Growers’ Notes and Photos (USDA Zones 4-5 Experience)
Kentucky Pink Stamper. I grew this one from V. Redko’s seed stock. His catalog description reads: “Tall vine, PL, mid-season. Fruits are large, raspberry pink, gathered at the top like a little pouch (pleated shoulders), with really good flavor. Weight runs 1.1 lbs (500 g) and up. All meat, very few seeds in the fruit, sweet, and a heavy producer.”
Mid-season indet. I ran it to two leaders and ended up topping the vine at about 6.5 ft (2 m) tall.
Yield was just average for me. Some of the fruits cracked a little bit, and I never got more than three tomatoes per cluster.
The flavor is good, with a nice old-school acidic tang. Just lacked a tiny bit of sweetness for my taste.
If I give it another run, I’ll definitely prune it down to a single leader.
Pictured here next to Irish Liqueur:
Full Summary: Plant, Yield, Taste and Flaws
- 🌿 Plant: Indeterminate vine. Mid-season. Features large Potato Leaf (PL) foliage. Grows vigorously, easily reaching 6.5 ft (2 m) before needing to be topped.
- 📈 Yield: Rated as average. It tends to set only 2-3 massive fruits per truss. Growers recommend pruning strictly to a single stem (leader) to maximize fruit size and plant energy.
- 👅 Taste & Texture: Good, old-fashioned sweet and tart flavor. The flesh is incredibly meaty with very few seeds.
- 🍅 Fruit Size: Giant raspberry-pink beefsteaks. Standard weight runs 1.1 lbs (500 g) and up. The fruits have a distinct shape, featuring ribbed, gathered shoulders that look like a tied pouch.
- 🛡️ Drawbacks: Prone to splitting and concentric cracking around the stem, likely due to the thin skin and massive size.
In this thread, you’ll see a reference to “topping” the vine. In regions with short growing seasons (like the Moscow area), it is standard practice to chop the top off an indeterminate vine about 30 days before the first expected frost. This stops new vertical growth and forces the plant to put all its remaining energy into ripening the giant fruits already hanging on the lower clusters.
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