Grub’s Mystery Green Tomato Grower Reviews & Photos

This variety could also be translated as “Mr. Grub’s Green Mystery”, but I’m just using the translation our local seed vendor provided to avoid confusing anyone.
It’s a mid-early indeterminate variety, very disease-resistant. The bush is sprawling but not overly tall, with large potato leaves. High yielder! I grew it outdoors in open ground, it reached about 3 feet (0.9 m) tall and set fruit on every single truss. The fruits are large green-amber beefsteaks, very tasty and sweet. When overripe, they get a slightly orange tint. But even if they get overripe, they hold their quality and flavor for a long time. Out of all the green varieties I’ve tried, this is the absolute best in terms of taste, yield, and low maintenance 👍 Seeds were from Alexey Kulik.

😊

And here is the “Larva” I ended up growing.

Sasha! That is quite a good-looking Larva you got there 😂 That’s a huge fruit, looks like it formed from a megabloom. How did it taste?

The taste was great, very sweet. My biggest ones were probably around 10.5 oz (300 g), though the description claims they can get much bigger.

Mine were very sweet too, I was actually surprised when I first tried them 😋👍 I just checked the description again and it says they can reach up to 1.7 lbs (800 g). I totally believe it. My plant was growing outside in open ground with really tight spacing. If you were to grow this in a greenhouse, give it plenty of space, and prune it to maybe two leaders, the fruits would be massive 👍

Sandr (Alexander) said:
And here is the “Larva” I ended up growing.

Sasha, you’re not kidding, the shape of that fruit really does look like a giant larva… It’s wonderful! 👍

ElenaN (Elena) said:
…My plant was growing outside in open ground with really tight spacing. If you were to grow this in a greenhouse, give it plenty of space, and prune it to maybe two leaders, the fruits would be massive 👍

Elena, did you not prune that bush at all then?

Alisa, I definitely pruned it. When I mentioned “tight spacing”, I meant it was planted right in the middle of a crowded garden bed, so it was pretty shaded by the other plants around it. I believe I pruned it to three stems.
Honestly, I liked this variety even better than Malachite Box.

ElenaN (Elena) said:
Honestly, I liked this variety even better than Malachite Box.

My mom really struggles with pruning, so I’m always on the hunt for varieties you can just leave unpruned, or at least varieties that require minimal pruning when I visit her. I’m wondering what would happen if I just let this one go wild and do its thing? But the fact that it did well for you in tight spacing and shade is a great sign! What makes it better than Malachite Box for you? Is it more balanced (acid/sugar ratio) or is it just sweeter? It looks absolutely gorgeous!

Letting it go wild… yeah, it would probably work out. The variety is very strong, the plant is sturdy and stocky. I can’t quite remember how crazy it gets with suckers, though. Maybe someone else growing it this season can chime in.

My main issue with Malachite Box is that it has zero shelf life. The moment it gets even slightly overripe, it turns into straight mush. I was constantly missing the harvest window for it. But Grub’s (the Larva) can sit on the counter for a while without losing its texture or flavor. As for the acid/sugar balance, I can’t really compare them directly since I grew them in different years.

ElenaN (Elena) said:
Letting it go wild… yeah, it would probably work out. The variety is very strong…

I just found a photo from Sue showing a “Larva” that was left completely unpruned to do its own thing. It shot up to 6.5 feet (2 m) tall! 😂

Grew it outdoors. Pruned it to 3 stems. Great yield, outstanding flavor. It made my top list. I really loved it. Definitely on the grow list for outdoors next year 😊

I really liked this variety too, super yummy 😋

I consider Grub’s Mystery Green to be one of the absolute best green varieties out there. It’s a short bush with potato-type leaves and oblate fruits. The real-world weight is around 10.5 oz (300 g). It’s productive, fairly early for a green tomato, and not fussy at all.

Nadezhda, how does the taste hold up compared to Malachite Box?

A short indet with potato leaves, yield is fantastic. Grew it in the greenhouse and absolutely loved it 👍 The flavor is perfectly balanced, sweet and tart, really good. The fruits are quite firm and can actually sit on the counter for a while. If you compare it to Malachite Box: Malachite grows taller and the fruits are a bit sweeter and more tender, but they have basically zero shelf life.

ElenaN (Elena) said:
It’s a mid-early indeterminate variety… reached about 3 feet (0.9 m) tall 👍

Elena, are you sure this is an indeterminate variety? 3 feet is typical for determinate plants.

Borisych (Evgeny) said:
Elena, are you sure this is an indeterminate variety? 3 feet is typical for determinate plants.

Evgeny, when I grow outdoors, a lot of my tall indeterminate varieties never push past 3 feet.
Tatiana’s TOMATObase also lists it as an indeterminate, just a compact one.

I liked this variety. I pruned it in the very beginning, and then just let it do its thing. When fully ripe, it is very tasty and tender 👍

Grew it outdoors, didn’t stake it, didn’t prune it. The fruits hung on the bush for a long time without getting overripe. The yield was above average. The only thing I noticed was that the skin seemed a bit thick… but that’s probably exactly why they keep so well.

Grew it in the greenhouse. It’s a short indet with potato leaves. The fruits are oblate, turning an olive color when ripe, weighing around 7-9 oz (200-250 g). Very tasty little tomato, and yeah, the skin is definitely a bit thick… but on the bright side, it peels really easily 😂

In 2016, I grew both Malachite Box and Grub’s Mystery Green. In previous years, I would always grow Malachite alongside other green varieties (like Boloto, Irish Liqueur, etc.), and Malachite was always the undisputed champion.

But in 2017, for the first time in many years, I’m cheating on Malachite Box. I’m going to plant Grub’s instead. It just suits me better because:
– It’s shorter, so I can plant it on the side beds in my greenhouse.
– It can sit on the counter for a while without turning into mush.
– In my totally subjective opinion, it yields just as much and tastes just as good as Malachite Box 😊

My Grub’s Mystery Green seeds were from A.I. Kulik. It’s a short indet, grew it in the greenhouse. The bush was about 5.2 feet (1.6 m) tall, sprawling with potato leaves. Very productive and stores well. Fruits are oblate, green-olive in color, with a wonderful balanced flavor. Average weight was 10.5-12 oz (300-350 g). I will absolutely be growing this one again.

Tiffany (Yulia) said:
…Very productive. Stores well…

Yulia, what exactly do you mean by “stores well”? Does it keep a long time if you pick it fully ripe? How long? Or does it just ripen well indoors off the vine without losing flavor?

That’s really rare for green tomatoes. This year, I had one green variety that kept a really long time and tasted sweet and delicious after ripening indoors. But I lost the name tag for it.

This variety is so yummy 😋👍. I grew it outdoors this year. Unlike a lot of other varieties, it barely dropped any blossoms and pumped out a really solid harvest 👍

The variety turned out very tasty and sweet. In my hoop house, the height was about 5 feet (1.5 m). The fruits are large and quite juicy. It had potato-type leaves.

I totally agree with all the great reviews for this variety. In 2017, I grew 1 plant in a polycarbonate greenhouse, pruned to 2 stems. The tomatoes were an absolute 5+ on flavor! I was actually surprised. Definitely not worse than Malachite Box, maybe even… well, I need to plant them side by side in 2018 to compare. The yield was great 👍 Set about 5 fruits per truss, averaging 7 oz (200 g) each.

Grew it last year, loved it. Heavy yielding and delicious.

A beautiful and delicious tomato! Grew it in the greenhouse. Potato leaf, about 5 feet (1.5 m) tall. It has earned a permanent spot on my grow list. Seeds were from Svetikk.

Mine turned out extremely oblate, with huge hard woody cores and ugly brown blossom scars. By the time you cut all the bad parts away, there is barely anything left to eat. And I guess mine just didn’t develop enough sugar. I’m dropping this variety and going back to Malachite Box, it was sweeter and earlier for me.

A medium-height bush, somewhere around 3.3-4 feet (1-1.2 m), with potato leaves. Very resilient and disease-free. But for some reason, it only set fruit on the first 3-4 trusses. After that, the blossoms just dried up and dropped – maybe it couldn’t handle the heat?
Weight was mostly around 7-9 oz (200-250 g). Very meaty.

Seeds sprouted around April 1st, and I picked my first ripe fruit on August 7th. It was the first of the large beefsteaks to ripen after the cherries and early determinates.

So listen to this: I have NEVER eaten tomatoes like this before! I don’t even know how to describe the flavor. When you eat it, you immediately remember that botanically, a tomato is classified as a berry. It’s sweet, but perfectly balanced with just a tiny drop of acidity at the very end. And there’s something else I can’t quite put my finger on))) It’s not bitterness, not spice… It almost has a hint of creaminess to it.
I chopped it up for a salad and dressed it with mayo, and the tomato literally tasted better than the mayo 😂 The second one I just sliced and sprinkled with salt. Even the salt felt unnecessary. I honestly don’t even know how to eat this thing))) But it is SO delicious!

Liaro (Elena) said:
I chopped it up for a salad and dressed it with mayo, and the tomato literally tasted better than the mayo 😂 The second one I just sliced and sprinkled with salt. Even the salt felt unnecessary. I honestly don’t even know how to eat this thing))) But it is SO delicious!

A good tomato should taste better than mayo, though honestly, that’s a weird metric to use – not everyone likes mayo 😁 I usually eat my homegrown tomatoes just plain, absolutely nothing on them – no salt, no sugar, no dressing. I just slice them up and eat them (or don’t even slice them and just eat them whole like an apple 😁). That’s actually the true test of a REALLY tasty tomato 😋. If a tomato needs something added to it to taste “good”, even just salt, then it’s missing the mark.

When I was living in Taldykorgan back in my youth, that’s exactly how I used to eat tomatoes too 😁 But these days, sometimes you just gotta add a little mayo to the mix! 😉 The variety really is incredibly delicious on its own, though. I need to grow it again next season. 🎩

Very delicious tomato. Productive and bulletproof against diseases. Already scooped some for seed saving. Weight is around 7-12 oz (200-350 g).

The first fruit this year ripened on the vine here in Novosibirsk on August 4, 2023. It cracked due to inconsistent watering. Barely weighed 3.5 oz (100 g). Not a single seed inside. Tasty, with a nice sweetness. I used to grow Malachite Box, and the skin on this one felt softer and more tender. The bush didn’t produce a whole lot for me, though. This was my first year growing it.

Has remained a favorite of mine for many years.