📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Diplomat
- 🌍 Origin: A Russian variety popularized by the famous Siberian seed collector, Tamara Yaschenko.
- 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall). A very strong, vigorous vine that performs exceptionally well outdoors in open ground.
- 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Large to extra-large red beefsteaks. They are very meaty and juicy.
- 👅 Flavor & Use: A reliable workhorse variety. It doesn’t have a complex gourmet profile, but offers a solid, classic old-fashioned red tomato flavor. Great for everyday slicing and processing.
- ⏳ Maturity: Mid-season, but leans heavily towards being mid-early.
Mid-season, leaning more towards an early-season tall variety. The fruits are red beefsteaks, large to extra-large, meaty, and juicy. The flavor turned out to be just your standard, classic red tomato taste. Yields were fantastic, it’s a very strong and vigorous bush that I grew outdoors in open ground. My seeds came from T. Yaschenko.
Elena notes that this variety grew into a strong, vigorous bush in “open ground” (outdoors without a greenhouse). It makes perfect sense when you realize her seeds came from Tamara Yaschenko! As we mentioned in our review of the Daryonka tomato, Yaschenko was a legendary seed saver based in the harsh climate of the Altai Mountains in Siberia. Varieties from her catalog were famously selected for their rugged ability to thrive, yield heavily, and ripen early outside in cold, unpredictable weather!
