Babushkino (Grandma’s) Heirloom Tomato Review

Tomato “Babushkino” (Grandma’s).

Babushkino – (I got my seeds from V. Redko), mid-season, indeterminate. I grew it to two stems in the greenhouse (probably should have done three), and it reached 7.2 ft (220 cm). Fruits are large, round, bright red, very meaty, and sweet, weighing 10-14 oz (300-400g). Clusters held up to 5 fruits. Yield is super high, stores well, definitely planting it again next year.

Edited April 11, 2019 by Pomidoroved

Out of 40 varieties I planted this year, I liked this one the best! At first, it seemed like nothing special since it’s not an early ripener, but when the fruits started plumping up, it blew me away with both its yield and size.

Ladies, when should I sow this one? February or March?

Depends on where you plan to plant it out. I grew it in the greenhouse, so I sowed in late February / early March.

I loved this variety too. Fell in love with it last year, decided to double-check it this year—did not disappoint. Thanks to Valya Redko for the seeds! It’s an absolute gem for my region!

Galochka, I got my seeds from you! Absolutely thrilled with it, thank you. They are still green in this pic, but we’ve eaten them all by now.

Heavy yielder, good disease resistance. The flavor is pretty average, mostly ate it in salads. Grown in the greenhouse, very vigorous plant, kept it to 3 stems. Liked it.

And here is my “Babushkino” 🙂 Productive, beautiful. I can’t say it’s the absolute best for our area… But it’s a very interesting variety, the fruits look almost translucent. Seeds were from Lena Danko and Marisha, thank you guys. Planted both, will definitely sow it again next year.

One of the best for me this year 👍. The flavor is just super in my opinion 👍. Sweet, but not bland 😋. Very productive, even though it almost froze to death in the seedling stage, it still managed to pump out 28 maters ranging from 3 oz to 9 oz (85-250g). Really happy with it 👍. Seeds were from Valentina Redko.

Here it is sliced:

Joining the rave reviews:

Adding to all the praises! My seeds are from V. Redko, extremely happy with both the yield and the flavor. Will definitely plant it again. 📝

Excellent workhorse variety with solid yields 👍 Tomatoes are large all the way up the plant, meaty. Grew in the greenhouse to 2 stems. Flavor gets a B+. The yellow shoulders are from sun scald 😳

Planted it last year. Seeds from V. Redko. Kept to two stems, indet. Great variety, beautiful, large, heavy tomatoes. Yield was great for me and it has a classic, real tomato flavor. Highly recommend!

Very worthy variety. Seeds from V. Redko. Sowed in early March. Picked the first fruits on July 6th. Tasty and beautiful. Looks so sunny…

2015 Season. Productive, tasty, pretty:

Tried it for the first time, man is it sweet! Wanted it for a reason. Sadly it caught a disease, so I had to pull them while they were still smallish, but even when slightly unripe it was super sweet. Tell me, does it ever get a dark color or is it always light scarlet?

And here is my beauty. I really love this variety, planting it for the second year. The only “but” is the yellow shoulders. Seeds from Redko.

Productive variety, I got seeds from Marinichka (bless her heart). Huge fruits all the way up the plant, but!! Yellow shoulders!! And it didn’t even get that much direct sun. I had Yusupovskie growing right next to it with the exact same care, and they had zero shoulders. Clearly, I did something wrong. Next time I’ll keep in mind that this variety is especially sensitive to Potassium-Magnesium deficiencies…

Everyone notes Babushkino’s super-yields, which means you have to feed it twice as much Potassium/Magnesium in the second half of the summer compared to other varieties. In Irina’s photo, there are no unripe shoulders, and their summers are always hot.

We’ll see what this super-yielder needs. Thankfully, there’s always time to experiment! 😉

Ordered the seeds from Redko.
My compiled notes (I make a cheat sheet before planting): Indeterminate, mid-season, 2-3 stems, round, large 10-14 oz (300-400g), heavy yielder, red, sweet.
Grew it in the greenhouse. Early in the summer, it threw out huge clusters of massive fruits that turned out incredibly tasty. Then there was a lot of blossom drop (pretty much all my varieties did this). The next ones set a bit smaller, but right under the roof it started pumping out monsters again. Guess the weather finally aligned for fruit set and growth.
At my mom’s place (last photo), this variety didn’t just give one or two big fruits, it pumped them out in bunches. One bush had 5 equally massive tomatoes hanging. Mom didn’t weigh them, but they looked bigger than mine, probably around 1.3 lbs (600g) each.
Super tall bush, hit the roof even though it was planted near the aisle. Set fruit early, took a long time to ripen.
Mine didn’t have any yellow shoulders, despite my greenhouse being more shaded than my mom’s. But my mom definitely got unripe shoulders on this tomato.

kalinka-malinka:
My compiled notes: Indeterminate, mid-season, 2-3 stems…

Nataliya, did you actually prune it to 2-3 stems?

My fruits weighed 7-14 oz (200-400g), didn’t get any absolute monsters. Bottom trusses were smaller, higher ones were bigger. Liked it—very bright, shiny maters, all uniformly shaped. Classic tomato flavor with some sweetness, very productive. Kept it to 3 stems.

Nik:
Nataliya, did you actually prune it to 2-3 stems?

Yep, both bushes were grown to 2 stems.

Loved this variety. A heavy yielder, tomatoes are huge on both the first truss and the ones above it, had nothing smaller than 14 oz (400g). Did get some unripe shoulders, but once the tomato fully ripened on the counter, the shoulders vanished on almost all of them. SvetaR shared a seedling with me at the Moscow meetup. 🙂 🌺 😘

Galya, I second every word you said 👍 Sveta, thanks for the seedling! 🌺

Looks like I’ll be the only buzzkill here 😞. Honestly tried to tame this one for three years 😫. Giving up on it next season. The culprit is the massive yellow shoulders—huge shoulders, I should say… Plus, the flavor never managed to blow me away in three years either.

Curious, how does it perform in the dirt (outdoors)?

My Babushkino grew in the greenhouse, indet. Pretty resistant to diseases. Didn’t weigh the fruits, but they were pretty much uniform across all branches. Big, red, and I liked the taste… had a nice sweetness. Got seeds from our forum. Mid-season. It’s definitely becoming a permanent resident in my garden 👍

Babushkino totally flopped for me. Sure, it’s productive and huge, BUT:

1. Unripe yellow shoulders on almost every fruit.

2. The first fruits (maybe they got overripe while I waited for the shoulders to vanish) tasted so awful I wanted to rip the bush out immediately. To be fair, the flavor improved on the upper trusses.

3. Caught a disease earlier than anything else in the greenhouse.

Seeds were from Kolyakov.

Very happy with Babushkino. Seeds from GalinaD, huge thanks to her. 🌺 Grew 2 bushes in a cold frame and 2 in the dirt outside. Kept to two stems in both places. Tomatoes were massive both on the bottom trusses and higher up. Really loved the flavor. Barely had any issues with yellow shoulders. 🙂 Definitely planting it again.

Grew it for two seasons. Great variety. Never had a single yellow shoulder. Tasty.

Svetlyachok-plus:
One of the best for me this year 👍.

Looking at these maters, they are eye candy! Would they work for canning/pickling?

Edited January 24, 2016 by Drosera

Fotinia:
Would they work for canning/pickling?

They won’t fit in a jar. Unless you quarter ’em.

Planted it two years in a row. Bushes are productive, fruits are pretty large, no yellow shoulders. But the flavor didn’t really impress me. I’ve eaten much tastier ones, in my opinion anyway.

Serafima:
But the flavor didn’t really impress me.

Babushkino didn’t blow my mind with its taste either, but the yield was absolutely top-notch.

ilja:
Babushkino didn’t blow my mind with its taste either…

Well, at least it’s much denser than my Batyanya (even though Batyanya tastes 100 times better)… But Babushkino’s flavor varies year by year… even over the course of the summer… by fall it was exactly what it should be… 😋

amarant:
Grew 2 bushes in a cold frame and 2 in the dirt outside…

Can you tell me where it performed better, outdoors? And roughly how tall did it get outside?

Edited September 18, 2016 by Drosera

Mine outdoors got to about 5-6 ft (1.6 – 1.8m). If they ripened fully on the vine, they were sweet but had shoulders. If I counter-ripened them indoors, they weren’t very sweet.

In the 2016 season, Babushkino from my own saved seeds turned out tastier than the 2015 run from bought seeds. Excellent yield. The fruits were flawless, like they were hand-picked for a catalog.

I looked through all the photos of Babushkino. Almost everyone on the forum has juicy tomatoes with lots of seeds. Mine are the same. But on YouTube, V. Medvedev cuts his open and it’s pure meat inside. Are we talking about two different strains again?

This variety is a permanent keeper for me, hopefully forever. In our tough climate, it delivers a stable yield every single time.

Anna174:
But on YouTube, V. Medvedev cuts his open and it’s pure meat inside. Are we talking about two different strains again?

Most likely, he just made a slice that missed the seed locules and cut straight through the fleshy ribs in between.

This is my most productive variety. As of today, the average yield per bush (not even counting the upper trusses) is 16.6 lbs (7560g), and 11.4 lbs (5175g) outdoors. Out-yielded Oxheart. Tasty, sweet, mid-season, ripens a little later than Oxheart. On the inside, it can sometimes look a bit ugly, with some hard white core/veins. But it is absolutely indispensable for making juice because of its crazy yield and good flavor.

Edited July 25, 2018 by Nata N.

So happy with this variety! Vigorous bush, I’m pruning to two stems, but honestly it feels like it could easily handle three. Sets fruit relentlessly, completely ignoring bad weather. To me, the flavor is very old-school, classic, like a real “Grandma’s” tomato 😋. Only one small mater at the bottom has ripened so far, but the ones higher up are much bigger.

Quick question, is this an heirloom/open-pollinated variety or a hybrid? Where can I snag some seeds?

Uralochka66:
Quick question, is this an heirloom/open-pollinated variety or a hybrid? Where can I snag some seeds?

It’s an open-pollinated variety. No “F1” in the name.

For seeds, check the Seed Exchange board or your local regional thread.

Gotta add some more praise for Babushkino. Phenomenal mater! Classic balanced taste. Great for salads, or just eating straight up, don’t even need bread. Very vigorous tall bush, throwing massive clusters. A feast for the eyes and the stomach 👍

How does it behave as a seedling? Does it get super leggy if you sow it early?

I wouldn’t know, since I always sow on March 10th. Mine didn’t get leggy, but I run grow lights. I’d imagine if you sow in February and don’t use supplemental light, any indet will get leggy, especially the highly vigorous ones.

Repeated this famous workhorse again – exactly as expected – heavy yielder, sets fruit great, classic tomato flavor. Grown in the greenhouse to 2 stems, weights up to 1.1 lbs (500g).

Edited September 16, 2019 by Svetikk

Planted it for the first time this season. Bush is very vigorous, kept it to 3 stems. Super yielder, kept setting large maters right up to the roof; it really is a true workhorse. If you’re using them for processing/canning, they beat out a lot of hybrids. Classic tomato flavor. I grow in a high tunnel, since they’d rarely ripen outdoors in our climate. My only issue—the yellow cap (shoulders). Even though I fed them and used shade cloth. Lots of my other large-fruited varieties didn’t get yellow shoulders. Maybe it’s just a quirk of this specific strain?

The Babushkino variety met all my expectations. Absolutely giving it a permanent spot in my garden rotation – early-ripening, highly productive, vigorous bush. My largest fruit weighed exactly 1.3 lbs (600g), but sadly, there were zero seeds inside it. This variety handled our freezing 2019 summer perfectly. The only drawback – it’s very susceptible to leaf mold (Cladosporium). I highly recommend it to anyone living in Northern Europe, the Urals, Siberia, or the Far East.

Reading through this thread, taking it all in. Turns out this variety has quite a few flaws along with its massive fruit size. You’ve got fasciation (catfacing), the need for a greenhouse, and folks noting some issues with taste. The tomato variety I’m currently breeding is meant for open ground, has excellent flavor, and an average weight of 4 oz (112g). Maybe if I ever finish mine, it’ll replace this one someday.

Artemy:
The tomato variety I’m currently breeding is meant for open ground… Maybe if I ever finish mine, it’ll replace this one someday.

Why does it have to *replace* it? Just create your own variety with its own undeniable merits. And if people like it, it’ll find its place in the world. Personally, I am completely satisfied with greenhouse Babushkino, its massive size, and its classic flavor. Not to mention the insane yield. Why on earth would I replace it with some outdoor variety that has a completely different taste and tiny size? Sure, I might grow them *alongside* each other if I want. But replace it…

Artemy:
Maybe if I ever finish mine, it’ll replace this one someday.

With the specs you’re aiming for in your breeding project, you’ll never replace a wonderful variety like Babushkino. This is an elite heirloom, and your variety will never replace it.

Greenhouse and outdoors. Pruned to 2 stems. Bush is sturdy, leafy. Medium, weeping foliage. Foliage density is very high at the bottom – 80…95%. Up top – 30…40%. The stems can get pretty thick. It constantly tries to throw out more stems. Even a flower truss can mutate into a stem. Honestly, 3 stems is probably optimal. Responds well to feeding. Needs at least 24 inches (60cm) of spacing in the greenhouse; at least 20 inches (50cm) in the dirt outside. Fruits are large to medium. Taste is standard tomato, bold. Even in cool, overcast weather they aren’t sour, but they aren’t sweet either. Good for folks who don’t like sweet Oxhearts. But I DO like sweet ones, so I rate the taste a 4.5 out of 5. Honestly, despite the great yield, I probably won’t plant it again—there are just too many tastier varieties out there.
Leftover harvest pics. Seeds from V. Redko.

Edited August 16, 2020 by Valtwelve

In this brutal year for tomatoes (2020), I grew Babushkino for the first time, and out of the 20 varieties I planted, it became the undisputed leader in every category. The plant bravely survived a freezing spring (one night the greenhouse dropped to 28°F / -2°C), followed by a cold, rainy June, and then intense heat waves. Set fruit without skipping a beat. Every single truss set, and the fruits were huge (the biggest was 1.4 lbs / 628g). The flavor completely won us over too. Exactly the kind we love. Juicy, aromatic, sweet-tart taste. A true classic tomato. And this was in the awful 2020 season where almost every other variety turned out sour or totally bland. 100% repeating this next year, and honestly I’ll probably plant it every single season from now on. Great in fresh salads, and awesome for tomato juice, ketchup, and spicy horseradish relish. Highly recommended.

Planted Babushkino during this terrible 2020 season. When I transplanted it into the dirt, it almost froze to death. Didn’t set on every truss, but the fruits it did produce are beautiful, neat, and insanely tasty. The absolute best tasting out of everything we’ve tried so far (not counting cherries). My family taste-testers were blown away by how good it was. The craziest part—there wasn’t a single seed inside.

Edited September 1, 2020 by Lyubochka

Lyubochka:
The craziest part—there wasn’t a single seed inside.

The very first fruits of Babushkino are almost always seedless.

How does it do in terms of plant energy requirements? Does it perform well in open ground?

I’m finalizing my variety list for next season. I’m only planting 12 bushes total, so the selection process is brutal right now.

I’ve only grown Babushkino once, back in ’20. Left a great impression on me, even if it didn’t give me some record-breaking insane yield. That happens all the time though, and the outdoors aren’t exactly a resort spa for tomatoes.

The first year you just kinda flirt with a new variety, but by the second year it gives you everything it’s got.

Here is how Babushkino showed off on our first date.

Turned out to be some really tasty maters.

Edited August 31, 2023 by feniks

Grew 1 bush this season in the poly-greenhouse. Indet, stretches up very tall, productive, tasty, but not my absolute favorite…

Planted it in two different greenhouses. Ended up being much more productive in the glass one.