Growers’ Notes and Photos (USDA Zones 4-8 Experience)
Our Galya (Esme) sent me the seeds for this one. It’s a tall indeterminate vine, very vigorous plant. I actually had to tie up some of the trusses so they wouldn’t snap off. The fruits are large, cone-shaped, and red. They are firm but have a nice thin skin, super meaty, juicy, and extremely delicious.
I’ve grown this variety for two years now and I’m totally thrilled with it. Year two was even better than the first, it set way more fruit. I’ve really fallen in love with this variety.
Valya, I actually bought the seeds for this variety out of hand over 20 years ago from an older lady. Supposedly her husband was the one who originally bred it, or at least they just called it “our Konus.” There was a tiny blurb written about it in the “Household Farming” magazine back in the day.
When I started hanging around gardening and tomato websites in 2006, I never saw a single mention of it online. So I started trading and sending out seeds, hoping it would spread. I even sent some to E. Fech, who sells tomato seeds, and that’s how it ended up in his catalog. (Funny side note, I also sent him Accordion seeds that Natasha in Nottingham sent me, on the condition he’d send me back some seeds once he grew it out, since I gave him my last five seeds. He was looking for Lorraine Beauty and I offered him a similar ribbed type. I never got those seeds back, even after reminding him.)
Galya (Esme) got her seeds from someone on the Household Farming forum.
But back to Konus. I’ve been tracking my yields by variety since 2007. Here are my results per plant in my greenhouse here in the Moscow region (we have sandy soil and not the greatest light conditions):
’07: 6.6 lbs (3.0 kg)
’08: 6.4 lbs (2.9 kg)
’09: 5.5 lbs (2.5 kg)
’10: 7.3 lbs (3.3 kg)
’11: 12.1 lbs (5.5 kg)
’12: 11.2 lbs / 5.9 lbs (5.1 kg / 2.7 kg)
’13: 5.7 lbs (2.6 kg)
This variety has never let me down. In twenty years, only during one excessively hot season did the fruits get yellow shoulders. My taste rating for it is always a rock-solid 5 out of 5.
One unique quirk of this variety is that the main stem naturally forks, and it’s impossible to tell which one is the sucker and which is the main stem. I just ruthlessly chop one off because I don’t have the space, so I grow it to a single stem, maybe two at the absolute most.
I was always curious how it would do down South. As far as I know, it wasn’t overly productive for Galya outdoors out in the dirt.
Edited October 15, 2013 by Aleksander
Tomochka shared the Konus seeds with me, rest her soul.
Alexander, thank you so much for the backstory on this variety. It performed wonderfully down South. Last year I pruned Konus to a single stem, but this year I let it go to two stems and it handled it perfectly, my yields went up. It seems to have adapted to our climate. I’ll definitely be planting it again in 2014.
Huge thanks to Alexander for the seeds for this variety! I’m planning to sow it this year, but when is the best time to start it? Now or wait until March?
Alla, you should sow it just like any of your other indeterminates for your area. The main thing is just making sure the seedlings don’t get leggy and rootbound, meaning the top growth needs to match the root volume in the cup.
Delicious, juicy tomato. Yields were average for me. The plant was moderate in size, and it dropped some blossoms during the heatwave.
Seeds were from Alexander, thanks a bunch. Yields were above average, flavor is a rich, true tomato taste, very juicy.
Loved it, very productive 👍
Super juicy 😋
Heavy yielder. We let it grow out to 2 stems, and it reached about 5 feet (1.5 m) high under the plastic tunnel before we topped it. The color is red with a slight carrot-orange tint. Ripens perfectly and sets fruit continuously over time.
The taste is absolutely out of this world, we ate them right off the vine. It has a great tartness balanced with a soft sweetness. It actually beat out Mazarin in flavor for us. Seeds were from Galya. One of the tomatoes grew a bit wonky and lost its cone shape, weighed in at 1 lb (476 g).
Tasty, with a nice little acidic tang to it.
Really delicious, yields were good, I’ll absolutely be growing it again. Huge thanks to Alexander for the seeds! 🌻
Full Summary: Plant, Yield, Taste and Vigor
- 🌿 Plant: Indeterminate, vigorous vine. It has a unique growth habit where the main stem frequently forks (Y-branches), making it difficult to distinguish the leader from a sucker. Produces large, cone-shaped (oxheart) red fruits with thin skin. Some fruits can push 1 lb (450g+).
- 📈 Yield: Generally very high, though it can drop blossoms during extreme heatwaves. Growers in greenhouses consistently report excellent harvests, ranging from 5 to 12 lbs (2.5 – 5.5 kg) per plant.
- 👅 Taste: Universally praised. The flesh is meaty and juicy with a classic, rich tomato flavor. It has a great balance of sweetness with a nice acidic tang.
- 🛡️ Vigor & Resilience: A rugged survivor. The strain was preserved by a single grower for decades and performs well across different zones. It handles being pruned to 1 or 2 stems beautifully, though extreme heat might cause yellow shoulders or blossom drop.
The story of “Konus” (which literally translates to “Cone”) is a classic heirloom rescue tale. Saved from obscurity by user Alexander over two decades ago from a local gardener, it survived through sheer forum-to-forum seed trading. The discussion above perfectly illustrates how rare varieties are kept alive in the community: shared seeds, tracked yields, and word of mouth. Also, the “forking” habit mentioned (where the main stem splits evenly into a ‘Y’) is a common trait in many heart-shaped and wispy-foliage heirlooms.
