Quick Summary of Fidelio
- 🌍 Origin: A famous variety released by “Siberian Garden” (SibSad). According to the breeder’s history, it was developed by adapting a variety originally brought from the island of Cuba to the harsh Siberian climate.
- 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall), often exhibiting the classic “weeping” or wispy foliage typical of oxheart varieties. It grows extremely vigorously and requires strong support.
- 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Large oxhearts (some lower fruits can be ribbed and oblate), ranging from 300g to 800g, and frequently reaching up to 1 kg (2.2 lbs). The color is often described as “moire-pink” (a shimmering dusty pink) or dark raspberry red.
- 👅 Flavor: Very meaty, sweet, and well-balanced. Some growers note it has low acidity, making it perfect for those who prefer purely sweet, meaty tomatoes.
- ⏳ Yield & Hardiness: Exceptional adaptability. Growers report it sets fruit flawlessly in extreme heat (up to 40°C / 104°F) as well as during unexpected cold snaps and frosts. It yields heavily, up to 6 kg (13 lbs) per plant.
Fidelio (SibSad)
It didn’t come without surprises :). Here is what the producer claims about it:
“A new high-yielding, large-fruited variety of Siberian breeding, obtained as a result of many years of selection and adaptation to Siberian conditions of a variety brought from the island of Cuba. The variety is mid-season, medium-tall (100-150cm), suitable for growing in open ground and greenhouses. Fruits are large (300-800g / 0.6-1.7 lbs), meaty, of an attractive moire-pink color, heart-shaped. The variety is very productive (up to 6kg per plant), sets fruit well even in hot summer conditions.”
And they attach a corresponding photo.
For me, it turned out slightly different. I grew it in 2012 in a greenhouse. It’s a very, very tall indeterminate 😆, the plant is sooooo powerful and vigorous. Even from the moment it sprouted and began developing, it was clear it was going to be a “beanstalk”, stretching taller than all the others. Then it made me nervous after planting in the greenhouse: it rushed upwards so fast I felt like snapping the top off and rooting it in water! Moreover, it produced the first flower truss after the 11th leaf! The fruits developed very slowly at first, the plant was almost 1.5m (5 ft) tall with just two trusses and tiny nubs on them—it makes you wonder…
Then, suddenly, it started gaining weight rapidly, outperforming many well-behaved neighbors in weight and size, and after that, it grew and set fruit normally. Well, now I know what to expect from it, but last year it was definitely like sitting on a volcano.
Furthermore, the shape was variable. On the lower trusses, they were oblate and ribbed, while on the upper ones, they were more kidney/heart-shaped, just like in SibSad’s photo. It set fruit perfectly on the upper trusses, almost all ripened, and it grew until October until we dismantled the greenhouse.
The color wasn’t moire-pink at all, and not even pink, but rather red. In the summer during the heat, the taste seemed purely sweet to me (I prefer a little acidity), but closer to autumn, the taste became very good—well-balanced.
And these are the upper trusses:
I had these in 2012. I trained it to two stems, and under the weight of the tomatoes, the second stem broke off.
Lada, yours is also more red than moire-pink, right? And the shape is ribbed, not heart-shaped. What was the shape at the top of the plant?
Sergey (Firs75) grew it in 2012. He wrote that it was pink, heart-shaped, large, and very tasty. He sent me seeds of his Fidelio, if things work out, I’ll compare them this year.
Red, red and ribbed. The higher up, the smoother the fruits get. Well, about the color… You can call it moire-pink only when it is very overripe (I set them aside to ripen indoors), and even then, only loosely speaking.
Mine was rather oblate (flat-round). But it only managed to set two trusses, I don’t know, maybe higher up they would have turned out heart-shaped. And the color was indeed that moire-pink, or pinkish-raspberry. Definitely not red.
My Fidelio variety completely matches Olga’s description.
My Fidelio variety also completely matches Olga’s description, and the color of the fruits is moire-pink, and it set fruit well in the heat.
On the second bush, the tomatoes ended up with cracks.
Edited January 19, 2013 by Sve-tik
Fidelio, first truss, 977g (2.1 lbs). The subsequent tomatoes are heart-shaped.
I unconditionally fell in love with it this year. For me, the shape, color, and taste are exactly according to the description. The seeds were from Sergey. 👍
I only had 1 plant this year, so an objective assessment is unlikely, but it was definitely one of the most beautiful. The height of the bush is average, and its sturdiness is also average—not flimsy, but it bent to the ground under the weight of the beautiful clusters. The taste didn’t stand out, just an average tomato flavor.
The first photo is not very good, taken during pouring rain, and in the second one, some of the fruits have already been harvested.
A very productive variety. The fruits are very large, the first one was nearly a kilogram. 🍅🍅 The plant was healthy, didn’t catch any diseases. Taste is average.
I had a red Fidelio from Galya-64, very productive and large, but the taste was average.
Mine was exactly like the picture. A dark pink heart. 😋👍
And I read somewhere that Fidelio is an improved Bychye Serdtse (Bull’s Heart). Supposedly earlier and tastier. I bought it from SibSad. Now I’m having some doubts…
I don’t know what to think, but my Fidelio (seeds from Lazarevy) turned out exactly like the picture (on the packet I received). Oblate, raspberry-colored, early, tasty, productive, tall, regular leaf, sets fruit even in severe heat, never leaves you without a harvest.
Alisa wrote:
I don’t know what to think, but my Fidelio (seeds from Lazarevy) turned out exactly like the picture…
In your link, Fidelio is listed as up to 1 meter, heart-shaped. 😎
Edited February 13, 2015 by Drosera
Eva77 wrote:
In your link, Fidelio is listed as up to 1 meter, heart-shaped. 😎
In the description on their link, they write that it is heart-shaped, but in reality, it is exactly like in their own photo (above the description), and in real life, the bush has unlimited growth (indeterminate)… Their photo and the description on the site diverge for some reason…
I grew Fidelio (SibSad) every year for three years in a row. Indeterminate, the bush has “weeping” / wispy foliage like most “hearts”, pink, productive, large, up to 1 kg (2.2 lbs). For me, the taste lacks a bit of acidity.
I really liked Fidelio for its very beautiful, heart-shaped fruits and excellent sweet taste. In the greenhouse, the bushes were about 1.5 meters (5 ft) tall. The yield turned out to be average, because there were usually only 3 fruits per truss.
I don’t even know if I have Fidelio or not, but the variety is awesome the variety is awesome 😁 I got it as a gift as a seedling, named Fidelio. Based on the photo of the fruit, the lady who gave me the seedling confirmed it was it. Mine was mid-early, large fruits, pink, almost with a pearlescent hue, round-heart-shaped, some were more pronounced hearts. Sweet, tasty, I really liked it. The bush was not tall and not bulky; the fruits had to be tied up additionally. The weight of the first fruits was 500-600g (1.1-1.3 lbs), subsequent ones 300-400g (0.6-0.8 lbs).
I’m growing Fidelio for the first time. Like all greenhouse varieties, it was sown on February 27, and seedlings emerged on March 1-2.
I didn’t feed the seedlings with any fertilizers. For a month, all seedlings were grown indoors. With the onset of positive temperatures, the seedlings were moved to a glazed balcony on the south side. They sometimes grew at temperatures of +3-5 degrees Celsius (37-41°F).
The seedlings were placed uncovered in the greenhouse on May 1st, and on the night of May 1st to 2nd, they endured a slight frost.
On May 5th, Fidelio, like all indeterminates, was planted out in the greenhouse. It acclimated well to its permanent spot, didn’t get sick, and immediately started growing. It was one of the tallest bushes in the greenhouse—by early June its height was over a meter.
It perfectly survived the May heat, an abnormal three-week cold spell in June with frosts in the open ground, and an equally abnormal heatwave in July with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius (104°F). It was initially trained to one stem, then let to grow wild / unpruned. Despite the unfavorable temperature conditions, it bloomed and successfully set fruit on all trusses. The first truss grew five large raspberry-pink heart-shaped fruits. One of the fruits had to be tied up separately so it wouldn’t break off due to its weight.
In the twenties of July, it was one of the first to ripen, alongside Bychye Serdtse Udalovykh (Udalov’s Bull’s Heart), Korol Sibiri (King of Siberia), Calcutta, and Domashneye Serdtse Gonsiorovskikh.
It turned out to have a pleasant, harmonious taste, but slightly inferior compared to Domashneye Serdtse Gonsiorovskikh.
Like Lopatinskiye this year, it successfully passed my variety trials and earned a permanent spot on my grow list.
In my opinion, Fidelio can be successfully grown in all zones of Russia, as it sets fruit perfectly despite abnormal cold and heat, distinguishing itself with high yields in any weather.
One of the drawbacks of this variety is its susceptibility to Cladosporium (leaf mold), which, however, is typical for all greenhouse indeterminates.
Edited August 5, 2020 by Sergey-EKB
I also only got one plant. I didn’t count after which leaf it produced fruits, but I wouldn’t say there are too many fruits. I think I’ll harvest about 3-3.5 kg (6.6-7.7 lbs) from the bush. But the taste and shape of the fruit surprised me. Very tasty and beautiful. The fruit color is dark pink. Beautiful hearts.
