📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Zheltye Slivki ot Borisovny (Borisovna’s Yellow Plums)
- 🌍 Origin: A highly treasured family heirloom passed down by Natalya Borisovna, a famous tomato grower and forum member from Kazakhstan. The name literally translates to “Yellow Plums from Borisovna.”
- 🌿 Plant Habit: Classified as a determinate, but it grows incredibly vigorously (more like a semi-determinate). Outdoors it reaches about 5 ft (1.5 m), but in a greenhouse, it can easily shoot up to 6.5 ft (2 m).
- 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Bright orange, elongated plum/paste tomatoes featuring a distinct “nipple” or pointy beak on the blossom end. Fruits can weigh up to 7 oz (200 g).
- 👅 Uses & Storage: An ultimate all-purpose tomato. Delicious and sweet for fresh eating, but firm enough to be an elite canning tomato. Excellent post-harvest shelf life.
- ⚠️ Grower Warnings: Because it is an elongated paste tomato, it can be slightly susceptible to Blossom End Rot (BER) if watering is inconsistent.
Zheltye Slivki ot Borisovny (Yellow Plums from Borisovna). I think a lot of people will agree with me that this variety absolutely has to be in our forum’s catalog. This family heirloom from Natalya Borisovna from Kazakhstan (@Borisovna) has become a huge favorite for so many growers here, and a lot of us have been growing it for a long time now. Thank you, Natalya Borisovna!
It’s supposedly classified as a determinate variety, but tbh, in the greenhouse, the bushes of these plums reached almost 6.5 ft (2 meters) tall. Three years ago I grew it outdoors in the open ground, and there the height was around 5 ft (1.5 m). The fruits are bright orange plums with a pointy nipple/beak, weighing up to 7 oz (200 grams). An amazing all-purpose tomato – tasty enough to eat fresh, but absolutely fantastic for canning too. They store pretty well. Very heavy yielder.
This year I had two bushes growing in different corners of the greenhouse. On one of the plants, the tomatoes kinda struggled with a bit of Blossom End Rot (BER), but nothing too critical.
Inna wrote:
It’s supposedly classified as a determinate variety, but tbh, in the greenhouse, the bushes of these plums reached almost 6.5 ft (2 meters) tall…
Good afternoon Inna, could you please tell me how many stems you pruned this variety to when you grew it outdoors? In your greenhouse photos, it looks like you let it grow into 4 main stems, and I’m guessing it was way more productive there than outdoors?
irinagudym wrote:
how many stems you pruned this variety to?
Irina, I can’t remember exactly. I think I let it go into 5 or 6 main stems. And yeah, the yield in the greenhouse is definitely better. But to be fair, back in 2017 when I grew it outdoors, Late Blight hit us really early in the season. That definitely took a huge toll on the final yield.
👨🌾 Editor’s Notes & Pruning Tips:
- Multi-Stem Pruning for Determinates: Inna mentions she let her outdoor plant grow into 5 or 6 main stems. This is crucial advice! Because this variety is determinate (meaning it will eventually stop growing vertically), if you prune it aggressively to a single stem like an indeterminate, you will ruin your harvest. Determinate paste tomatoes are meant to bush out into 4+ stems to produce a massive, concentrated flush of fruit all at once.
- BER on Paste Tomatoes: Inna noted a mild case of Blossom End Rot (BER) in her greenhouse. Elongated plum and paste tomatoes are genetically highly susceptible to this calcium deficiency. To prevent the dreaded black rot on the bottom of your plums, ensure your watering schedule is extremely consistent, and consider avoiding heavy nitrogen fertilizers early in the season!
