- 🌍 Origin: Known in Russia as “Bolshoye Limonnoye Serdtse” (Big Lemon Heart) or “Limonny Oxheart”. An outstanding yellow/pale heirloom variety.
Growers’ Notes and Photos (USDA Zones 4-6 Experience)
Huge Lemon Oxheart (got my seeds from Yaroslavna). Took first place for yield in my garden this year. Indeterminate, tall, mid-late season. When all the other varieties were already ripening, this one was just starting to set fruit, but then it started setting like crazy. The fruits blew up like white balloons, getting bigger and bigger every day. They are lemon-yellow or whitish, all of them were huge, didn’t get any small ones. Meaty, flat-round/heart shape, very few seeds. Let it run to two stems in the greenhouse, hit 8.2 ft (250 cm) tall. If I want to keep the height down next time, I’ll have to prune it to three stems. To speed up fruit set and sizing in my conditions, it’s definitely best to pick the first truss at the breaker stage. Fruits weighed 14-21 oz (400-600 g). Tasty and delicate. Big thanks to Natalya Pavlovna!!!
Edited January 29, 2015 by Drosera
Some more 😄 😄 😄
Thanks Marisha, looks like you took great care of it 👍 The variety really is highly productive and sets a ton of massive lemon-yellow fruits. In my conditions it acts more like a mid-season. I grow it in the greenhouse on 2 stems. Since I start all my tall, large-fruited varieties from seed in February, they get a massive head start on growth and ripening on the vine. The fruits have a delicate, unique flavor, and easily weigh at least 14-21 oz (400-600 g). 🧺 👍
Ladies, isn’t it supposed to be heart-shaped? Based on the name I just assumed it was a classic oxheart shape. 😳
Mine didn’t really look like hearts either.
Mine were large, flat-round, lemon colored, tasty, and productive — also from Natalya Pavlovna 🌸
Solid variety, huge, productive. Flavor is a little bland on its own, but throw it in a salad with some salt and oil and it’s fantastic 😋 😋 😋
In 2014 this variety (seeds from V. Redko) was the absolute undisputed champion of megablooms and gnarly, misshapen fruits in my garden. Good flavor though, massive flat-round fruits. I’ll definitely give it another shot if I get the chance. I want mine to look as gorgeous as Yaroslavna’s. I’ve been dreaming about them…
Grew it in the greenhouse on 2 stems, beautiful and tasty tomatoes up to 14 oz (400 g), with a little blush of pink on the inside when sliced 😋 Lena-Trophy gave me the seedling at the Moscow meetup 🌸
For me it was a mid-late variety outside in the dirt. Massive, pale yellow fruits, average yield. Taste seemed a bit bland.
Solid variety, huge, productive. The flavor on mine had a nice little acidic tang to it, I’d say it was very well-balanced. Grew it in the greenhouse, ran it to 2 stems.
My seeds were from Kulik. My first batch of seedlings froze out in the greenhouse. Resowed on April 16. Growing outside in the dirt. Good yield. Beautiful, pale lemon-colored fruits. Absolutely delicious tomato! Wasn’t bland for me at all.
For me this variety was a notoriously terrible yielder, and the taste was just kind of… boring. Tried it once, definitely won’t be growing it again) Even though it looks pretty good on the outside.
Grew over 8.2 ft (2.5 m) tall in the greenhouse, sturdy vine, late ripener, productive, huge fruits, gorgeous. The taste is delicate and mild, perfect for a diet or anyone who can’t handle acid. Seeds from Angelina. Ran it to two stems.
Seeds were from Kulik, grew it in the greenhouse. Tasty and productive, wasn’t a late ripener for me.
Full Summary: Plant, Yield, Taste and Storage
- 🌿 Plant: A very tall, vigorous indeterminate vine that easily exceeds 8 ft (2.5 m) in a greenhouse. Despite the name “Oxheart”, growers note that the fruits are frequently flat-round or blunt rather than true hearts. The tomatoes are a pale lemon-yellow or whitish color and consistently reach massive sizes, ranging from 14 to 21 oz (400-600 g).
- 📈 Yield: Generally rated as very high. It tends to be a mid-late or late-season producer, starting slow but eventually setting heavy, impressive clusters. To manage the size and encourage faster ripening, growers recommend pruning to two stems and picking the lowest truss at the breaker stage.
- 👅 Taste: Mild, delicate, and low in acid. Some growers praise it as a perfectly balanced, sweet diet tomato, while others find the flavor a bit boring and bland compared to punchier heirlooms. Often develops a subtle pink blush in the center when fully ripe.
- 📦 Hardiness: Highly susceptible to megablooms (fasciated blossoms), which can cause the massive fruits to grow gnarly and misshapen if not pinched off early.
