📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Alesha Popovich
- 🌍 Origin: A commercial Russian variety from the “Poisk” seed company. It is part of their “Three Bogatyrs” (Three Epic Knights) series, named after legendary heroes of Russian folklore: Alesha Popovich, Dobrynya Nikitich, and Ilya Muromets.
- 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall), reaching about 1.5–1.6m (5–5.2 ft). The bush is known for being very strong and sturdy.
- 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Oblate (flattened-round), slightly ribbed, medium-dense fruits. Average weight is 150–200g (5.3–7 oz). The official catalog lists them as pink, though some growers report a reddish-pink hue.
- 👅 Flavor & Use: Meaty with a very harmonious, well-balanced flavor. Excellent for fresh eating, tomato sauces, and fantastic for slicing into jars for marinated canning.
- ⏳ Maturity & Yield: Officially mid-season (125-130 days), but in cooler climates, it behaves like a late-season tomato if grown outdoors. High yield (averaging over 3 kg / 7 lbs per plant).
Description from the seed packet:
A mid-season variety for plastic greenhouses and open ground. The period from germination to the start of ripening is 125-130 days. The bush is vigorous, up to 150 cm (5 ft) tall, requires pruning of suckers and tying to a support or trellis. The fruits have a beautiful oblate shape, are slightly ribbed, of medium density, weighing 150-200 g (5.3-7 oz). The color of the ripe fruit is pink. They feature excellent taste qualities. Recommended for fresh consumption, making tomato sauces/paste, and canning.
I have collected some reviews about this variety from other growers’ gardening diaries:
Review by AlexanderS:
Alesha Popovich – 3.29 kg (7.2 lbs) total yield from the bush, average fruit weight 205g (7.2 oz). Good tomatoes, red color.
Review by Dochkina mama:
Alesha Popovich is from the Poisk company. They have a “Three Bogatyrs” (Epic Knights) series: Dobrynya, Ilya (yellow), and this one.
Alesha is an indeterminate, about 1.5 meters (5 ft) tall, very productive. The fruits are pink, meaty, medium-sized, around 200 grams (7 oz). Delicious, with a very harmonious, well-balanced flavor.
Review by borchanochka:
Alesha Popovich grew outdoors in open ground, but it started ripening very late for me, towards the end of August. I drew a conclusion for myself: in my climate, this is strictly a greenhouse variety if I want it to perform as a mid-season tomato.
Photo credit: AlexanderS
I really liked this tomato. It grew to about 1.6 meters (5.2 ft). Very sturdy and strong. Highly productive and tasty. Someone gave me a one-week-old seedling, so I don’t even know whose seeds they originally were, but I loved it. I sliced them up (because they were too wide to fit whole through the mouth of the canning jars) and canned them with vegetable oil, onions, and some parsley… Mmmm, absolutely delicious! 😋
