Burracker’s Favorite (Burrakerskie Lyubimtsy) Tomato Review

Finally got to my absolute favorites 🙂. Seeds from Popenko. Yellow-red, colorful, gorgeous, meaty, not many seeds. The bush is loaded with fruit, and they are quite large. The taste is super sweet, and if I had let ’em hang on the vine a little longer, I bet they would’ve been even sweeter. Performs great both in the dirt and in the greenhouse. Rating – 5 out of 5.

Edited November 22, 2015 by Drosera

Marishka, have you grown Zagadka Prirody (Nature’s Riddle)? Wondering how they compare, the fruits look really similar?

Knyaginya Olga:
Marishka, have you grown Zagadka Prirody (Nature’s Riddle)? Wondering how they compare…

They are different. I got my seeds from Popenko and ended up with crossed/off-type seeds. We figured out a couple of my Zagadka Prirody bushes were actually off-types.

So I can say they definitely differ. Zagadka is tasty too, but the Favorites taste much better.

Thanks. I ordered Zagadka Prirody from Popenko too… man, I hate dealing with crossed seeds…

Marishka, when did you start the seeds for the Favorites?

Danko:
Marishka, when did you start the seeds for the Favorites?

Same as all my maters, all on the same day – after March 8th (think it was the 12th).

Marishka, how tall does the bush get, and is it sprawling/wide? How many stems did you keep?

Nelli:
Marishka, how tall does the bush get, and is it sprawling/wide? How many stems did you keep?

In the greenhouse, it hit the roof, I grew it to 2 stems. Outside it got to about 3 ft (1 meter) max, also to 2 stems.

They weren’t overly sprawling, just normal plants.

Look what kind of “favorites” grew for me. 2 plants, 2 totally different fruit shapes. Marishka sent the seeds, and honestly, they don’t look a thing like her photos 😂

Mendelian segregation in action 😂

Mine are from Marishka too.

But they aren’t supposed to be F1 hybrids?! It really looks like they segregated 😲. Julia’s look exactly like mine did last year.

Mine grew exactly like Marishka’s. Seeds were from V. Redko. Very beautiful, tasty, and a heavy yielder too.

Mine also grew exactly like Marishka’s. Seeds were from Popenko. Very tasty and beautiful, but it was stingy on fruit production.

Now I can upload a pic of my Burracker’s Favorite mater.

I’m still wondering why Sveta’s seeds segregated but Julia’s didn’t.

First pic is from July 3rd, there was only one fruit, and only after I picked it did the rest slowly start setting. Very tasty, beautiful… it’s great, but there aren’t enough of ’em… 🙂 In the end, there were about a dozen fruits on the plant, they are still growing, but they aren’t huge anymore.
Second pic is August 27. One is almost red because it got super overripe, I was afraid it would turn to mush while I was taking the picture. It looks redder in the photo than it should be. They are usually more orange.

Edited September 4, 2014 by Nadine

This is how my Burracker’s turned out. Huge, tasty. 🙂 It’s extreme for me to grow, just like all bi-colors. Seeds were from Lena Danko. Next season I’ll try to really figure out how to grow ’em properly.

Raya, I’m planning to sow a few bi-colors, literally two or three, into cups super early, maybe mid-January. I really loved two bushes of an unknown bi-color volunteer that popped up in a flower pot (I noticed them in January when they were already super leggy under the flower). They ended up pumping out no less than 30 tomatoes each (when I counted the first one, there were 32, and they kept growing later), weighing between 7 and 12 oz (200-350g). I figured it’s because of the early start.

Nadya, thank you! 🌺

I also figured I should start them earlier, then pot ’em up into 16 oz (0.5 L) containers, and by late April they’ll be perfectly sized big bushes.

I also had some unknown bi-color volunteers, a couple of plants…

But they were so good!!! I saved the seeds and just labeled them “Bi-colors” for myself. 🙂

The absolute best-tasting tomato I had. Truly a favorite! Received the seeds late and planted just one single seed on April 8th. Didn’t even hope to get anything in our Siberian conditions… Ended up getting 8 fruits, 2 on each truss, and we ate the first ripe mater in late August. After my usual hybrids, I almost swallowed my own tongue. Definitely planting it again this year.

Well, almost all tomatoes are good in their own way 😋, it all depends on personal taste, your dirt composition, and the weather conditions.

Season 2015:

Irina, super handsome! 👍 🙌

Eva77:
Irina, super handsome! 👍 🙌

Tatiana, thanks. It really produced heavily this year (and last year too) 👍 😋

Turned out to be massive beauties – anywhere from 10 to 21 oz (300 to 600g). The bush isn’t very robust, honestly kinda wimpy to be holding up such beauties – maybe I didn’t feed it enough… topped it at around 5 ft (1.5m). Yield was good, taste – sweet, but had a little tang to it. I’m definitely repeating it. Huge thanks to Natasha-Rusalka for the seeds! 🌺

Edited November 26, 2015 by Drosera

I’m growing 2 bushes. One out in the dirt, the other in the greenhouse. Didn’t notice any difference in taste. Yield was higher outdoors. Loved the variety. Everyone who got to taste it gave it top scores. The overall yield, in my opinion, is average. Already got orders from family to repeat it))).

This is what my Burracker’s Favorites looked like this year. The biggest and heaviest yielding of all my bi-colors. Grew them in the greenhouse to 2 stems. In the first pic they are next to some massive Mary Robinson and Hazel Mae specimens. Taste-wise, they are all about the same.

Here are my Favorites. Tasty and sweet. Grew in the shade, so they were late, and the plant wasn’t very tall.

I am totally charmed by this variety! Bushes got close to 6.5 ft (2m), yield was quite good, and the flavor is magical!!!

Thanks to Polina (Borchanka) for this gorgeous variety 🌺 It’s beautiful, tasty, and puts out a solid yield.

Grew it in the greenhouse. The summer was brutally hot, which the plant totally hated. Produced very few suckers, and the fruits literally sun-baked on the vine. Next time I’ll plant it in a different greenhouse with shade cloth. The fruits are sweet and tasty.

Awesome variety! Oksana (cat) – 😘 ! Fruits are huge, 10-18 oz (300-500g), very tasty… The only thing that got on my nerves was the wimpy bush… Walked on eggshells around it. I rooted a sucker from it and it pumped out a dozen maters, though they are still green right now… Definitely repeating.

Repeated it from saved seeds – yield is even better…

What’s the maturity on this one, mid-season or late?

Planting this awesome variety again this year. Loved everything about it! Productive, huge, beautiful, and most importantly, incredibly tasty 😋

Grew the ‘Favorites’ for the first time. I read some mixed reviews on it before, but I loved it. Pumped out a solid yield of very tasty, beautiful, sweet fruits.

This is some crazy super-giant tomato 🙌 😄

Insanely productive, beautiful, tasty, and the fruits are massive—the biggest one hit 2.4 lbs (1.1 kg). I harvested them all, and it just set another flush and more tomatoes are growing.

So far, I’ve only managed to find exactly 1 seed inside. 😄

Sucks that I couldn’t get any pictures this year. 😞

First time growing Burracker’s Favorite. Gorgeous tomatoes, huge, loved the taste. The plant is pretty wimpy/sparse, and wasn’t super productive for me. Will definitely plant it again next year, since this summer was absolutely brutal for the garden.

Figured out what this variety is capable of in ’16. Pinched the suckers lightly, and by fall one plant had 11 suckers going at different heights. Grown under cover. In the photo, my granddaughter is hugging almost all the suckers (September). Harvested from two bushes on 10/22/16.

2017: Mia cut this tomato up into cubes and ovals and took a pic. We never use more than one mater of this variety in a salad, especially the big ones. It’s just way too sweet.

Strain is from Nadyusha in Volgograd.

Super tasty, sweet, and pretty, but the yield was completely awful. A storm badly damaged the bush, and I also planted them way too close. Will definitely repeat 👍

First time growing Burracker’s Favorite. Seeds were from A.I. Kulik. It turned out mid-season for me. The bush is pretty weak, grew to about 5.5 ft (1.7 meters). Yield was average. Didn’t fully show its true potential. Fruits are oblate, absolutely gorgeous, average weight 10-14 oz (300-400g). Very pleasant balanced flavor. Will absolutely repeat later.

Absolute darling and favorite of this season. Vigorous bush, no diseases, sets fruit well, though it dropped blossoms on the second truss because of a freezing May-June. Made up for it later though, and kept pumping out huge, delicious maters right up until frost. Definitely repeating in the greenhouse next year.

Grew it for the first time. The summer was complete garbage, so I didn’t really get to enjoy the flavor. Going to try growing it again in 2018 from my saved seeds.

Loved this variety. Tall, curved right along the roof, vigorous, loaded from top to bottom with huge tomatoes. Incredibly tasty, balanced—sweet with just a tiny tang. Awesome variety in every way.

In the scale pic, it’s cut in half because I forgot to take a photo before slicing it 😁

Grew Burracker’s Favorite for the first time this year. Pruned to a single stem. It finally set fruit in the second half of July. Turned out to be a mid-season variety.

Yield was good for a bi-color, fruits weighed around 10-14 oz (300-400g), nice balanced flavor.

Julia, why isn’t yours a bi-color? Or was it just that one fruit?

TatianaSh:
Julia, why isn’t yours a bi-color? Or was it just that one fruit?

Tanya, it generally is a bi-color. But if you let it hang for a long time, it turns totally red. I actually liked keeping it on the bush longer, makes the flavor pop more.

Edited August 30, 2019 by Yulya

Yulya:
I actually liked keeping it on the bush longer, makes the flavor pop more.

Guess I picked mine too early… The flavor hasn’t really opened up yet.

First time planting. The bush gave exactly one single tomato, but the taste was absolutely godly. Ridiculously sweet with zero hint of acid.

Truly a favorite variety. Been growing it for a few years. One year, a single bush pumped out massive, gorgeous, and tasty RASPBERRY-PINK tomatoes. Saved the seeds separately but never got around to planting ’em. Still don’t know what that was—a cross, segregation, or if weather triggered it. The coloring of bi-colors changes drastically based on conditions (sun, intense heat).

Interestingly, for the second year in a row, they are setting poorly in my greenhouse; it’s just too hot for them in our climate. In the dirt (outdoors), yield was great this year, but the first two bottom trusses turned out totally catfaced and wonky.

Pic is of the first truss. Didn’t photograph the upper ones. Saved seeds from the normal, smooth fruits.

Edited September 24, 2020 by Katrinka

Second year planting this variety. In 2020 I only had 1 bush, and I literally harvested only 1 tomato from it, but it was so good I planted it again in 2021. This year it turned out to be super productive, fruits were huge, 1 to 1.5 lbs (500 – 700g). It blows my mind how such a compact bush can push out maters this big. However, the flavor wasn’t quite as magical this year, though it was still sweet and nice.

Tasty and a heavy yielder, as always.