Dwarf Shadow Boxing Tomato: Grower Reviews & Photos

Seeds from Kulik.

My seedlings (left flat): very short plants, but taller than Tasmanian Chocolate, first truss after the 7th leaf.

Edited March 17, 2019 by Pomidoroved

Seeds from Kulik.

My seedlings (left flat): very short plants, but taller than Tasmanian Chocolate, first truss after the 7th leaf.

Color me intrigued. Got any more info? Taste, weight, days to maturity?

I’ll write about it when I actually grow it out. Kulik’s info says: mid-season, 2.3-3.3 ft (0.7-1.0 m), 120 days, elongated. A super-miracle. Unusually beautiful fruit coloring, elongated fruits about 3 inches (8 cm) long. Golden-orange with crimson lines and spots, the part near the stem is covered in blue (black). Tree-type bushes, very productive, excellent firm texture, meaty with little juice, tasty, sheer melon flesh, highly resistant to fungal diseases and viruses. The variety isn’t stable yet, so individual plants might throw similar but different shapes.

Elena, hoping you’ll save seeds from it? I’m collecting Dwarf varieties, and I don’t have this one yet. 😳

I got tempted by that description too and planted a bush, we’ll see what grows. 🙂

Also got tempted by the description (tasty and sweet), but Tatiana Kouchnareva’s database says https://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/Dwarf_Shadow_Boxing (tart and sharp) 🤷 . We’ll see what grows, planted it too.

Elena, hoping you’ll save seeds from it? I’m collecting Dwarf varieties, and I don’t have this one yet. 😳

Ira, I’ll save some, I’m betting big on this one. Gorgeous as a seedling and in Kulik’s photos. It’s already blooming, but I can’t plant it out just yet.

I planted out 18 plants, all perfectly uniform, the second truss is starting to bloom. Second truss is 3 leaves up, which means it’s not strictly determinate, but it stays short because it’s so compact. Right now my plants are 8-10 inches (20-25 cm) tall with the second truss. The fruit has a purple tint so far:

Super-determinate, productive, taste isn’t bad, the coloring is definitely interesting, but it didn’t turn out like A.I. Kulik’s (seeds are from him). Out of 4 bushes, one has round fruits, the rest are oval:

Super-determinate, productive, taste isn’t bad, the coloring is definitely interesting, but it didn’t turn out like A.I. Kulik’s (seeds are from him). Out of 4 bushes, one has round fruits, the rest are oval:

Could you tell me how tall it eventually got? And do you think it’s good for pickling or canning?

Edited August 18, 2015 by Drosera

No taller than 20 inches (50 cm). As for canning, we’ll test that out this winter 🙂 🎩

My dwarf. Beautiful and productive. Stood without staking at first, but then started falling over from the sheer amount of fruit. Seeds from Schastlivyi Sad.

Here’s the dwarf I grew from Kulik’s seeds, seems to match, flavor has no tartness, kinda reminds me of Amethyst Jewel. But I planted two bushes together outside in the dirt, and the second one is growing plain red ones, same shape and size, but just plain red, no stripes or gold, about 3 inches (8 cm) long. Gotta taste them to see if it’s just a regular red plum or if it still tastes like the Dwarf. The bushes aren’t super productive.

Here’s the dwarf I grew from Kulik’s seeds, seems to match, flavor has no tartness, kinda reminds me of Amethyst Jewel. But I planted two bushes together outside in the dirt, and the second one is growing plain red ones, same shape and size, but just plain red, no stripes or gold, about 3 inches (8 cm) long. Gotta taste them to see if it’s just a regular red plum or if it still tastes like the Dwarf. The bushes aren’t super productive.

A.I. Kulik told me right away to plant multiple bushes because the variety is still segregating. I tried my best, planted 4 whole plants 😆 Same color across all of them, but shape-wise, one out of the 4 has little round balls. 🎩

I grew 2 bushes of this Dwarf (seeds from Kulik). The fruits were uniform, very pretty, looked just like little eggplants at first, then got their stripes as they ripened. Liked the taste, firm flesh, and the plants themselves were impressive: sturdy and stocky, about 20-24 inches (50-60 cm) tall, healthy foliage, didn’t drop blossoms, very stress-tolerant. After growing them I really got an itch 👋 to try out other varieties from this series.

I’m looking at these photos, some are elongated, others are round 🙂 Looks like two different varieties. Is it really segregating that much?

I’m looking at these photos, some are elongated, others are round 🙂 Looks like two different varieties. Is it really segregating that much?

Yep, all the vendors warn that segregation is still possible, since the variety was released very early. It probably reached your area at the F4-F5 generation. https://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/Dwarf_Shadow_Boxing

Yeah, some of the tomatoes look completely different in both shape and color, and Tatiana’s catalog shows what looks like a totally different variety 🤷. Mine, for instance, had absolutely no red in them. Can anyone tell me what the correct version is actually supposed to look like?

Can anyone tell me what the correct version is actually supposed to look like?

It’s too early to talk about a correct version, but I’ve seen ones like yours on American blogs and forums. Here’s the shape one guy had in 2012, he got seeds straight from Tom, the breeder: https://mostlytomatomania.blogspot.com/2014/04/shadow-boxing-bred-by-tom-wagner.html

In 2012-2014 it was segregating heavily. Here’s another blog with photos: https://mostlytomatomania.blogspot.com/2014/04/dwarf-shadow-boxing-bred-by-tom-wagner.html

You can see the difference in color and fruit shape. Tom released his so-called variety way too early. Looks like a lot of people got it at the F2-F3 stage.

My Dwarf Shadow Boxing grew in a pot outside.

Elena, my version of this Dwarf looks a lot like yours 👍. Whose are the round fruits? Or is that it too 😲?

Elena, my version of this Dwarf looks a lot like yours 👍. Whose are the round fruits? Or is that it too 😲?

Yep, that’s also Dwarf Shadow Boxing 😉

Grew it outdoors, very beautiful bushes, a real feast for the eyes 👍 Both plants produced completely identical tomatoes.

My Shadow Boxing gave me three different variations:

Guys and gals! Over overseas they started distinguishing all these different shapes by adding “Type 1, 2, 3, 4…”

One example from the link: rich flavor and extra sweetness
https://heritageseedmarket.com/index.php/product/shadow-boxing-type-4/

So you can add your own labels for yourself (round, plum, etc).

Mine turned out sweet and beautiful. Looked like black eggplants at first, then got striped.

Man, I really loved this variety! 👍 Huge thanks to Natasha (mouse) for the seeds 😳 The bush grew outdoors, started fruiting pretty late, but in August it went crazy, I was picking tomatoes until mid-September. Height about 20 inches (50 cm). Green fruits ripened indoors perfectly and kept well. Tasty and sweet, firm. Very productive! And what I loved the most was that the plant didn’t catch any diseases! When late blight wiped out the other determinates growing right next to it, this variety didn’t even flinch.

My Shadow Boxing segregated too. One plant had round fruits, the other had elongated ones. Based on my conditions, I’d classify it as mid-late season. Really liked the flavor. Sweet with fruity notes. Fruits were pretty meaty.

Sowed it for the first time this year. Oddly enough, it took the longest to germinate. Is that normal for it? The other dwarfs popped up fast, but those seeds were from other collectors, while Shadow Boxing just sat there thinking about it for almost 10 days.

I never noticed that with this variety. Most likely the seeds were just overly dried out, that’s all.

Shadow Boxing (Dwarf Shadow Boxing). Grew this variety twice – love it! 👍 First time in a pot (height up to 2 ft / 60 cm), second time in the greenhouse (up to 2.3 ft / 70 cm). Didn’t sucker it, productive and very tasty, with a little sweetness 😋 My version has round fruits with a little beak, weighing up to 2.5 oz (70 g). Tree-type, rugose leaf, like most “Dwarfs”.

Productive, pretty little tomatoes, sat outside until the end of September.

Weirdly enough, where it grew with the determinates it was a fat, sprawling bush, but where I stuck it among the indets it looked scrawny, they probably shaded it out. Overall though, beautiful, healthy, dark green foliage. Heavy yielder. Fruited over a long window for me. Plums with a sharp beak. Red with yellow stripes. Dark shoulders or flanks. Aromatic and sweet. Sold like hotcakes at the market! Definitely growing it again, even though I’m a big beefsteak kinda gal.

Honestly, I didn’t get this variety. Beautiful, heavy-yielding – yes. But for me it ended up very late and tart. Grew it outdoors, didn’t want to waste greenhouse space on a shorty. Shape was round, like in Sveta’s photo. Couldn’t find a use for it. Nobody wanted to eat it. Won’t be growing it again.

My dwarf. Sturdy little bush. Greenhouse. Forum seeds.

Flavor is interesting, but not deep. Watery aftertaste.

Planted them in pots this year. Either it was a crappy year, or they just didn’t like the pots, yields were pretty average. The plants are great, and the little tomatoes are top-notch in the looks department.

Mine segregated the very first year I grew it. So I just keep growing both types.