📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Gostinets
- 🌍 Origin: A Russian variety released as part of the “Vkusnoteka” (Tasty Collection) line. The name roughly translates to “A Little Gift” or “Treat”.
- 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall), but growers report it being fairly manageable, reaching about 5 ft (1.5 m) in a greenhouse. Requires staking and pruning.
- 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: A classic Green-When-Ripe (GWR) tomato. The fruits are round to slightly oblate, developing a yellowish/amber blush on the skin when fully ripe, while the flesh inside remains a vibrant emerald green. Weights range from 5.3 oz (150 g) up to 10.5 oz (300 g).
- 👅 Flavor: The standout feature of this variety. It is described as “divinely sweet” with a sugary texture and a rich, piquant aroma.
- 📈 Yield: Moderate to above-average for a specialty green tomato.
I grew it in a greenhouse in 2019. A tomato from the “Vkusnoteka” series. Here is the breeder’s description:
Description:
Original sugary texture.
Up to 10.5 oz (300 g).
Salad-type fruits with an excellent piquant flavor and aroma. A mid-season variety for hoop houses. The period from seedling emergence to ripening is 110-115 days. The plant is tall (indeterminate), requires pruning and staking. The fruit is round or slightly oblate (flattened), slightly ribbed, green with a tint of yellow at full maturity. The flesh is dense, sweet, and aromatic. Weight 4.2-5.3 oz (120-150 g) and up to 10.5 oz (300 g). For fresh eating and canning.
I would say the variety is actually a mid-late season ripener. The height of the bush was about 5 ft (1.5 m). My yield was 2.2-2.8 lbs (1-1.3 kg) per plant. The average fruit weight for me was 5.3 oz (150 g), and the biggest one was 10.5 oz (300 g). The taste is simply divinely sweet, and the fruits contain 3-4 large locules (seed cavities). Ripe fruits are green-yellow, and the flesh is emerald green. The flavor is divinely sweet, I advise everyone to try it.
I agree. I’m growing it for the third year now. Out of the many Green-When-Ripe varieties I’ve tested over the years, the only ones I’ve kept are Gostinets, Irish Liqueur, and Chinese Princess.
Tasty, sweet, and the yield is above average.
In this thread, Vladimir mentions that this variety belongs to the “Vkusnoteka” series. This is a very famous line of seeds released by Poisk, a major Russian seed company. The word is a play on words (combining “Vkusno” which means tasty, with the suffix of “Biblioteka” / library).
Varieties in this specific collection were bred and selected purely for their gourmet flavor and high sugar content, often sacrificing commercial shelf-life to prioritize old-fashioned, home-garden taste.
