📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Biyskaya Roza & Biysky Rozan (Biysk Rose)
- 🌍 Origin: Siberian commercial heirlooms distributed by the “Semena Altaya” (Seeds of Altai) company. Named after the city of Biysk in Siberia. Growers generally agree that “Roza” and “Rozan” are practically identical strains of the same variety.
- 🌿 Plant Habit: Officially sold as a determinate (bush), but acts more like a vigorous semi-determinate. Outdoors, it reaches about 1.2–1.5 m (4–5 ft), and in a greenhouse, it can push 1.8 m (6 ft). It has a sprawling habit with wide foliage and can easily be grown with 3+ main stems/leaders.
- 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Large, beautiful pink oblate (flat-round) beefsteaks, often slightly ribbed. They typically weigh between 250–450g (9–16 oz). Note: As with many heirlooms, some growers report getting pink oxhearts instead, indicating crossing or unstable seed lines in circulation.
- 👅 Flavor & Texture: Very juicy, tender flesh with a sweet, classic tomato flavor. Outstanding fresh eating quality.
- ⏳ Maturity & Vigor: Mid-season, though often one of the first large beefsteaks to ripen. Highly praised for its robust health and excellent resistance to Late Blight (Phytophthora).
BIYSKAYA ROZA & BIYSKY ROZAN
I took the liberty of grouping these two together because I couldn’t see any real difference between them. Well, actually, there was a difference during the seedling stage. The foliage on Biyskaya Roza was more delicate and wispy (well, it’s a girl, after all 😉). But after planting them out, they became completely indistinguishable.
Honestly, I struggle to classify their growth habit 🤷♀️. The “Semena Altaya” seed company labels them as determinates, claiming Rozan grows 55-75 cm (2 ft) and Roza 70-110 cm (3 ft). But in my unprotected open ground, they easily reached 120-130 cm (4-4.5 ft), and in a greenhouse, they’ll likely push 180 cm (6 ft).
Both are highly worthy varieties: productive, mid-season, tasty, sweet, pink, and large. The plants are vigorous with wide, sprawling foliage, so they demand a bit more spacing. Rozan seemed to throw out suckers a bit more aggressively.
Here is a cross-section of Biysky Rozan, extremely juicy:
I want to add 1 more photo. This is Biyskaya Roza. I didn’t notice any difference in taste between the two varieties either.
Oh, Olya. You are such an enabler! At this rate, I’m going to need to check into Tomato Rehab soon. The tomatoes look absolutely super!!! 👍
I grew Biyskaya Roza in 2012 in the greenhouse. It didn’t grow taller than 1.5 m (5 ft). The yield was average, the fruits were indeed pink and medium-sized. The flesh was very tender and delicious. I have seeds for Biysky Rozan too, maybe I’ll try it this year.
Let me show you my Biyskaya Roza. The photo is from Aug 11, 2013. (I just couldn’t find the right camera angle to capture the sheer power and beauty of the plants).
Direct sown with dry seeds on April 15. The 1-month-old seedlings were planted out into open ground, where they grew entirely unprotected. The plants reached at least 1.5 m (5 ft) tall. The variety proved to be incredibly resilient: when Late Blight (Phytophthora) was already rampaging through my other plants, this one stayed completely clean. I didn’t want to push my luck, so I harvested them around Aug 23.
The tomatoes are delicious and quite large, ranging from 250 to 450g (9-16 oz), with the vast majority sitting in the 300-400g range. I am extremely happy with this variety, it was my absolute favorite of 2013! Special thanks to Stas for the seeds!
Sasha (Alexander), how many stems/leaders did you prune it to? Looking at the photo, it seems like at least three, or am I mistaken?
Honestly, I don’t even remember. But definitely not just one or two. It just happened that way: I missed a bunch of suckers early on, and then just left them to grow.
Sasha, what a happy accident! 😂 That means it can easily handle 3 leaders without breaking a sweat. 📝
Delicious fruits. Average yield, but it was one of the very first to ripen for me.
I really liked Biysky Rozan! 👋
And my Biyskaya Roza turned out to be pink oxhearts! Quite large and tasty. In fact, I ranked it #1 for flavor among all the pink hearts I grew. But now I’m doubting whether I actually had the true Biysk Rose—looking at Olya and Sasha’s photos, theirs are clearly oblate (flat-round).
Biysky Rozan, 2015 season. Loved the taste and the yield, plus it’s a gorgeous tomato:
Biyskaya Roza from Nadine’s seeds. During the seedling stage, it was a compact, trouble-free plant with a very sturdy, thick stem. It produces large, pink, beautifully ribbed fruits.
For us, it was an extended-season producer. Reached about 1 m (3 ft) tall. The yield was above average, and I rate the flavor a solid 4.5 out of 5.
Biysky Rozan
Looks like I found the perfect tomato for the front/edge beds! It stays relatively short (up to 1.5 m / 5 ft in the greenhouse). Oblate, pink, and slightly ribbed. Excellent, classic tomato flavor.
