📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Biya
- 🌍 Origin: A Russian commercial variety officially listed in the State Register of Breeding Achievements.
- 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate, regular leaf, mid-season maturity. It is a highly reliable and consistent performer, especially in greenhouse conditions, even during years with terrible weather.
- 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Deep pink to raspberry-colored beefsteaks. They are oblate (flattened and round) with slight ribbing. While the official average weight is listed at around 7.3 oz (206 g), growers report them easily reaching 9–14 oz (250–400 g). Pro Tip: If you thin/prune the blossom clusters to just 2-3 fruits per truss, they will grow into massive exhibition-sized tomatoes.
- 👅 Flavor: An outstanding slicer. The flesh is dense, perfectly juicy (never mealy or starchy), with a fantastic balance of sweetness and acidity.
Here is the official description from the Russian State Register:
“Requires staking and pruning. Slicer variety. Mid-season. Indeterminate plant habit. Medium-sized green foliage. Simple blossom trusses. Jointed pedicels. Fruits are oblate, slightly ribbed, with medium firmness. Green when unripe, ripening to pink. Multi-locular (more than 6 locules). Average weight 7.3 oz (206 g). Flavor is excellent. Commercial yield is 0.4 lbs/sq ft (2.0 kg/sq.m).”
Photo credit: Danko
Originally got my seeds from Galya-64, and this is my second year growing it. I have 8 plants going in different spots in the greenhouse this season, and they are all performing consistently.
If you don’t thin the trusses, the fruits average around 9–14 oz (250–400 g). If you prune the trusses (which I tried last year) and leave only 2-3 fruits per cluster, they get massively bigger. We aren’t big fans of giant novelty tomatoes, so I don’t thin the clusters on this variety anymore.
The flavor is just incredible in my opinion. Perfectly juicy, not mealy or starchy at all, with a great balance of sweet and tart—it hits all the right notes. The color is basically a deep raspberry! Definitely became one of my all-time favorites.
Considering the terrible weather you guys had in 2016, that is a seriously gorgeous variety!
