📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Iskry Plameni (Sparks of Flame)
- 🌍 Origin: An Eastern European heirloom variety. The name translates beautifully to “Sparks of Flame”, which perfectly describes its striking red and yellow striped appearance.
- 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall), but generally has a compact footprint with slender vines. Grows to about 5 feet (1.5 m) outdoors.
- 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Elongated plum or “icicle” type tomatoes. Bright red with blurred, fiery yellow stripes. Fruits average around 3.5 oz (100 g). The interior can be slightly hollow (typical for paste types) but remains very juicy without any tough, dry cores.
- 👅 Flavor: Highly dependent on ripening and weather. Early season fruits might lack flavor, but late-season, fully vine-ripened fruits become incredibly sweet and delicious.
- ⚠️ Grower’s Note: Highly susceptible to Blossom End Rot (BER) early in the season. Consistent watering and calcium management are a must!
Iskry Plameni. Indeterminate variety. Grown outdoors in the dirt, the height was about 5 feet (1.5 m). The main stem isn’t overly thick, and the plant itself has a pretty compact habit.
The fruits are large, elongated plum or icicle shapes. They are bright red with blurred yellow stripes. Weighs around 3.5 oz (100 g).
Back in July, I actually called this tomato my “disappointment of the year.” The fruits suffered heavily from BER (Blossom End Rot). I think this variety just has a much higher calcium requirement. I amended my soil with dolomite lime over the winter, and almost all my other tomatoes (with rare exceptions) had absolutely zero issues with BER. To make matters worse, the taste in July was just awful.
But then I tried it again in early September. It became super sweet and incredibly delicious! You just have to let it ripen fully on the vine.
Inside, when fully ripe, the fruit feels a bit hollow, but the flesh itself is juicy and completely free of those tough, dry white cores.
Valentina mentions two very common traits of elongated “icicle” or paste-type tomatoes here.
First, the “hollow” interior. Elongated paste tomatoes (like Striped Roman or San Marzano) often have large seed cavities with very little gel, making them feel slightly hollow or bell-pepper-like when you cut into them. This is actually a desirable trait for making thick sauces because there is less water to cook down!
Second, Blossom End Rot (BER). Elongated varieties are notoriously prone to BER early in the season while the plant is still establishing its root system and struggling to transport calcium to the rapidly growing fruit tips. As the season progresses (like Valentina saw in September), the roots settle in, the watering usually becomes more consistent, and the BER naturally clears up, resulting in much sweeter, healthier fruits.
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