📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Gulliver – Myazina vs. Siberian Garden
- 🌍 Origin: Russia. Important Note: There are actually two completely different Russian varieties sold under the name “Gulliver”. One is an early commercial-style plum tomato by breeder L. Myazina. The other is a massive oxheart variety by Siberian Garden (SibSad).
- 🌿 Plant Habit: Determinate (bush). Generally short and compact, ranging from 2.3 feet (70 cm) up to 4.2 feet (1.3 m), making it great for the front of the garden bed.
- 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Myazina’s version: Red, oval/plum shaped, weighing 4.2-5.3 oz (120-150 g). Crack-resistant and excellent keepers. SibSad’s version: Giant red oxhearts that can weigh up to 1.7 lbs (800 g). Extremely dense and meaty.
- 👅 Flavor: The giant version is praised for being “solid meat” and delicious fresh or used in winter canning.
- ⏳ Maturity: Early (Myazina) or Mid-season (SibSad).
Description from the seed packet: A new early-season tomato with a concentrated harvest for open ground and hoop houses. Ripening occurs 80-85 days after emergence. Gulliver adapts perfectly to adverse growing conditions and reliably sets fruit even in extreme environments. The fruits have a very beautiful shape, they are large, meaty, weighing 4.2-5.3 oz (120-150 g), crack-resistant, transport well, and can be stored for up to 4 weeks without losing market quality.
Photo credit: Ninu
This is a variety by Myazina.
I have a completely different Gulliver from SibSad. It’s a new mid-season, heavy-yielding variety for lovers of large-fruited tomatoes. The bush is short, up to 2.3 feet (70 cm). The fruits are heart-shaped, red, meaty, and very large, weighing up to 1.7 lbs (800 g). Delicious eaten fresh and great for winter canning.
It can be grown in 2-3 stems or without pruning suckers at all, in open ground and hoop houses. The yield of the variety is up to 15.4 lbs (7 kg) per plant. It matched the variety description perfectly, although I didn’t get any that hit the 1.7 lbs (800 g) mark.
My Gulliver puzzled me from the moment the fruits started swelling. There must be a typo on the packaging. It claimed to have small fruits and a relatively short bush. I planted it in the front row so it wouldn’t shade its neighbors. They almost guessed the height right, it grew to 3.2-4.2 feet (1-1.3 m).
But the fruit caliber didn’t match at all. The cross-section is solid meat. Delicious.
This forum thread perfectly highlights a common issue in the Russian heirloom tomato market: two entirely different companies releasing seeds under the exact same name.When trading seeds or buying this variety, be aware of which Gulliver you are getting:
- Lyubov Myazina’s Gulliver: A commercial-style, early-season red plum/oval tomato designed for long storage and crack resistance.
- Siberian Garden’s (SibSad) Gulliver: A massive, meaty red oxheart/beefsteak designed for fresh eating and processing.
Based on Valentina’s photos and description in the final post, she bought a packet expecting Myazina’s small plum tomatoes, but due to a seed mix-up (or crossed seeds), she ended up growing a giant beefsteak that closely resembles the SibSad version!
