Brusilovskiy Tomato Review

I couldn’t wait to write about this one! I wanted to get the final harvest weight per plant first. My description might be a bit emotional, so forgive me! The thing is, after 8 years of tomato obsession, hunting for varieties, and annual taste tests, I HAVE FOUND “THE ONE”.

So, I got the seeds from Lena, who got them from Valentina.

I grew it a year ago, fell in love with it, and sent seeds out to many people. This year I planted 10 plants: 6 in the big greenhouse in different spots, and 4 plants outdoors in-ground. Let me list its virtues:

• Early season (but with a prolonged harvest) – it quickly gave up its bottom trusses, then took a little break, and set another massive flush at the top. This was in the greenhouse.
• Disease resistant.
• Delicious (I am not exaggerating at all, it easily makes the TOP-5 of my best-tasting tomatoes ever).
• Wispy foliage (it produces suckers moderately, you could even say the plant looks like a skinny boy, not aggressive at all. It’s amazing how it manages to support such massive fruits).
• Huge fruit (weights range from 200g to 600g+ / 7 to 21+ oz).
• Heavy yielder (more on that below).
• Beautiful!
• Dense and meaty (I call Tanya as my witness here!).
• Very few seeds.

Now about my test plant outdoors. I had to pick it clean yesterday because the weather forecast is grim and everything is muddy.

I harvested two 5-liter buckets from just that one plant—a tomato grower’s dream! The total weight from this single outdoor plant was 7.43 kg (16.4 lbs).

Surprisingly, the largest fruit actually came from the outdoor plant.

P.S. Thanks to Diana for discovering this variety, who I initially gave the seeds to. And only then did I grow it myself.

Found another photo on my phone.

This is a photo of the plant from July 28th. Its neighbor is an enormous 10-foot (3m) monster of a plant, Heart of Veneto, with its 2 lb fruits. But our little Brusya, despite literally growing right under Veneto’s armpit, is doing its job and growing beautiful, tasty fruits! I’m actually laughing looking at the photo—right where Brusilovskiy’s fruit trusses end, Veneto only has its very first truss hanging. 😂

Wow, this is a miracle tomato! I really want to grow it now. Lyudmila, thank you for such a passionate description!

Veselyi ogorodnik said:
Wow, this is a miracle tomato! I really want to grow it now. Lyudmila, thank you for such a passionate description!

I’m stubbornly saving seeds, even though there aren’t many in them, but there WILL BE seeds available!

Shevyachok said:
Dense and meaty (I call Tanya as my witness here!)

I confirm! 👍

Brusilovskiy became one of the favorites of this season, a definite contender for the permanent grow list. Ultra-early. It started ripening among the very first ones I planted for early production, even though I sowed it with the main batch two weeks later (March 14th). I picked the first fruits on July 2nd.

The plant is incredibly spindly and wimpy looking, and quite short—mine was about 3 feet (1m) tall. The tomatoes are extremely delicious from the very first to the last fruit on the vine. The flavor is bright and perfectly balanced. Among all the varieties I grew, it has no equal when it comes to the density of the flesh. When you hold the tomato in your hand, you immediately feel how heavy it is because it’s so dense. It has an excellent shelf life—it can sit for a long time without losing flavor and remaining just as firm. And at the same time, it is very juicy, but not watery.

The color of the flesh is hard to describe; it’s very special, expressive, and easily recognizable—a bright raspberry color. I tried to catch it on my iPhone camera, but I couldn’t get it quite right. The photo just doesn’t capture the real beauty of its shades. In reality, the color is even richer, especially the core in the center.

It’s incredibly stingy with seeds! I only managed to beg a few seeds out of the very last fruits.

Mine didn’t turn out to be super productive though; it quickly gave up its crop from three trusses and stopped. It didn’t give a second flush like Lyudmila’s did. And I didn’t get any massive giants on mine. I’ll have to dial in the growing conditions for it.

T@tka said:
[…] The color of the flesh is hard to describe; it’s very special, expressive, and easily recognizable—a bright raspberry color. […]

What a gorgeous cross-section, makes your mouth water just looking at it!

DenIra said:
What a gorgeous cross-section, makes your mouth water just looking at it!

Yes Irina, it truly is special, very beautiful and unique.

Hooray! This morning, when I listed the 9 virtues of Brusya, I really wanted to find a 10th!

GREAT KEEPER!

Thank you Tanya, it really is fantastic for shelf life.

How is its tolerance to high temperatures, especially in polycarbonate greenhouses?

Buridam said:
How is its tolerance to high temperatures, especially in polycarbonate greenhouses?

I wouldn’t say this summer was overly hot. The outdoor plants definitely set more fruit, but the ones in the greenhouse produced perfectly shaped, beautiful tomatoes!

Even on October 1st, Brusya is beautiful and very tasty!

I’ve been planting it for several years in a row, which says a lot! Dense, sweet, delicious!

Brusilovskiy

I grew it indoors in the greenhouse. It produced fruit all the way up to the roof. Loved it – tasty, dense, beautiful uniform fruits.

Seeds were from Olya. Olya, thank you!

Ladies, is it supposed to be Regular Leaf (RL)? I must have messed something up. Out of 6 seeds, three came up with Regular Leaf and three with Potato Leaf (PL). (Total brain fade on my part).

NatalyaG said:
Ladies, is it supposed to be Regular Leaf (RL)? I must have messed something up. Out of 6 seeds, three came up with Regular Leaf and three with Regular.

Aren’t “simple leaf” and “regular leaf” the exact same thing?!

Shevyachok said:
Aren’t “simple leaf” and “regular leaf” the exact same thing?!

Lyudmila, I’m having a brain fade! Thinking one thing, typing another. You guys should guess what I meant to ask 😂 (I meant Regular vs Potato leaf).

NatalyaG said:
Lyudmila, I’m having a brain fade! Thinking one thing, typing another. You guys should guess what I meant to ask

Natalya, there’s absolutely nowhere for a Potato Leaf to come from with this variety, most likely your seeds got mixed up or crossed.

neLENtyayka said:
I grew it indoors in the greenhouse. It produced fruit all the way up to the roof. Loved it – tasty, dense, beautiful uniform fruits.
Seeds were from Olya. Olya, thank you!

Elena, I think you might have a different strain of Brusilovskiy, not the same one that Lyudmila has.

I grew one just like yours before—it grows much taller, the fruits are a bright raspberry color, and the taste is completely different.

T@tka said:
I grew one just like yours before—it grows much taller, the fruits are a bright raspberry color, and the taste is completely different.

Oops, my mistake… I meant the opposite, the other strain had pink fruits, not the bright raspberry color like Lyudmila’s.

I confirm everything said above, it is an excellent variety!

(But the plant is indeed very small and skinny compared to the rest of my garden “monsters” 😂)

Just like the past two seasons, Brusilovskiy is incredibly tasty and prolific this year! The first flush on the lower trusses was practically laying on the ground, then it took a tiny break, and in August it loaded up heavily at the top. The whole plant looked like a Christmas tree decorated with fruits. I highly appreciate that fully ripe fruits can hang on the vine for 2-3 weeks without deteriorating!

It was very productive this season, but since it’s a repeat for me (I grow it almost every year), it didn’t get the best spot in the garden. The pink color wasn’t as vibrant as when grown in partial shade. I’ve noticed many times that you get that beautiful sparkling pink color on these varieties when they are grown in partial shade. In full sun, it gets mixed with red and a muddy pink hue.

Brusilovskiy – Indeterminate, mid-season maturity. When fully ripe, the fruits are a bright raspberry color. The flesh is very dense and has few seeds. Great keeper. I transported them to my daughter in another city, and they traveled perfectly. Tasty, sweet. Excellent yield.

My Brusilovskiy didn’t turn out raspberry colored. The taste was good, but not outstanding.

Decided to show off my Brusilovskiy too. I really love this tomato. I’ve grown it three times already with a few years’ gap in between. The itch to constantly grow new varieties stops me from planting it every single year.

This is Brusilovskiy’s 2nd year on my permanent grow list, the plant is very productive. Surprised me with its massive size this time around.

Finally picked these ripe fruits, they’ve been hanging on the vine for their SECOND month. Seriously, what other variety can brag about that?!

Sliced up 4 thick rounds from just one Brusya tomato—just imagine how amazing these will be sun-dried!!!