📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Kolovyi
- 🌍 Origin: An old, preserved Ukrainian heirloom variety. The name “Kolovyi” roughly translates to “Stake” (as in a wooden tomato stake), implying the plant requires sturdy support. Also sometimes circulated in seed swaps as “Kolovyi Kubanskiy”.
- 🌿 Plant Habit: Generally considered indeterminate, though outdoors in open ground it often tops out around 3.3 to 4 feet (1 – 1.2 m). Usually grown to 2 stems in a greenhouse.
- 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Large, beautifully uniform pink oxhearts. They frequently reach 1.1 to 1.3 lbs (500 – 600 g). The flesh is very dense, heavy, and contains very few seeds.
- 👅 Flavor: Highly rated by heirloom collectors. Outstandingly sweet, aromatic, and meaty without being overly dry. Perfect for summer salads.
I ordered these seeds from Kolyakov. Here is his description: “Mid-early season, large-fruited. Plant reaches up to 4 feet (1.2 m). A preserved old Ukrainian heirloom. A beautiful and very heavy yielder. Fruits are pink oxhearts, up to 21 oz (600 g), amazingly delicious, aromatic, sweet, juicy, uniform, and large. It doesn’t drop any blossoms and sets a literal wall of tomatoes. Has received the highest marks for flavor from many heirloom enthusiasts.”
As for my own grow, it’s hard to judge the ripening time this year since all my tomatoes started blushing about 3 weeks later than last year. The hearts are pretty large, but not giant. Sweet, meaty, yet still juicy. An absolutely worthy variety to grow overall.
I received my seeds under the name Kolovyi Kubanskiy (I don’t remember from whom 😅, I think from Mila).
Indeterminate, grew in the greenhouse pruned to 2 stems. A total workhorse, the fruits are pink hearts up to 1.1 lbs (500 g), and the flavor is very good 😋.
My seeds were from Piniirina. A very worthy variety, heavy yielder.
Edited Sept 16, 2019 by Murka
Seeds from Galya-64. It’s a tasty, prolific variety. My first year growing it was a total bust because ants chewed up all the roots, but my second attempt went perfectly.
Haven’t seen any reviews here in a while. Let me refresh the thread. Beautiful fruits, a real feast for the eyes. Heavy, meaty, very few seeds. Grown outdoors in the dirt, the plant reached up to 3.3 feet (1 m).
I refreshed this variety from my own saved seeds. It turned out much better than my first run. Beautiful and delicious. Large, perfectly shaped hearts.
Not a lot of juice, but they aren’t dry either – just right for summer salads. Very few seeds inside.
As noted by Svetlana in the thread, you might occasionally see this variety traded under the longer name “Kolovyi Kubanskiy” (Kuban being a region in southern Russia). Despite the regional tag added by some collectors, it is the exact same Ukrainian heirloom.
