Growers’ Notes and Photos (USDA Zones 4-5 Experience)
A beautiful and productive variety of red cherries, seeds from Biotekhnika. Indeterminate, grew outdoors right by the gazebo. I pruned the suckers only up to the first flower cluster, and then just partially after that. At the end of the season, I topped the vines and pinched off the young suckers.
The trusses turned out to be double fan-shaped and quite long, but I snipped the ends of the trusses off because the fruits weren’t setting there. It probably just didn’t have enough energy on that tiny patch of dirt, I really should have kept fewer stems. I ended up with probably 7-8 stems, plus it was growing right next to a massive Geranium Kiss plant and a decorative grape vine.
But I’m still very happy with the result, it looked beautiful, and the fruits are sweet and plentiful.
Edited December 30, 2018 by Drosera
I really liked these cherries too. I also couldn’t keep up with pruning them, so they just grew however they wanted. I was thrilled with the harvest and liked that they aren’t pea-sized. Unfortunately, I don’t have a photo. The taste is good.
Gorgeous! Definitely putting this on next year’s grow list!
Full Summary: Plant, Yield, Taste and Storage
- 🌿 Plant: A highly vigorous indeterminate vine. It is very forgiving if you fall behind on pruning, easily supporting 7-8 leaders while sprawling outdoors. It produces massive, multiflora-style double fan clusters. Growers recommend “topping” the plant late in the season to help the final trusses ripen, and snipping off the unpollinated tips of the massive flower clusters so the plant doesn’t waste energy.
- 🍅 Fruit: Red cherry tomatoes. They are praised for being a decent, substantial cherry size, rather than tiny currant or “pea-sized” fruits.
- 📈 Yield: Excellent. Even when crowded by other plants, the multi-branching vines drip with heavy trusses.
- 👅 Taste: Sweet and highly rated for fresh snacking.
The name “Krasa – Dlinnaya Kosa” literally translates to “Beauty With a Long Braid”. This is a direct reference to classic Russian fairy tales and folklore, where a beautiful maiden with a long, thick hair braid is the ultimate symbol of health and beauty. The commercial seed company Biotekhnika chose this name because the tomato’s massive, split, fan-like trusses hang down from the vine just like heavy, braided hair.
