📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Carol Chyko’s Big Paste
- 🌍 Origin: A huge, classic heirloom paste tomato from Pennsylvania, USA. It was named after Carol Chyko. Note on translation: In Russian seed collections, it is frequently traded under the shortened (and slightly mistranslated) name “Большой Кэрол” (Big Carol).
- 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate. A very tall, powerful, and vigorous plant that performs exceptionally well both in greenhouses and in open ground.
- 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Despite being called a “paste” tomato, these are massive, slightly ribbed red beefsteaks. They are incredibly meaty and heavy, making them perfect for thick sauces and canning.
- 👅 Flavor: Classic, rich, old-fashioned tomato flavor.
- ⏳ Yield: Extremely heavy yielder. Growers report that it sets fruit reliably even in cold, rainy weather without dropping blossoms.
This tomato grew both in my greenhouse and outdoors in open ground. I pruned the plant to 3-4 main stems. The plant is tall, powerful, and productive, both in open ground and in the greenhouse. The fruits are slightly ribbed and large. The taste is classic tomato.
Sveta, can I ask, is this the one sold as “Big Carol”?
Quote from Danko:
Sveta, can I ask, is this the one sold as “Big Carol”?
Lena, yes, it’s the exact same one. I just wasn’t completely sure about the accuracy of the Russian translation.
Quote from Lana:
Lena, yes, it’s the exact same one.
Why haven’t I planted this yet?! I need to fix that! 😄 It looks very nice!
Big Carol 2015:
A good variety, very tasty.
I was absolutely amazed by the yield of this tomato this year. It grew outdoors in open ground under constant rain, yet it set fruit heavily without skipping any trusses. It performed better than some varieties that are specifically bred for open ground. The only other variety with the same crazy outdoor productivity for me was ‘Brown’s Yellow Giant’. 👍
