📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Evgeniya
- 🌍 Origin: Bred in 2009 by the well-known tomato breeder Ruslan Dukhov. Not to be confused with the commercial determinate variety “Zhenechka”.
- 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall). Very vigorous vines that easily reach over 10 ft (3 m).
- 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Massive pink strawberry-shaped/oxheart tomatoes. They are very meaty and can reach up to 2.2 lbs (1 kg) each.
- 👅 Flavor: Award-winning! Growers consistently rate it a solid 5 out of 5 for its sweet, rich flavor.
- ⏳ Maturity: Officially listed as mid-season, but many growers report it as one of the very first large oxhearts to ripen in their greenhouses.
A mid-season, indeterminate, tall variety. Description from R. Dukhov’s catalog:
Evgeniya is a standout 2009 variety celebrated for its top-tier, award-winning flavor. This highly vigorous indeterminate tomato produces towering vines over 10 ft (3 m) tall that yield massive, pink strawberry-shaped oxheart fruits weighing up to 2.2 lbs (1 kg) each. An award winner at a Missouri Tomato Festival, a single plant can produce an impressive yield of up to 22 lbs (10 kg) of delicious tomatoes.
My seedling of this variety snapped during transport to the country house, which most likely affected its yield. I rooted the broken top and planted it in the greenhouse, and planted the bottom part with the original roots outdoors in the open ground. The yield on both plants was below average. However, the fruits were pink, meaty, delicious, and sweet – both in the greenhouse and outdoors. A solid 5 out of 5!!! I will definitely grow it again in the greenhouse and give it a very sunny spot. I got my seeds from our forum member, Evgeniy.
Our Galochka gave me this variety, but I haven’t planted it yet 😕. It’s from VNIISSOK*, if I’m not mistaken. Thanks for the review, Lena, I will definitely plant it (my daughter’s name is Evgeniya, and Galochka loved to gift seeds with names matching our family members).
But wait, there is also a variety called Zhenechka*, isn’t that the same thing?
Galya, I don’t know about VNIISSOK. I just looked up Dukhov’s catalog from 2013, and he has a separate section for original varieties that he bred himself, and Evgeniya is in that list.
And yes, I also have a variety called Elena that Galochka gave me. Blessed memory to our Galochka!
I just checked the description for Zhenechka from Siberian Garden (SibSad) – they are definitely different varieties. Zhenechka has red fruits and the bush is short (determinate).
Bumping this thread… I’ve been growing it continuously since 2016. I’ve shared seeds with a lot of people, but for some reason, not many are posting about it.
It’s a very interesting variety. It is EARLY, yet still delicious and meaty… It is always the very first one to start ripening in my greenhouse.
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Oh, Tanya, I completely forgot about Evgeniya. I remember I really loved it too. I need to make sure I don’t forget to plant it next year.
Tanya wrote:
Bumping this thread… I’ve been growing it continuously since 2016. I’ve shared seeds with a lot of people, but for some reason, not many are posting about it.
I planted it this year, got the seeds from Guchi. It’s really great to hear that it’s an early variety, I had it listed in my spreadsheet as a mid-season!
- Rooting Snapped Seedlings: Elena mentions a fantastic trick for tomato growers. If a seedling snaps during transport or planting, you don’t have to throw it away! Tomatoes root easily from the stem. You can plant the bottom half (which will push out new suckers and keep growing) and stick the broken top half in water or moist potting mix to grow a whole new root system. You essentially get two plants out of one!
- *VNIISSOK: The All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Vegetable Breeding. Galina mistakenly thought this variety came from them, but it was actually bred by Ruslan Dukhov.
- *Evgeniya vs. Zhenechka: In Russian, “Zhenechka” is a diminutive, affectionate nickname for the name “Evgeniya” (Eugenia). This causes frequent confusion among growers! However, in the tomato world, they are completely different varieties. Evgeniya is a giant, indeterminate pink oxheart. Zhenechka is a commercial, dwarf, determinate red tomato produced by the Siberian Garden (SibSad) seed company.
