Growers’ Notes and Photos (USDA Zones 3-4 Experience)
My absolute favorite this year! Huge shoutout to Tanya (@Tanika). I’m not great at describing things, but this variety definitely deserves a spot in the catalog. Vigorous indet vine, the fruits are elongated, dark pink, super meaty, with almost no acidity. Everything was extreme for me this year, but it’s clearly not a late variety, highly productive even with barely any care, and it didn’t catch a single disease. Taken in October.
I got my King Penguin seeds from Kolyakov, he lists it as a tree-type plant with complex trusses of up to 12 tomatoes. But I read on some other site that it’s a hybrid. Marina, did yours have simple trusses with about 5 fruits?
Yep, mine had simple trusses 😉
It wasn’t very productive for me this year, but definitely tasty. I grew it from super old seeds from 1992. It dropped a lot of blossoms because of the heat, but you can tell it has good potential.
Really liked it, glad I hunted it down. Mid-season, the taste is totally worthy, exactly like Marinichka wrote. Grew it in the greenhouse. No diseases, didn’t crack. Yield was average for my conditions (which is already a win for me :D), I’ll keep working on dialing it in.
Interesting variety. I stuck it in a really terrible spot, the flavor was decent, yield was basically zero, but I only have myself to blame for that. Dropped its blossoms in the heat. Grown in the greenhouse.
Absolutely loved this variety, unusually beautiful and delicious. Simply the best. Thanks for the seeds @Valentina 54.
Grew this variety this year, extremely meaty, sweet, very few seeds. Definitely one of my favorites.
Edited September 26, 2019 by Murka
Hey folks, is it a tall grower? I’ve had these seeds sitting around forever, but I only grow outdoors in the dirt. Super tall vines are a hassle for me. 5-6 feet (1.5-1.8 m) is totally fine though.
Petrofka wrote:
Hey folks, is it a tall grower? I’ve had these seeds sitting around forever, but I only grow outdoors in the dirt. Super tall vines are a hassle for me. 5-6 feet (1.5-1.8 m) is totally fine though.
In the greenhouse, it hit about 5 feet (1.5 m). It should stay shorter than that outdoors.
Full Summary: Plant, Yield, Taste and Storage
- 🌿 Plant: Indeterminate, but a very manageable grower. In a greenhouse, it maxes out around 5 feet (1.5 m), making it an excellent candidate for outdoor growing as well. The heirloom strain traded here produces simple trusses of about 5 fruits.
- 🍅 Fruit: Elongated, dark pink, and extremely meaty with very few seed locules. It resembles a classic paste tomato but with the size and flesh of a beefsteak.
- 📈 Yield: Yields can vary widely depending on the weather. While it is highly productive under good conditions, several growers reported that it is highly sensitive to intense summer heat and will drop its blossoms (fail to set fruit) if temperatures get too high.
- 👅 Taste: Universally praised. The flavor is very sweet, rich, and practically acid-free, making it a major favorite for those who prefer meaty, mild tomatoes.
