Growers’ Notes and Photos (USDA Zones 3a – 7b)
A cross between the Great White beefsteak and OSU blue. The vine reached up to 5 ft (1.5 m), grew it under plastic, pulled over 6.6 lbs (3 kg). The biggest fruit was 6.9 oz (196 g), the fruits get smaller as the season goes on. The vine lasted a long time, right up to the end of October. The flavor is like all white varieties, might not be for everyone. We weren’t crazy about it at first, but then they turned out perfectly sweet, even after ripening indoors, you can’t detect any acidity. I give it a 4 out of 5. Brought some to work, everyone was blown away by the taste. Have to add that the taste testers were folks who only eat store-bought tomatoes. And we’re already totally spoiled by our organic home-grown ones. We’ve become real homegrown tomato snobs.
Edited November 6, 2015 by Drosera
Beauties! I didn’t quite catch it, how many leaders did you prune the vines to?
Alisa, I trained it to 3 leaders from the bottom.
Very interesting variety! Definitely planting this in 2016, totally caught my eye! 👍
I grew Great White Purple under a poly roof with a shade net pulled over it, so mine didn’t turn out quite as bright. After I took the shade net off, more dark coloring showed up on the unripe fruits. Grew three vines from three seeds in different beds to see how it would do in full sun vs a shadier spot. The darkest ones were on the east side, in the middle bed (where direct sun only hit at sunset) they were the yellowest. The vine is vigorous, grew up to 6 ft (1.8-1.9 m), gorgeous, didn’t drop a single blossom, all trusses were full, started ripening in early July and there are still fruits hanging. (Granted they are in the greenhouse now, we screwed the poly panels onto the sides, pulling them out tomorrow). Flavor is delicate, sweet. I’ll plant it again just for the looks. When there’s a lot of ripe fruit, it literally looks like a Christmas tree.
This variety was the discovery of the season for me. Absolutely fell in love with it. Five stars across the board. 😘 😘 😘 Thanks so much to you Elena and to Alenka. 🌺
My seeds are from Vera (tomatinka), I just asked her for some blue varieties and she picked out amazing ones based on her taste. The vine was tidy, bottom fruits were big, the top ones got smaller. A very beautiful tomato, unusual color combo, yellow inside, not very many seeds.
In 2019 I planted 1 vine from Sveta @Mama Antona (thanks for sharing, Sveta!).
In the greenhouse it was over 6.5 ft (2 m), produced small round yellow-purple tomatoes all the way to the top. Beautiful! And productive!
Really loved the flavor – sweet, kinda fruity!
Great White Blues is a stunner! As for the taste… that darker one is tastier, and the little yellow ones taste like grass, probably overripe.
Look at this completely different coloring on the exact same truss.
Full Summary: Plant, Yield, Taste and Storage
- 🌿 Plant: Indeterminate, vigorous vines that easily reach 5 to 6.5 ft (1.5 – 2 m). Very ornamental, especially when loaded with fruit. Dark anthocyanin coloring depends heavily on direct sunlight.
- 📈 Yield: Exceptionally high. Growers report heavy fruit set with full trusses that don’t drop blossoms. Yields can exceed 6.6 lbs (3 kg) per plant.
- 👅 Taste: Sweet, delicate, and fruity with practically zero acidity. Some noted it takes a moment to appreciate the mild “white tomato” flavor profile, but once fully ripe, it is a gourmet treat. Overripe yellow fruits might taste bland.
- 📦 Storage: Ripens well indoors if picked green or blushing.
- 🌎 Who Reviewed It: 8 growers across USDA Zones 3a to 7b.
An American reader might wonder why user Ovechka calls this variety “Great White Blues” while the thread is titled “Great White Purple”. Both names refer to the exact same cross (Great White beefsteak x OSU Blue) originally bred by German breeder Reinhard Kraft. The seeds circulated around the world under various translated names depending on who distributed them.
