📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Gerkules (Hercules)
- 🌍 Origin: A Russian commercial determinate variety (seeds distributed by ASK). The name translates to “Hercules.”
- 🌿 Plant Habit: Determinate (bush). While commercial packets claim it stays extremely dwarf (10-16 inches / 26-40 cm), growers report it easily grows to nearly 3 ft (80-90 cm) in good garden soil.
- 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Medium-to-small red plum/paste tomatoes. It produces a heavy set of fruit per bush.
- 👅 Flavor & Use: Rated as very ordinary. The flavor leans toward the acidic/tangy side and lacks the sweetness or complexity needed for fresh eating. However, due to its firm texture and high yield, it is considered a decent workhorse tomato for pickling or whole-canning.
Seeds were from ASK, they grew outdoors in open ground. I didn’t have enough room for them in the greenhouse.
The packet says the height is 10-16 inches (26-40 cm). For us, it got to 31-35 inches (80-90 cm). It sets a lot of fruit on the bush, but they aren’t very large. The taste is on the acidic side, even though the fruit seemed fully ripe.
Overall, the flavor is nothing remarkable. And you definitely can’t say it’s especially tasty. A solid 3 out of 5 on the taste scale. It is much better suited for canning/pickling than it is for fresh eating.
Marina notes that the commercial seed packet promised a tiny micro-dwarf plant no taller than 16 inches, but her plant shot up to nearly 3 feet!
Why the huge discrepancy? Commercial seed companies often test their determinate varieties in poor, unamended field soil with minimal watering to establish their “baseline” stats. When home gardeners take those same seeds and plant them in loose, highly fertile garden soil amended with rich compost, the plant is pumped full of nitrogen and frequently doubles its expected height before its genetics finally tell it to stop growing and set fruit!
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