Growers’ Notes and Photos
Just like the Dzhan variety, I got these seeds from N.S. Bykhanov. The packet also had “Yubileynye” written on it (it literally said: Kommuna. Yubileynye).
It’s an indeterminate vine, doesn’t grow very wide, but it really reaches for the sky. The internodes are quite long, and the fruit clusters are spaced pretty far apart. Mid-season.
You can’t really see the little beak on the fruits in these photos, but the ones higher up the vine and the smaller ones definitely have a sharp little pointy beak. The taste is good, very well-balanced.
The packet also noted that these are meant for canning, but ours never actually made it to the jars – we ate them all fresh, even though I planted 6 vines of it.
By the way, as a seedling, it was incredibly wimpy and got really leggy. But the quality of the fruit totally makes up for the scrawny seedling stage.
Full Summary: Plant, Yield, Taste and Vigor
- 🌿 Plant: Indeterminate mid-season vine. It has a narrow, tall growth habit with long internodes. Like many heart and paste heirlooms, it exhibits the “wispy/wimpy” gene, looking very scrawny and leggy during the seedling stage. Produces medium red tomatoes, with the upper fruits displaying a sharp beak on the blossom end.
- 📈 Yield: Moderate. The wide internode spacing means clusters are spaced further apart than on commercial hybrids, but planting multiple vines compensates for this.
- 👅 Taste & Usage: Extremely versatile. Marketed as a firm canning variety, it actually boasts such a well-balanced, high-quality flavor that it functions perfectly as a fresh-eating salad tomato.
- 🛡️ Vigor & Resilience: Don’t let the sad-looking seedlings fool you. While it starts off spindly, it grows into a very tall, productive vine that holds up well in a greenhouse setting.
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