My rating is a 3 out of 5. I would have given it a 2, but I added half a point for each of the following:
- For the laughs.
- It’s convenient to pack into canning jars.
I grew it twice. Both times I had the exact same impression—potato-like flesh, tough skin that’s hard to chew, and a bland, grassy flavor.
It ripens very gradually. By the time you collect enough for a jar, the first picked fruits are already getting soft. Unlike hybrids, which easily wait on the counter for their latecomer friends to ripen.
SvetaR said:
My rating is a 3 out of 5… Both times I had the exact same impression—potato-like flesh, tough skin that’s hard to chew, and a bland, grassy flavor.
I completely agree, it was exactly the same for me, but I decided to give it one more chance in 2018. We’ll see how it goes when I put together my final planting list. 📝
I really loved this variety. 👍 Last year it had Blossom End Rot, so this year I prepared two spots specifically for it and grew it from my own saved seeds. Juicy, and juicy again! True, the liquid doesn’t run out when you cut it, but the flesh itself is incredibly succulent. Delicious both for fresh eating and pickled. 😋
They store wonderfully if you pick them firm and orange-red. And the yield!!!! 👍 I pickled them both sliced in half lengthwise (I needed to save the seeds, after all 😂) and whole, just to lift our spirits during the winter. 😉 Only one downside—it produces very few seeds.
The variety turned out very well for me, it fruits for a long time, and the taste is above average to excellent in the autumn. Last year it produced 11 full trusses, and the tomatoes were perfectly straight little sausages. Looking at the photos here, I noticed some people’s tomatoes curl up at the ends (reaching for the sun?), but ours were straight.
This year we grew from our own seeds… see the second photo, where they are accompanied by Chernomor embraced by Chudo Yagoda, Rozovyi Klyk, and Tlacolula.
I planted Auria for the first time. They turned out quite late, and even though it yielded a lot, every single tomato that turned red was immediately plucked off the bush and given away to people who wanted to try it, marvel at it, or just have a good laugh. I was left with only the green ones, which took forever to ripen indoors. So, I never got to taste a vine-ripened one, and the ones ripened indoors seemed a bit dry to me. But I will repeat it…
They were on the dry side for me too… but maybe it just wasn’t a good year for Auria.
I don’t like putting such long tomatoes into jars, I don’t sun-dry them, and for salads, there are many other varieties that are much tastier. So, most likely, I won’t be repeating it in 2018.
Sorry if this is a bit off-topic, but this year I grew “Casanova”, and externally it is exactly identical to Auria. The yield is absolutely superb, not a trace of Blossom End Rot, and I really loved the taste—sweet, not bland, and I liked the dense texture (I don’t like watery tomatoes). It has very, very few seeds. Overall, it satisfies me 100%, though it grows a bit too tall. It grew outdoors, and the very last one is currently ripening on my porch. I wonder if it’s the exact same variety, just sold under different names by different vendors? Mine was from Siberian Garden (Sibsad).
Natasha-ogorodnitsa said:
…grew “Casanova”, and externally it is exactly identical to Auria… wonder if it’s the exact same variety…
No one knows for sure yet.
People have asked before if Casanova and Auria are the same thing.
Casanova is a variety registered in the State Register in 2017. The official description says the fruit weight is 30-38 grams, whereas Auria is 2-3 times larger. And Auria is supposedly an old Ukrainian variety.
Girls, what is the exact same “little whistle” shape, but yellow?
That would be “Eros”, most likely.
Drosera said:
That would be “Eros”, most likely.
Looks like it. A stray seed must have gotten mixed in with my other seeds, because Eros was definitely not on my planting list.
SvetaR said:
It ripens very gradually. By the time you collect enough for a jar, the first picked fruits are already getting soft…
Svetlana, have you tried planting two plants per planting hole? I did that this year. They do not suppress each other. From a single harvest, I managed to can six 1.5-liter jars. The rest from the bulk harvest went into sun-drying. True, they did ripen closer to the end of the season.
My packet of Casanova says the weight is 150-200g, but mine didn’t quite reach that. The length was up to 15cm (6 inches). It says mid-season, but I think it’s closer to late-season; they hung on the vine green for a very long time.
Natasha-ogorodnitsa said:
My packet of Casanova says the weight is 150-200g…
I looked it up online, and it’s an exact copy of Auria. Auria isn’t early either, and they ripen indoors for a long time without losing flavor.
That’s exactly what I’m thinking—same balls, just a different angle! But they are tasty. Next year I want to compare “Drova” (Firewood) and “Zhigalo” (Gigolo) 😉
Natasha-ogorodnitsa said:
Next year I want to compare “Drova” and “Zhigalo” 😉
I bought Casanova too, I want to compare it with Auria. I will plant all these “pee-pee” shapes—both the tall ones and the short ones—and compare them. 😂
A lot has been written about Auria here. I’ll show mine too.
In my opinion, you absolutely must plant it. At least one bush. Just to shock and amuse people. 🙂
Inn@ said:
In my opinion, you absolutely must plant it. At least one bush. Just to shock and amuse people.
And I personally love this variety for jars 👍, it looks beautiful and tastes great. Well, getting a good laugh out of it is a nice bonus too. 😂
Elena 62 said:
I bought Casanova too, I want to compare it with Auria.
I compared it with “Imitator” — they are different!
I will definitely plant a few bushes of Auria specifically for sun-drying. I have no one left to amuse with it; one neighbor walked by, spat on the ground (“what a disgrace!”), and then secretly came back to ask for seeds. 😂 Auria is very widespread in our area now.
I didn’t like it at all. It’s late, catches Blossom End Rot instantly, didn’t produce a sea of fruit, and the taste was bland.
Auria is great for laughs, for giving as souvenirs, and for pickling. 🙂
I had no BER on it. Over the entire time I’ve grown it, maybe one or two tomatoes got it in a season, and not even every year. This year, none at all. I always add lime to the soil before planting. It always yields a lot of fruit, in large trusses, and keeps fruiting right up until frosts in the greenhouse. This photo is from October 9th—there is snow on the poly tunnel roof, but the plant is completely unfazed. 🙂
And here is “Yellow Auria” (a provisional name; it is completely identical to red Auria, except for the color):
Yeah, I don’t like fresh Auria at all. Same goes for Eros. But for pickling, I haven’t found anything tastier. And I am completely satisfied with their texture in jars. Not tough, not mushy. Just right!
I will continue to plant them.
This photo is from today. We’ve been harvesting them for about a month now. They ripen gradually, spread out over time—which is very convenient for me. Not a single tomato got BER.
In the foreground is Auria, behind it is Eros. A sweet couple. 🙂
Both Auria and Eros caught BER for me this year too. But they look wonderful in jars, so we will work on fixing the problem for next season.
And I finally got a taste for it fresh this year. Very tasty. The fruits grew large. Very few seeds inside. Went great for fresh eating and for pickling. Planted 2 roots, seeds originally came from Redko.
We are definitely spoiled by amazing tomato flavors. In my opinion, Auria’s taste is nothing fancy, but it is pleasantly tomatoey. For us, it works great sliced into rings for salads (instead of small cherry tomatoes) and on pizza. If you find a good brine recipe, it’s pretty good in jars too. We made it in its “own juice” with spices, and if you get the spices right, it’s very good. True, it’s not a soft paste tomato you can slurp down in one go, but the shape is very convenient for canning.
In an outdoor bed during a 40-50°C (104-122°F) heatwave, it didn’t catch BER at all. But this year in a container, when I was late with watering, some fruits got affected—though not critically, just a mark on the tips, it barely affected the size of the fruit.
And I love that it sets fruit well in the heat, although it prefers light shade. I used to plant it in the 4th row of the bed, but now I placed it in partial shade by the fence.
But WHAT shapes! This was the first truss in 2012.
And this is this year in a pot, planted out at the end of June (I was late with sowing this year), but we are already eating ripe fruits, and it grew over the two-meter (6.5 ft) fence. This is the first truss from a month ago.
I planted 2 bushes in the greenhouse. The one near the aisle did slightly better. After transplanting in early May, they quickly took off. The BER on the first fruits annoyed me terribly, I even regretted planting it… Had to remove about 10 fruits. But then things got much better! In the end, along with a Korean long-fruited variety, it was one of the most productive. It shot up to nearly three meters (10 ft) tall by October. Definitely repeating. Curious to see how it performs outdoors.
Planted a couple of bushes last year. They didn’t suffer from BER. Very large, powerful plants. My mom likes that the fruits are firm. To me, it’s a bit too dry and hard. It stays firm when pickled. When frozen, they are great for pizzas and pies. The variety is highly productive, but the shape doesn’t surprise anyone anymore…
Via271281 said:
To me, it’s a bit too dry and hard.
Exactly. I didn’t like it in jars. I’ll just set it aside for now. There are much tastier varieties for pickling. And you can easily use other varieties for pizza. What’s the point of high yield if it’s not great to eat?
Tried Auria today using a “Tomatoes in their own juice” recipe. Absolutely did not like it.
When I was making my variety list for the upcoming season, I left Auria off, planning to give her a break in 2019. But I couldn’t resist—I sowed it today. I have to plant at least one bush. Specifically for pickling. Pickled Auria is our absolute favorite.
Inn@ said:
When I was making my variety list… I couldn’t resist—I sowed it today.
Inna, I actually didn’t have Auria; I had “Damskiy Kapriz” (Ladies’ Whim) from Yaroslavna. I later renamed it to Auria because people here told me they were the exact same variety. Maybe they are different? They look identical.
And now it turns out “Damskiy Kapriz” is sold as an F1 hybrid. And it looks nothing like the Damskiy Kapriz I have.
Ovechka said:
…Maybe they are different? They look identical. And now it turns out “Damskiy Kapriz” is sold as an F1…
I don’t understand anything now. So what did you actually grow? Reveal the truth to the people! The one in the video didn’t look much like Auria at all.
I received the Damskiy Kapriz variety from Yaroslavna back in 2012. I grew it in 2013. Then, at some point on the forum (I don’t remember which year), we decided it was Auria.
Here is what it looked like for me in 2013.
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In 2017 I planted Auria and Casanova side by side. Both reached 3 meters (10 ft) in the greenhouse. Auria was much more productive. Pickled, it is a delicious treat. But I had to pickle the later ones because the early ones were so long they wouldn’t fit standing up in a 1-liter jar. The first 3 trusses weighed 120-140 grams (4.2-5 oz) per fruit.
Oh, forgot to mention. I didn’t pinch off the growing tips, and they kept fruiting until the frost completely killed them. No Blossom End Rot either.
In 2018, we didn’t prune the variety at all, left all the suckers on (see photo). The bush was fluffy and sprawled all over the ground. Fruit set was perfect, yield was excellent. We managed to save the bush growing outdoors by covering it with plastic film until November 1st, 2018. Barely squeezed it in, the plastic sleeve turned out to be narrower than the bush itself.
This year’s Auria.
After storing well into September, very tasty.
Repeated this funny little tomato once again. Grew in the greenhouse on 3 stems, set fruit perfectly all the way to the ceiling.
Seeds from Mariya Suvorova.
Showed itself to be an uncapricious variety, highly resistant to weather surprises and diseases.
Just veeeeeery, veeeeeery indeterminate (tall).
