Heart of Ashgabat (Serdtse Ashkhabada) Tomato Review

A delicious, meaty salad tomato. I would even call it dietetic. Absolutely no acidity, very “soft” on the palate. A very beautiful bright orange color. My fruits turned out shaped like a “flattened heart”, although on the upper clusters they were closer to a classic oxheart shape.

Galechka (Esme) shared the seeds with me (Galechka, thank you so much! 🌸). It sets fruit very well; it even set clusters right under the greenhouse roof despite the intense heat. I am very satisfied! 👍

Oh, are you sure that is Heart of Ashgabat?

It usually has a very classic “heart” shape, and when sliced, there is no “daisy pattern” of seed cavities. Like any true oxheart, it has very few seeds, it’s almost all “meat”. This is what my Heart of Ashgabat looked like last year, and this year:

Now I don’t even know 😲. Mine is also more yellow in color, not so deeply orange. I need to ask Galochka about the seeds. 📝

I also want to thank Galina for the Heart of Ashgabat seeds (originating from the Ukrainian company “Elitsortnasinnya”). 🌸 Galochka, the fruit shape on mine is flat-round on all clusters, and the yield is good for the first year.

Hmm… I just looked up what is being sold under this name right now.
Indeed, there are two distinct types: a yellow flat-round one, and an orange heart-shaped one.

Ukrainian breeders mostly grow the heart-shaped type. That’s why I was surprised by the unusual “heart” that Galya posted 😊

Girls, last year I grew Heart of Ashgabat from two different seed packets — one from Radomir and one from Elitsortnasinnya. The ones from Radomir were more heart-shaped, while the ones from Elitsortnasinnya were rounder (though the heart shape still showed up on the top clusters). I liked the second ones more, which is why those were the seeds I mostly shared with everyone.

Tasty, productive, and early. As a seedling, it had very lacy, wispy foliage. The only downside—grown outdoors, the leaves quickly got sick with some kind of spots, and I had to trim a lot of them off. Maybe it’s better to plant it in the greenhouse.

Thank you, Galya, for the seeds!!! 🌸
This is what grew for me. 🤩 And oh man, the taste!!! 🎉 Straight up like honey. 😋
And on top of that, they were one of the very first to ripen. I picked this one on July 20th, let it sit on a shelf for a bit to ripen fully for seed saving… 👍

Yulita:
It has very few seeds, it’s almost all “meat”.

My Heart of Ashgabat turned out exactly like that — I haven’t even managed to save seeds yet because there simply aren’t any, it’s all solid meat. Mine, however, has a bit more of a classic tomato tang/acidity to it, but the sweetness is definitely there. An amazing tomato with a classic heart shape! 😘

A few more photos.
When the hot weather hit, the tomato became sweeter and took on a much more intense orange color!!! An excellent and very productive variety!!! 🤩

I grew Heart of Ashgabat from two sources this year — the Elitsortnasinnya version (from Galya) and one from Syray.

The differences:

Syray version: Larger fruits, a slightly different shape, less productive. Taste: The first tasting — a bit bland; the second tasting — actually, the taste isn’t bad at all. The tomato looks beautiful when cut, and there are very few seeds.

Elitsortnasinnya version: The taste is very good, with nice sweetness, and productive. However, if ripened off the vine indoors, the fruits lose their good taste.

Heart of Ashgabat (Syray):

Heart of Ashgabat (Elitsortnasinnya):

Here is my Heart of Ashgabat from collector V. Redko:

I wasn’t a huge fan of “Heart of Ashgabat”. The taste was a bit too mild/bland for me… it’s mostly just grown for its beauty.

Grown outdoors for me, it reached 1.8 m (6 ft) tall. An excellent tomato. I will always grow it. Superb shape, great commercial appearance, and excellent taste. Grown in memory of our dear Galochka (Esme).

In my greenhouse, it was about 1.5 meters (5 ft) tall. And it was definitely not early. It managed to grow and ripen 2 clusters before the season ended 😞 It wasn’t particularly large either, about 200-300 grams (7-10.5 oz), but it was very tasty! Sweet and meaty.

I didn’t save any seeds — there were so few tomatoes, I couldn’t bear to sacrifice a large fruit for seeds, especially since it had almost no seeds inside anyway. It suffered from leaf mold, but nothing critical: I just pulled off the sick leaves, and that was that (it is very damp and foggy here).

Seeds were from Redko. I’m doubting whether I’ll plant it again. The unimpressive yield is off-putting, although to be fair, it was a terrible tomato year with a very cold summer.

Beautiful, uniform hearts. Not too productive. Sugary flesh, very meaty, but completely tasteless. Absolutely bland, zero acidity, and they couldn’t seem to accumulate any sugar either—perhaps the climate here doesn’t suit them. Very “dietetic.” They failed for me, and I have no desire to repeat them. The variety ‘Medovyi Spas’ (Honey Savior) looks similar but tastes much, much better.

Ladoga:
They failed for me, and I have no desire to repeat them.

This variety failed for me too. Two bushes grew in the greenhouse, both terminated themselves (stopped growing) at a height of 1m (3.3 ft). The yield wasn’t great. On the lower branches, the fruits were smooth and almost round (no obvious “hearts”), and on the upper clusters, they all grew misshapen/catfaced. If I ever repeat it, I will try it in the open ground outdoors.

I personally really liked this variety 👍 Productive, meaty, and delicious 😋

I planted this variety from both Redko and Galochka. Surprisingly, there weren’t major differences, the main difference was just the fruit shape. I strongly expected them to be early (based on last year’s reviews saying it was the first to ripen), but both turned out mid-late for me. The yield was average, the taste wasn’t bad, but a bit too mild/bland for my liking. It truly is a “dietetic” tomato.

I had two types of Heart of Ashgabat (Thanks Sofia!!!). The heart-shaped one and the flat-round one. But I only managed to grow the heart-shaped one. It was a tall indeterminate, the bush reached up to 170 cm (5.5 ft). It set fruit excellently in the greenhouse. I liked the yield very much.

I like sweetish fruits, but these lacked just a little bit of acidity for balance. But given what kind of summer we had… 😩 On the bright side, I made a golden-orange adjika (spicy sauce) out of them, and it was incredible. Simply beautiful!!!!! 👍

I really wanted the flat-round one too, but my beloved cat decided to choose that exact seedling to chew and destroy. 😢

I’ve been planting both types of tomatoes under this name for a long time. I like both. This year, the “pointy-nosed” heart type simply shocked me with its yield. I usually grow it outdoors, but this year I tried it in the greenhouse, and it absolutely loved it there. Pruned to three stems, all the fruits turned out very large, from 300 to 800g (10.5 oz to 1.7 lbs).

This year it surprised me with its yield and beauty. I generally adore yellow and orange varieties. The first fruits had absolutely no seeds at all. The later ones did have some seeds. I had 2 bushes. Both were highly productive.

This variety is now a favorite. Grew two indeterminate bushes in the greenhouse in 2 stems, both had excellent yield. The fruits are beautiful and very tasty, the largest up to 500g (1.1 lbs). Seeds were from Sofia27.

I planted this variety last year; it’s a pity I took so few photos… I got Heart of Ashgabat from Svetikk, and to say I am delighted with it is an understatement! The tastiest, the most beautiful, we ate them exclusively fresh.

I gifted a couple of seedlings to my parents, and they were thrilled too; their bushes were loaded with fruit all the way to the top. So it has definitely found a permanent home in my garden. I will absolutely plant it again this year!

I had Heart of Ashgabat from the brand “Sunny March”. The bushes were short, the tomato was flat-round, orange, and very sweet. The tomatoes themselves were not large. I saved seeds from it. From my saved seeds, the bushes grew more vigorous, and the tomato itself reached up to 300g (10.5 oz).

But last year and this year, something incomprehensible grew. And a bad yield. I’ll try one more time. If it yields poorly again, it goes into the trash/compost. Yuck. My coworker grew it too, and her tomatoes were also small and flat-round.

My Heart of Ashgabat is round, though some fruits have an elongated nose. I am repeating this variety. This year it was grown in the open ground outdoors, and it turned out incredibly sweet, and as always, meaty and delicious. A favorite.