📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Burkovskiy Ranniy (Burkov’s Early)
- 🌍 Origin: A Russian commercial release, originally bred by VNIIR (Vavilov Institute of Plant Industry) and popularized by the Siberian Garden (Sibsad) seed company.
- 🌿 Plant Habit: Determinate (bush habit). A true shorty and very compact. No pruning or suckering needed. It’s perfect for container gardening, balconies, or tucking in around the base of tall indeterminate varieties in the greenhouse.
- 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Red, mostly round fruits. (Some growers report finding a distinct little point or “beak” at the blossom end). While the seed packet claims they can reach 150-200g (5-7 oz), they usually run much smaller in reality, averaging 30-100g (1-3.5 oz).
- 👅 Flavor: Highly dependent on your garden conditions. Reviews are completely mixed: some growers found them sour and pathetic, while others swear by their surprising sweetness and great aroma for an early tomato.
- ⏳ Maturity: Extra early season. It sets trusses very frequently, turning it into a fast little producer.
BURKOVSKIY RANNIY
Grew this Sibsad variety last year. I totally fell for the packet description promising massive yields and zero maintenance 😉
“An early-maturing variety bred by VNIIR for open ground. The plant is compact and requires no suckering. Fruits are red, round, weighing up to 150 g (5 oz), with the first ones hitting 200 g (7 oz), boasting excellent flavor. A standout for its extreme earliness… Undeniable perks include consistently high yields (up to 3 kg / 6.6 lbs per bush); trusses set after every single leaf starting from the fifth, even in bad weather.”
Well, I don’t know, maybe I just don’t have the magic touch for short determinates, but I didn’t see any of that: no 5-7 oz fruits (they averaged about 3 oz tops), and definitely no bumper crop… It did set a truss every leaf, I’ll give it that. But the foliage was all curled up, the plants looked pathetic, and the tomatoes were downright sour. I didn’t even bother taking pictures of the ripe ones because there was nothing to look at. Definitely won’t be growing this one again.
I fell for the seed packet hype back in 2011 too, and was totally let down. Just a tiny, stingy plant with nasty-tasting fruit.
And I actually liked it! Maybe I got a different strain or crossed seeds? 🤔 The tomatoes were on the small side, around 2.5 oz and some barely an ounce, but they were super cute with a little point on the blossom end. More importantly for me—it really is super early. I enjoyed the flavor, too. The plant stayed small and compact, no curled leaves at all. Definitely a keeper.
Burkovskiy Ranniy was actually a big hit for us back in 2017.
I needed something to tuck in around the base of my tall indeterminates in the greenhouse, so I just grabbed the first seed packet I found. (Honestly, I only bought it because I got the name mixed up with Burracker’s Favorite 😂).
It ended up being our absolute favorite salad tomato that year. The poor plants were just sprawling all over the dirt, I didn’t even bother staking them… We were literally picking them up off the floor. Delicious, sweet, and really aromatic. They definitely didn’t hit that 200g mark, but honestly, who cares?
In that last photo, you can see the plant in the foreground just sprawling on the ground.
My absolute favorite early little tomato! Super tasty, sweet, and aromatic!
Here it is growing on my balcony in late May.
