📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Accordion Bi-Color
- 🌍 Origin: This is a known commercial heirloom variety (likely tracing back to the classic American Pink Accordion or Red Accordion lines). In Russia, it was aggressively marketed and sold by the boutique seed seller D. Gusev as “Accordion Bi-Color”.
- ⚠️ The “Bi-Color” Controversy: Is it actually a bicolor? Many forum growers report that it is simply a deeply ribbed red tomato that shows some yellow/green coloring on the shoulders only while it is underripe. Once fully ripe, it turns solid red (or pink, depending on the exact strain).
- 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall). Very vigorous. In a greenhouse, it easily reaches 2.5 meters (8+ ft) and can comfortably support being pruned to 2 or even 3 stems.
- 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Deeply pleated/ribbed (accordion-shaped) beefsteaks. They are large, regularly reaching up to 600g (1.3 lbs). They look absolutely stunning when sliced crosswise.
- 👅 Flavor: Good, classic tomato flavor. A very heavy yielder, making it great for slicing and fresh eating.
Accordion Bi-color variety (mine is from D. Gusev). Indeterminate, mid-season. Some individual fruits were ripening starting in early July, with the main harvest in July-August. Right now, a portion of the harvest is still sitting indoors, ripening off the vine.
The fruits are large, deeply ribbed, and supposedly two-toned, weighing up to 600 grams (1.3 lbs). The main color is bright red, but near the sepals (shoulders) it is green-yellow. (I also grew Accordion Pink—it is completely pink(!!!), and its yield was lower).
I pruned it to two stems; in the greenhouse, the height was about 250 cm (8.2 ft)—honestly, I could have easily let it run to three stems. The tomato plant set fruit very well; it was one of my top 5 heaviest yielders this year. The taste is good, and it looks fantastic when sliced. My largest one weighed 492 grams (1.1 lbs). I am definitely planting it again next year.
One more.
I know this is a bit off-topic… but last year, both the Pink and the Bi-color from Gusev grew out completely pink for me. I wrote to him about it, and he replied that they just “didn’t get enough sun to develop their bicolor traits.” 😞
Verochka, my Accordion Pink (from Popenko) was absolutely definitely pink and had a low yield. But the Bi-color is exactly the same as the one shown in the photo in the right corner of the forum window, where Gusev’s ad is. Do you want me to toss some seeds your way?? 📝
Marisha said:
One more.
What a beauty! 👍
My Accordion Bi-color this year. But I didn’t notice any two-toned coloration at all; it was just plain red. Seeds were from Marisha.
Tanyusha, mine was exactly the same as yours. The “bicolor” aspect only showed up when the fruit was underripe 😉
It’s entirely possible that a true bicolor version doesn’t even exist. My seeds were expensive 😉, directly from Gusev; I just grew what he sent. I looked closely at his promotional photo—it’s a 1-to-1 match; the bicolor effect is just an unripe tomato. I only kept the name “Bi-color” to stay true to Gusev’s “original” labeling.
Girls, don’t sweat it. I’ve had it for many years now, too. Also from Gusev. It’s not a bi-color at all. It’s just red.
