📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Bochata (Little Barrels)
- 🌍 Origin: A commercial variety from the Siberian seed company “Semena Altaya”. The name translates to “Little Barrels”, reflecting their blocky, plump shape.
- 🌿 Plant Habit: Semi-determinate. Grows to about 90-110 cm (3-3.5 ft). Performs incredibly well out in the garden (open ground), especially in “hot beds” (manure/compost heated beds). Known to handle drought very well. Very vigorous—can easily support 3 or more main stems.
- 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Bright red, blocky plum/barrel-shaped fruits with slight, blunt ribbing. While the seed packet claims they can reach 300g (10.5 oz), growers often report excellent canning-sized fruits around 100g (3.5 oz). They are dense and meaty, though some note they can occasionally have hollow cavities inside.
- 👅 Flavor: Sweet, firm, and very tasty. Highly versatile—great for both fresh salads and canning.
- ⏳ Yield & Maturity: Mid-early. High yielding. The plants are resilient, though protecting them from excess rain with a top cover is recommended in wet climates.
Bochata – seeds originally from “Semena Altaya” (Altai Seeds).
Grew out in the garden (open ground) in a hot bed (bio-fueled/manure).
Productive, sweet, dense.
If I end up planting in open ground again, they will be first on my list.
And here is how they grew in open ground, covered from the top to protect from the rain, we had a very rainy summer…
Edited November 28, 2017 by Drosera
Sveta, did you train them to 3 stems?
Zulfiya said:
Sveta, did you train them to 3 stems?
Yes, to three, but I think I should have left even more suckers. It could have handled it (carried the load)…
Breeding by the agricultural company “Semena Altaya”. Mid-early variety, bushes are 90-110 cm (3-3.5 ft) tall, semi-determinate. Fruits are bright red, looking like little barrels with blunt (slight) ribbing, weighing up to 300g (10.5 oz), very tasty, sweet, few seeds. Good in salads and for canning/pickling.
Variety highlights: excellent flavor qualities, high yield.
Photo by Murka
Edited April 5, 2019 by Pomidoroved
Growing out in the garden (open ground). Great “for canning jars”. Beautiful trusses. Fruits up to 100g (3.5 oz). A minor “minus” is that there were hollow cavities inside. Handles drought well. It was lacking something on the first truss, the little fruits had dimples/dents. But overall… I liked it.
Edited August 20, 2020 by Marusha
