Growers’ Notes and Photos (USDA Zones 3-4 Experience)
Just an awesome variety, my best find of 2014! It was the heaviest yielder out of everything I grew this year (had it in the greenhouse in a sunny spot).
It’s an indet vine, mid-season but leaning early, and super low-maintenance. Got up to about 6.5 feet (2 m) tall in the greenhouse. The plant has that typical wispy profile and didn’t drop any blossoms even with all the temp swings. Fruits are oxhearts, taste was a solid 4 out of 5 (the official description says “excellent”, but tomatoes rarely hit that mark for me).
The fruits are a gorgeous raspberry pink, dense, uniform, and glossy, mostly in the 7 to 10.5 oz (200-300 g) range. Did have a few whoppers hit 14 oz (400 g) though. Definitely growing this one every single year because it pumps out the tomatoes and asks for nothing in return.
Continued.
Loved this one (Elena, thanks for the seeds 🙂).
Great production, the tomatoes taste great, and even though they aren’t massive, they feel like lead weights in your hand. They definitely live up to their name!
IrinaA wrote:
Loved this one (Elena, thanks for the seeds 🙂).Great production, the tomatoes taste great, and even though they aren’t massive, they feel like lead weights in your hand. They definitely live up to their name!
That’s exactly what I loved about it too. It’s got a permanent spot in my garden now.
Full Summary: Plant, Yield, Taste and Storage
- 🌿 Plant: Indeterminate, mid-early to mid-season. Reaches about 6.5 ft (2 m) tall in a greenhouse. Growers note that the vine has a wispy, narrow profile (classic for oxhearts) and is highly resilient to temperature swings, setting blossoms without dropping them.
- 📈 Yield: Extremely high. Elena named it her most productive variety of the year.
- 👅 Taste & Texture: Very solid flavor (a reliable 4 out of 5 for most). The texture is the standout feature: uniform, glossy, and remarkably dense and meaty.
- 🍅 Fruit Size: Deep pink (raspberry) oxhearts mostly weighing 7-10.5 oz (200-300 g), with some reaching up to 14 oz (400 g). While visually medium-sized, growers emphasize how surprisingly heavy they feel in the hand due to their lack of seed gel and dense flesh.
- 🌎 Who Reviewed It: Growers from short-season, northern climates (Sverdlovsk, Kostroma, and Moscow regions), corresponding roughly to US Zones 3 and 4. Highly recommended for greenhouse growing in cooler areas.
The name Kamennoe Serdtse literally translates to “Stone Heart.” As Irina and Alexander pointed out in the thread, the name isn’t just about the shape. While oxhearts are generally known for being meaty, this particular variety is praised for being exceptionally dense and solid. They feel much heavier in the hand than they look on the vine, almost like picking up a smooth rock. Also, in Russian tomato taxonomy, “малиновый” (raspberry) refers to a very specific, highly prized deep magenta-pink color.
