Growers’ Notes and Photos (USDA Zones 3-6 Experience)
I want to tell you about this wonderful little baby. Determinate variety, a true micro, maxes out at 12 inches (30 cm) but mostly stays around 10 inches (25 cm). It’s a tree-type bush that gets completely loaded with plum-shaped tomatoes with a little beak, weighing around 3 oz (80 g) each. In my opinion, since we all love to pack our plantings tightly, you couldn’t think of a better variety to plant “at the feet” of your tall vines!
The fruits are uniform and firm, perfect for pickling, and considering how early it is, they are great for fresh eating too. I sent seeds to so many people over the last few years, please chime in and tell me how it did for you, I’m really curious. Here it is in the photo, look, there’s a pen for scale. The bush itself is tiny, but the fruits are quite substantial.
Edited December 7, 2015 by Galya-64
Galochka, I grew it from your seeds. Absooolutely loved it! I grew it in a bucket, actually planted 2 plants per bucket. And it was totally fine, they had enough space and I got a normal yield. It’s tasty, even though the skin is tough, I think it’ll be great for kids to snack on! And for canning, of course!
Nina, I just looked at your scale photos and even corrected my weight description. I don’t have scale photos myself, but I checked my notes and last year they were up to 3.5 oz (100 g), and this year up to 3 oz (80 g). But yours look to be around 1-1.5 oz (30-40 g). Last year I grew mine in a spot with very rich soil, there were fewer fruits on the bush but they were larger.
Galya, well mine grew in a bucket, so that’s probably why they were smaller. Plus, these were the last ones of the season, the very first ones were probably closer to 1.8 oz (50 g) anyway.
Galya-64 wrote:
In my opinion, since we all love to pack our plantings tightly, you couldn’t think of a better variety to plant “at the feet” of your tall vines!
How adorable! It really is an absolute gem for border plant under tall varieties! And especially since it’s very early.
Thank you, Galya, for the seeds! I’m definitely adding this to my grow list for next season!
Hey folks, what do you mean by a border under tall varieties? Explain it to a newbie on how to plant that.
Natasha, you plant your tall vines, and then right against the greenhouse walls, along the edge of the path, or at the borders of the beds you plant this one, just like a little “border” fence. 🙂
I planted this variety (from Galya64) right at the feet of my indets. The bushes were short, max 12 inches (30 cm). Mid-season, maybe leaning closer to late (at least that’s how it turned out for me), and productive. The flavor is just standard, tomatoey, and the skin is tough. Very good variety to use as a little border planting.
Yaroslavna wrote:
I’m definitely adding this to my grow list for next season!
…Well, I didn’t get around to growing it that next season, but I finally did this year!
So I planted a few little bushes “at the feet” of my tall vines in the greenhouse, right on the edge. These bushes turned out to be so incredibly prolific. Despite their miniature size, they stood completely loaded with these little plum tomatoes with a beak, looking almost like they were lacquered.
They are quite large for a dwarf, 2.8-3.2 oz (80-90 g), firm, a very successful option for whole-fruit canning, sun-drying, and freezing. They didn’t turn out early for me this year because of the weird summer, I picked the first fruits in July. They store for a long time without losing quality. Galochka, a heartfelt thank you for the seeds of this variety!
A very prolific little guy, Galya and Ninulya, thanks for the seeds! Grew it in the greenhouse, reached about 18 inches (45 cm), I didn’t prune any suckers. It turned out mid-season for me (I sowed late in mid-March and early summer was very cold). The fruits are red, dense, firm, hang ripe on the bush for a long time without dropping in quality, store well, and of course are excellent for canning jars. Weight up to 3 oz (80 g).
You can sow it early, as a seedling it stays compact, stocky, with wide leaves, and doesn’t get leggy at all.
Hey folks, tell me, will it handle the fruit load without being tied to a stake?
Some of mine fell over from the sheer weight. It’s built like a little oak tree – sturdy, stocky, the foliage is incredibly dense and thick. At first, you can’t even see the tomatoes, and then suddenly – holy mother of god! It’s better to tie it to a small little stake just in case.
How did I miss such a great variety. Writing this down on my wish list for next year.
Grew it outdoors, just to see what it would do. Really liked it, you could definitely plant it in cylinders for an early harvest. Height up to 20 inches (50 cm), not an aggressive grower, just a neat little bush. I did have to tie it up, otherwise it was falling over sideways from the weight of the fruits. Seeds from Galochka 64.
Out of the three Korall seeds I received as a gift, only one germinated. I absolutely babied that one seedling. If I had more seedlings, I would have tried growing them outdoors in the dirt, but to be safe, I planted it at the feet of my lanky indet monsters in the greenhouse. So I had this cute little guy growing all alone among the monsters in the middle bed of the greenhouse.
He was maybe 10 inches (25 cm) tall, no more. The fruits were also small, around 1.8 oz (50 g). Firm, kind of triangular shaped, great for canning jars and sun-drying. I’ve decided I’ll definitely keep planting Korall in the greenhouse as a space-filler, and not just one bush next time. It totally doesn’t get in the way in there.
P.S. I’ll add this: I specifically paid attention to the root system when I was pulling the bush out in the fall. The roots are very neat and relatively small. Because of that, I think Korall would be perfectly suited for growing in pots.
Edited November 12, 2018 by Inn@
A wonderful tree-type dwarf, very productive variety. Just an absolute treasure for pickling and marinating.
Hey folks, I’ll ask here too—is Korall supposed to bush out heavily with suckers? I have 3 bushes growing right now, they are already 12-13 inches (30-32 cm) tall, and only now, after the 8th leaf, did they set a flower cluster… there is absolutely no sign of suckers.
So it begs the question, where are the other clusters going to come from if it’s a dwarf and stays short, but my first cluster is only after the 8th leaf and it’s already 13 inches tall… They grew in 1-pint pots, I just up-potted them to 1-quart pots, but they hadn’t fully maxed out the root space in the first ones anyway. You could see roots all around the rootball, but it was obvious they could have easily kept growing in there, so I don’t think it’s a container volume issue. Especially since I’m feeding them exactly the same as all the others…
Honestly, that’s got me thinking about the suckers too. I wouldn’t say it bushes out aggressively with them. It has some, of course, but it doesn’t turn into a jungle.
It has very few suckers, at first the clusters just form on the main stem, the third one is already blooming, and only now are the suckers starting to form. They are sitting in 3-quart (3 L) pots for now, it’s way past time to plant them out in their final home.
The video uploaded sideways, couldn’t figure out how to fix it…
Awesome variety, I will absolutely be growing this one again. The bush is tiny, the little tomatoes are firm, just perfect for pickling (seeds from Zolushka).
Full Summary: Plant, Yield, Taste and Storage
- 🌿 Plant: A true micro-dwarf or “tree-type” bush with thick, rugose foliage. It rarely exceeds 12 to 18 inches (30-45 cm) in height. It has a very compact root system and requires zero pruning. Due to its stout nature and small footprint, growers highly recommend it for container gardening (even doing well with two plants in a 5-gallon bucket) or as a border plant. Despite the thick stems, the fruit load gets so heavy that it often requires a small stake to keep from falling over.
- 🍅 Fruit: Firm, small red plum tomatoes with a pointed beak. They weigh between 1.5 and 3.5 oz (40-100 g), depending heavily on soil fertility and container size.
- 📈 Yield: Exceptionally high for a plant of this size. The clusters form tightly along the main stem before branching out, completely hiding the foliage under a blanket of fruit.
- 👅 Taste & Storage: A classic, firm paste tomato flavor. The thick skin makes it an outstanding candidate for whole-fruit canning, pickling, and sun-drying. The fruits hold exceptionally well on the vine and store long after picking without softening.
