier. By the way, my Abakansky is also from Sibsad.
Here is what my “Abakan Pink” seedlings look like as of today. Sowed on March 2nd. You definitely cannot call it stocky…)) Seeds are from Poisk. Let’s see what grows.
varvarachel said:
From Sibsad. In the 2013 season, I planted a couple of bushes outdoors… It grew very large, round, and red…
Len, you definitely had a massive off-type (crossed seeds). The true variety is heart-shaped, pink, and the seedling is quite wispy/frail. Very tasty! 😋 My seeds were from the Agros company.
Anzhelika said:
You definitely cannot call it stocky…))
Anzhelika, I sowed mine much later, of course, but just like others wrote below, mine are indeed very frail/wispy little bushes. I was already blaming myself—thinking my tomatoes were lacking nutrients or something, since the “Volgograd Early” ones stand so powerful next to them…
Well, here is what grew in the end:
It was the very first one to start ripening. There were a lot of flowers, but most of them dropped off. Only 1-2, maximum 3 tomatoes remained per truss.
I liked the taste, but I personally prefer my tomatoes to have a bit more juice. The skin is very thin.
Girls, for some reason, mine grew like this.
Could it be an off-type? I am so confused 😞 Well, it’s definitely not Volgograd, not Persimmon (Hurma), and not De Barao—which make up the bulk of my tomatoes.
m_Kallista said:
Girls, for some reason, mine grew like this.
In terms of shape, I had ones exactly like that too. A very pronounced heart shape.
Alisa said:
In terms of shape, I had ones exactly like that too. A very pronounced heart shape.
Alisa, the photo on the seed packet is slightly different, a much rounder tomato. That’s why I doubted if this was really it—these are so elongated and pointed. I wonder which tomato I should save seeds from? 😳
m_Kallista said:
Alisa, the photo on the seed packet is slightly different…
When the fruit reaches over 600g (21 oz), it becomes rounder. But during the growth and swelling phase, the shape is pointed. I couldn’t find my old photo in the archive, but there is no need to worry. Save seeds from the most beautiful tomato. I usually take them from the second truss, but you just pick based on what looks best for you.
Alisa said:
Save seeds from the most beautiful tomato…
Thanks) So far the weight of the biggest tomato, in my estimation, is about 150g.
m_Kallista said:
Thanks) So far the weight of the biggest tomato, in my estimation, is about 150g.
My average weight was between 250 and 650g (9-23 oz). Since you don’t have many fruits on the truss, the tomato might still size up closer to 500g (17 oz). Personally, I absolutely love the fruits with the elongated heart shape, they are simply gorgeous!
Here is my Abakansky—these are medium-sized, some were smaller, some were larger.
The photo is a bit dull and unappetizing, my apologies. When the sunlight hits, the photos turn out better, but I was in a rush here.
This year I planted Abakan Pink—2 bushes from my own older saved seeds, and 2 bushes from a new packet of the same variety from Sibsad. The bushes looked similar, but when they started flowering, it was immediately clear that the fruits on the new ones would be different, and the trusses were different too. Here are the fruits I ended up getting:
m_Kallista said:
Here is my Abakansky…
It’s a great photo! 🙂 Thank you, I finally figured out my mystery plant. 😘 I did plant Abakansky after all… 👏
Valichka said:
This year I planted Abakan Pink… Here are the fruits I ended up getting…
Good afternoon. I also planted Abakan Pink (Sibsad) and they were flat and somehow different from the description… today I bought seeds from Altai Seeds… it says heart-shaped, pink, slightly ribbed… Waiting for summer to see, maybe I’ll finally hit the real one….)))
From the official State Register:
Abakansky Rozovyi (Abakan Pink)
“Salad type. Late-ripening. Determinate plant. Leaves are medium-sized, green. Simple inflorescence. Fruit is flat-round, slightly ribbed, medium density. Color of unripe fruit is green, ripe is pink. Number of locules is more than 6. Fruit weight 200g (up to 500g). Good taste.”
Abakansky
“Salad type. Mid-early. Determinate plant. Leaves are medium-sized, light green. Intermediate inflorescence type. Peduncle with an articulation. Fruit is heart-shaped, slightly ribbed, not dense. Color of unripe fruit is light green, ripe is pink. Number of locules 6 and more. Fruit weight 150-200g. Good taste.”
It looks very much like the Sibsad seed packets contain the “Abakansky” variety rather than “Abakansky Rozovyi”.
Description from the “Poisk” seed company:
Tomato Abakan Pink (Siberian series)
Amazing taste! Large fruits!
Mid-season variety for open ground and film greenhouses. Period from germination to start of ripening is 110-115 days. Plant height up to 150 cm (5 ft), requires staking and pruning. Fruit is oxheart-type, slightly ribbed, large. Weight 200g (up to 500g). Color of unripe fruit is green, ripe is pink. Number of locules is more than 6. Salad variety, ideal for making juices and fresh consumption.
I bought seeds of Abakan Pink from the “Golden Hundred of Altai” brand. Added it to my planting plan. Let’s see what kind of Abakan grows this time! 😂😂😂
The description on my packet said… I think semi-determinate, but definitely not a full determinate bush. And in open ground, it was medium height, shorter than De Barao, but taller than standard bush determinates.
Hello.
First experience growing this variety—summer 2016, near St. Petersburg. Sowed seedlings in late February, moved to the greenhouse on April 30. May was basically summer from day one in our region this year, which had a very positive effect on the vegetation of all tomatoes. The plants grew wonderfully week by week. The tomatoes quickly grew, bloomed, and set fruit 👏
The bush is somewhat frail/wispy both as a seedling and as an adult plant. It’s an indeterminate; grew over 2 meters (6.5 ft) in the greenhouse. I pruned to 2 main stems. It set the largest trusses on the first tier, with the second and third being smaller. Tomatoes are heart-shaped, very beautiful, pink in color, and very tasty. Picked the first ripe tomatoes on July 15.
It will definitely remain on my grow list for 2017.
My Abakan Pink seeds were from the Poisk company, and they fully matched the description: pink, elongated hearts. Very tasty, sugary flesh, although not much managed to grow in the short season of the Arkhangelsk region.
