📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Kristina Vatcheva
- 🌍 Origin: A fantastic family heirloom originating from Bulgaria. It gained worldwide popularity in the heirloom community after the grower, Kristina Vatcheva, shared her seeds with collectors in the United States.
- 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall) and highly vigorous. Typically reaches about 5.5 feet (1.7 m) in a greenhouse setting. Most growers recommend pruning it to 1 or 2 stems to support the massive fruit weight.
- 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Large, dark pink to raspberry-colored beefsteaks. They are broadly oblate, often featuring plump, ribbed lobes around the shoulders (affectionately called “chubby cheeks” by growers). Average weight is 14-21 oz (400-600 g). The flesh is very dense, buttery, and meaty.
- 👅 Flavor: Widely considered a top-10 tasting tomato by many collectors. It boasts a perfect, intense sweet flavor balanced by a refreshing tang. An ultimate slicer for fresh summer salads.
It is strange that this variety isn’t in our catalog yet. It is an absolutely wonderful tomato and is frequently mentioned in people’s top-10 lists.
This tomato originally comes from Bulgaria. It is Kristina Vatcheva’s family heirloom, which gained popularity after she sent seeds to the USA.
I grew it in the greenhouse. Plant height was about 5.5 feet (1.7 m). The tomatoes are large, dark pink (or raspberry maybe?), and broadly oblate. Mine grew out with lots of character, full of folds and plump “cheeks” on the shoulders. It is a very heavy yielder. In my opinion, Kristina Vatcheva is one of the best tasting tomato varieties out there!
Thank you to Natalya (Yaroslavna) for the seeds!
Inna, I am so grateful to you for opening these threads in our catalog. I used to have enough time to add new varieties to the catalog myself, but not lately.
And this variety really cannot be ignored, it has completely won over the hearts of gardeners recently!
I have been growing it myself for the third year in a row (our Angelina kindly shared the seeds with me).
The gorgeous “Kristina Vatcheva” is a Bulgarian family heirloom! A perfect salad tomato with a magnificent balance of acidity and sugars. Tall, vigorous plants loaded with very large fruits, average weight is 14-21 oz (400-600 g). The very first fruits on the bottom trusses are much larger. The fruits are uniform, raspberry-pink, broadly oblate, with very dense flesh and a buttery texture. The taste is incredibly worthy, with a large dose of sweetness. Best grown in greenhouses and pruned to 1-2 stems. One of the absolute best varieties every single season!
Inna, you are completely right, the shape of these tomatoes really does have plump cheeks!!
Ladies, how is it in terms of yield? I am planning to plant it next season…
A wonderful variety.
Edited December 20, 2020 by Hrizantema57
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The Kristina Vatcheva variety was absolutely flawless for me in every aspect. The flavor is an excellent classic tomato taste, large beautiful fruits, and it is a massive yielder. Sets fruit perfectly, multiple huge tomatoes per truss. A very healthy, disease-free variety! Thank you to Larik (Larisa) for the seeds, I got my start from her and grew this tomato in the 2020 season. It performed wonderfully, getting a permanent spot on my repeat list. I’ve mailed my saved seeds out to many forum members, I highly recommend growing it, I doubt you will regret it!
Edited January 5, 2021 by Lyudasik
Ladies, how is it in terms of yield? I am planning to plant it next season…
A total workhorse! 👍
I was very satisfied with this variety.
Hmm, I actually ended up with massive pink oxhearts. Very tasty, just like Rozovyi Krupnyi from Ninulia. I am looking at the pictures and doubting if I have the real deal. Is this variety prone to throwing heart shapes?
Edited August 15, 2021 by Lenhik
A wonderful variety.
Kristina Vatcheva. Indeterminate, grew in the greenhouse pruned to 2 stems. A fantastic pink slicer variety with excellent taste and high yield. Seeds from Lyuda (Hrizantema) 🙏
I really liked the variety, good yield, very uniform fruits, and a pleasant flavor with both sweetness and a nice little tang.
I moved the discussion about the unknown off-type tomato.
Chubby Cheeks: Inna and Yaroslavna mention that their tomatoes grew with adorable “plump cheeks” . In Russian gardening slang, this affectionately refers to the puffy, rounded lobes or ribs that form around the stem of a large beefsteak tomato.Segregation and Off-Types: Later in the thread, Elena mentions she grew giant pink “oxhearts”. As the moderator notes, this was an off-type! Kristina Vatcheva is strictly an oblate beefsteak. If it throws a true heart shape, you either have a crossed seed or a stray seed from another variety.
