📌 Quick Summary: Caspian Pink
- 🌍 Origin: A legendary heirloom originally sourced from Russia/Kazakhstan. It gained massive fame in North America for reportedly beating the famous Brandywine in taste tests. Russian seed vendors later re-imported it, marketing it heavily as the “Queen of all Pink Tomatoes.”
- 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall) and naturally bushy. It reaches about 4.6 feet (1.4 m) when grown outdoors in the dirt, but can easily top 6.5 feet (2 m) in a greenhouse. Requires staking and mindful pruning depending on your spacing.
- 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Large, pale pink beefsteaks. The flesh is incredibly meaty and displays a beautiful “sugary” or sparkling texture when broken open.
- 👅 Flavor & Use: A classic, old-school heirloom flavor profile featuring a perfect 50/50 balance of sweetness and acidity. Ideal for fresh slicing and summer salads.
Seeds are from D. Gusev. In his catalog, they are listed as: Caspian Pink (Queen of the Pinks) – Prikaspiyskiy Rozoviy or Queen of all Pink tomatoes. Why Caspian and what does a queen have to do with it? I have no idea. In foreign catalogs, this variety is simply called Caspian Pink.
Gusev’s description is as follows:
Kazakh tomatoes were named the “Queen of all pink tomatoes” in America. When this happens in the homeland of tomatoes, it is the highest praise for our folk breeding! The tomatoes are truly magnificent. The variety belongs to the giant category. Sugary flesh when broken open, with a bright aroma and a pale pink color. Early enough to give a large harvest in the middle zone in open ground during a good summer. Indeterminate, vigorous, bushy!
From my own experience, I can say that I liked the variety. Indeterminate, good yield, low maintenance, grew outdoors in open ground, and reached a height of 4.6 feet (1.4 m). The fruits are massive, beautiful, pale pink, and have a very good taste.
Continuation:
Indeterminate, vigorous, bushy!
So does that mean I shouldn’t prune it to a single stem? Please don’t throw rotten tomatoes at me, I bought a bunch of Gusev’s seeds, but his variety descriptions are virtually non-existent. I don’t know how to plant them, I’m a total newbie. I just begged my husband to buy me a second greenhouse and I have absolutely zero room for error here. I need to blow him away with how these beauties look.
Ludmila! It really depends on how you plant them. If the spacing between your bushes is wide enough, then why stick to a single stem? It’s better to run it to two stems. But if your planting is tight and crowded, then a single leader is better. Honestly though, I never grow my tomatoes to a single stem. I just feel bad leaving only one, even though I probably should sometimes.
I totally agree about Gusev, his variety specs are practically non-existent.
What a gorgeous stunner! Elena, please tell me, when you say it’s tasty, what exactly is the balance? Is it a sweet-and-sour mix? What dominates, the acidity or the sweetness?
Irin, it means it’s split evenly, equal parts acidity and sweetness. Those who have rich soil and lots of sun should get incredibly sweet, rich fruit, whereas mine just had a normal, perfectly balanced flavor. I liked the variety because it’s low maintenance and sets large fruits perfectly in open ground.
I really loved this variety. I’ve wanted to plant it for a long time, but only managed to do it this past season. Despite starting the seedlings late, it showed excellent yield in the greenhouse. The bushes reached up to 6.5 feet (2 m) tall. The fruits are very tasty, tender, and sweet. I highly recommend trying this variety.
In 2017 I grew the “Kaspiy” (Caspian) tomato from Gavrish, it looks very similar to the photos, or is that a different variety?
In this thread, you can see how global heirloom tomato trading causes naming confusion! Caspian Pink is a very famous heirloom in North America, originally sourced from Russia/Kazakhstan. Russian collector D. Gusev bought seeds of it, brought it back to Russia, and heavily marketed it to local growers by boasting about its American fame.Later in the thread, a user asks if the commercial seed “Kaspiy” sold by Gavrish is the same thing. Because heirloom tomato names cannot be easily patented, large Russian seed corporations frequently take famous heirlooms, slightly alter their names (e.g., Caspian Pink -> Kaspiy), and sell them under their own branding to cash in on the hype!
