📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Daryonka
- 🌍 Origin: A highly regarded Russian heirloom. It was popularized and distributed by the famous Altai seed collector, Tamara Yaschenko.
- 🌿 Plant Habit: Semi-determinate. Grows to a very manageable height of about 4 feet (1.2 m), making it great for greenhouses without taking over the roof.
- 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Oval/plum-shaped paste tomatoes. They are a deep, dark red color and typically weigh 5.3-7 oz (150-200 g), though some can reach 10.5 oz (300 g). Some strains exhibit a distinct “beak” at the blossom end.
- 👅 Flavor & Texture: Known for being exceptionally meaty with very few seeds. The flesh is firm but tender, never woody.
- 🥫 Culinary Use: An absolute superstar for canning. Because of its dense texture, it holds its shape perfectly when canned in slices without turning to mush.
I got this variety from Tamara Yaschenko. Here is the description from her catalog:
Mid-season. For greenhouses. Height up to 4 feet (1.2 m). Fruits are oval, red, 5.3-7 oz (150-200 g) up to 10.5 oz (300 g). Meaty, few seeds. The flesh is firm yet tender at the same time, fragrant. All-purpose. High yielding.
It matches the description perfectly. The fruits are beautiful, red, and firm. I canned them in slices, and they don’t turn to mush; they stay perfectly firm. At the same time, they aren’t “woody” or hard – they are delicious, with very tender flesh. This variety is now permanently on my “must-grow” list. Unfortunately, I only have photos of them while they were still green.
Found one more photo of Daryonka.
I grew Daryonka this year too. Awesome tomatoes. The color of the unripe green tomatoes was very dark. I even thought I had an off-type. But no, they turned red. A very dark, deep red color. For some reason, I can’t find my photos of it. I took pictures of almost everything, but many are missing, I must have accidentally deleted them.
A meaty, dark red tomato. Delicious.
Quote from Elena BK:
A meaty, dark red tomato. Delicious.
Is the little beak/nipple mandatory for Daryonka? I planted this variety too, the bushes are loaded with fruit 😘, but the beak is barely noticeable. Seeds are from Lyudmila 2013 🙏 Will the beak grow out later?
Mine had the beak right from the green stage. My seeds were from Verochka (Tomatinka). Thank you to her, it’s a wonderful tomato.
I just found a photo of 3 more of them. The beak isn’t quite as obvious on these:
The “Dusya Krasnaya” Clone: If this tomato sounds remarkably familiar to you, you aren’t crazy! In another thread reviewing the commercial variety “Dusya Krasnaya” (Red Dusya) released by the Siberian Garden seed company, Vera (tomatinka) pointed out that Daryonka and Dusya Krasnaya are the exact same tomato! The commercial seed company simply took Tamara Yaschenko’s popular heirloom Daryonka, renamed it “Dusya”, and sold it to the masses.
