Koreyskiy Stelyushiysya (Korean Creeper) Tomato Grower Reviews & Photos

Low-growing, highly productive small-fruited variety with perfectly round fruits weighing 1-1.4 oz (30-40 g). Fruits are bright pink, tasty, sweet… I grew it in the greenhouse and out in the dirt – it does amazing outdoors in our climate… The numerous vines are pretty flexible, so it’s a great option for growing in containers… in the garden, on a balcony, or a patio.

Natalya, is that all one single truss in the second photo? And is it any good for canning?

What an interesting variety! How is the maturity time on it?

Since Natasha isn’t here right now, mind if I sing some praises for the Korean Creeper?

I highly recommend planting it. It stays super short, about 12-16 inches (30-40 cm) tall. Absolutely zero pruning needed, and the whole plant just gets smothered in tomatoes. It’s so pretty, literally nobody could walk past this little miracle without stopping. A lot of people planted tomatoes in their flower beds this year, and I think this is the absolute perfect variety for that. I also had one growing in a pot, and it didn’t disappoint there either.

We actually just cracked open a jar of pickled ones yesterday, I really liked them. They stay nice and firm, don’t turn to mush, and taste great.

Galya-64: “Since Natasha isn’t here right now, mind if I sing some praises for the Korean Creeper?”

Of course you can! This variety definitely deserves the hype. It’s early and completely trouble-free. Throw it in a raised bed, a pot, or a hanging basket. It’s awesome for canning too! I preserved it in a sweet brine (I process all my cherries like that). The fruits look exactly like little cherries, and the taste is mind-blowing.

And check out this beauty grown by our very own Alenka Andreeva. Keep in mind, this is out in the Kemerovo region (Siberia)! Huge thanks to her for her hard work and caring hands!

Girls, I actually got the seeds from our lovely fairy godmother – Yaroslavna.

My jaw is literally on the floor right now looking at that.

What’s the pruning strategy for this one? How do you manage the suckers?

I planted two of these in a cut-in-half 5-gallon (19-liter) water jug. They look gorgeous, bloom heavily, and set fruit like crazy. They were the very first to blush for me (even though I sowed them later than the rest of my seedlings). My husband won’t even let me get a good picture – he keeps sneaking around and eating all the ripe ones on the sly!

Thanks Natasha (Yaroslavna).

Here it is, half-eaten by the Hubby. And a close-up – a beautiful little treat!

I planted my Korean Creeper in a pretty bad spot in a flower bed, the roses got huge and totally shaded it out. It’s microscopic right now, maybe 10 inches (25 cm) tall, but it somehow managed to quietly set a massive amount of fruit for such a tiny plant, and it was the first to ripen. Even though I sowed and transplanted it later than my main crop. Tastes excellent too.

Andrey_K: “What’s the pruning strategy for this one? How do you manage the suckers?”

Andrey, I basically don’t prune it at all… well, maybe just a little bit right in the dead center of the plant. Every single shoot it pushes out ends in a flower truss, and eventually, they all manage to ripen. I’ve grown it in the greenhouse and out in the dirt – it’s the exact same, every single truss that sets will ripen on the plant.

My Korean Creeper is growing in a large planter outside in partial shade. The tomatoes on it ripened the absolute earliest for me, on June 8th. It sets fruit perfectly in both heatwaves and rainy weather. And even though the tomatoes are small, there are just tons of them. The first ones that ripened in early June had a bit of a tang to them. Now they’ve really sweetened up.

What if you grew them indoors in a pot over the winter?

Natsha/Nataliya: “What if you grew them indoors in a pot over the winter?”

You probably wouldn’t have enough natural light in the winter, you’d definitely need to run grow lights. And it still needs a fairly big pot.

I’m growing 2 plants of Korean Creeper in 2.5-gallon (10-liter) pots. It was one of the first to ripen, a very tasty little tomato. Didn’t prune it at all, the whole plant is just draped in fruit, and it sets in any weather. I love just grabbing a few every time I walk past it. It does require constant watering and feeding, though. The only downside is that with our constant bad weather, downpours, and gales, I had to keep dragging it into the shelter and back out, and it weighs a ton.

Korean Creeper ripened pretty early in the greenhouse. The fruits were super juicy, classic flavor with a nice little tang.

Grew it for the first time this year. I was planning to leave it growing in a large bucket, but red ants moved in and started eating the roots, the plant started turning yellow. I had to drench it for ants and transplant it into the ground. It bounced back. I planted another one straight into the dirt from the start. The one in the pot grew well, but you definitely have to feed them with liquid organic-mineral fertilizers. It fruits right up until the frost. It’s best to feed it all summer long, then the yields are fantastic. Pulled our first fruits as early as May.

Hey everyone, I completely fell in love with Korean Creeper and I’ll never drop it from my list. I’ve been growing it in a barrel for a few years now. It’s super convenient to put 5 plants per barrel.

At first, I keep them under a row cover dome, then when they run out of space, I uncover them. No tying up at all, they just cascade down the sides of the barrel!

When the bulk of the fruit hits the breaker stage (starts turning white), I strip all the foliage, suckers, and new flowers. That’s it! Just wait for them to ripen. Very tasty, pink, meaty, fantastic for canning. Honestly, I’m just increasing the number of barrels every year.

That massive pile sitting on the timber beam is just from one barrel. I ripped those plants completely out my first year because people scared me about fog and said it was time to pull all tomatoes. They all ripened perfectly on the balcony! Hung them upside down. But now I just wrap the barrel in row cover and let them ripen on the vine.

Highly recommend it.

My Korean tomatoes ended up being the size of a large cherry 🤦. I decided to just use it as a “groundcover” plant because they are so tiny….