Growers’ Notes and Photos (USDA Zone 4 Experience)
Couldn’t find a thread for this one. In some sources, folks spell it Verokovkhay or Ferokovkai.
The most accurate description I’ve found for this variety is this:
The first bicolor from the Dwarf Tomato Project.
Indet, late-season, with rugose potato-leaf foliage, producing oblate yellow fruits with red swirls. Flavor is absolutely phenomenal—sweet, complex, and well-balanced.
History: The name is pronounced “fer-dow-co-fi”, which is an indigenous New Zealand Maori word meaning “red-yellow”. The variety was developed between 2009-2013 by Dwarf Tomato Project members by crossing Dwarf Russian Swirl (from the Dopey family) and Lucky Cross (from the Dizzy family). Introduced in 2015. This variety is pledged to the Open Source Seed Initiative (OSSI).
Honestly, the info online about this variety is totally barebones and super conflicting. Redko describes it as a dwarf under 32 inches (80 cm), mid-early, with fruits up to 3.5 oz (100 g). But the ecotomato website says: Indet, up to 5.2 ft (1.6 m) in a greenhouse. Mid-season, with fruits weighing 3.5-12.3 oz (100-350 g), and up to 1 lb (450 g) if you prune blossoms.
I started my Wherokowhai seed alongside all my other dwarfs on February 15th, not having a clue what an absolute monster it would turn into. Back then, all I knew about dwarfs was that they were slowpokes that drag their feet growing, and that you have to start them earlier than other tomatoes. Well, Wherokowhai grew like a weed, I had to pot it up into bigger containers several times, and by the time I planted it out in its permanent spot, the vine was already as tall as me (5.2 ft / 160 cm) and loaded with blossom clusters. Had to lower the vines by late June. I started out pruning it to 2 stems, then missed a couple of suckers, and ended up with four. Guess it really is a late or mid-late season, since despite the super early start, I picked the very first ripe tomato on June 19th, right alongside the first ripe fruits of other varieties that I didn’t start until March 15th.
The first tomato was pretty huge, pushing 14 oz (400 g), looked like it definitely came from a megabloom:
The rest of the tomatoes were a much more uniform oblate shape and weighed a bit less, around 5-9 oz (150-250 g).
Flavor of the very first tomatoes was totally bland and washed out, but then it shifted from mildly sweet to a rich, intense sweet with a nice little tang and a fruity finish. There were barely any seeds in those first fruits.
Edited August 9, 2020 by Tatka
I actually really liked this variety, growing it in the greenhouse, the tomatoes are gorgeous and tasty…
Marina Dachnik said:
the tomatoes are gorgeous and tasty
Marina, the color on yours doesn’t look very Wherokowhai-ish, kinda washed-out pink maybe? Or is your camera’s color balance just off?
Community Gallery: Dwarf Wherokowhai
Editor’s Note: Some original photos in this thread were deleted by the user. Here are additional photos of Dwarf Wherokowhai grown by other community members to show its true colors and size.
Grown by crimpy
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Grown by crimpy
Grown by Alena
Grown by ElenaN
Grown by Krasnaya Shapka
Full Summary: Plant Size, Yield, and Flavor Profile
- 🌿 Plant: An indeterminate dwarf with highly attractive rugose potato-leaf foliage. Growers heavily emphasize that despite the “dwarf” label, this variety is highly vigorous and can reach over 5.2 ft (1.6 m) in a greenhouse, requiring staking and even pruning.
- 📈 Yield: A solid late-season producer. It often throws massive megablooms early on, followed by generous clusters of medium-to-large beefsteaks.
- 👅 Taste: Bicolor perfection. While the very first fruits off the vine might lack punch, the mid-to-late season fruits deliver an intensely sweet, complex flavor with fruity notes and a bright tang.
- 🍅 Fruit: Oblate beefsteaks that run anywhere from 5 to 14 oz (150-400 g). They feature a gorgeous yellow base heavily marbled with red streaks inside and out.
