L’Espagnol Lefebvres Tomato Review

Indeterminate, tall, mid-season variety. The bush isn’t very wide. Fruits are large, meaty, juicy red plums with an elongated little beak (though sometimes there were fruits without the beak), weighing anywhere from 4.5 to 9 oz (130-250 g). Tasty. Good yield, but you definitely need to plant this variety in a sunny spot.

And here are some counter-ripened fruits, from the very last pickings. The counter-ripened ones taste really good too!

Grew this variety for the second year, and for the second year it confirmed its excellent taste, nice and sweet. Yield was below average, grew it in the greenhouse in a sunny spot. I probably need to pay more attention to feeding it.

Len, is the fruit shape different between 2014 and 2015? 🙂 Or do they just throw different shapes on the same plant?

Tamar, both in 2014 and 2015 I really did get different shaped fruits on the exact same bush. Everything from regular plums with a beak, to chubby giant plums that looked more like double hearts or even round beefsteaks. But the vast majority of the fruits are plums.

ElenaN: Tamar, both in 2014 and 2015 I really did get different shaped fruits on the exact same bush…

👍 They’re all beautiful! And if they are tasty too 😋 absolutely super!

Very tasty maters.

Repeated this variety for the third year, and it stayed just as tasty and sweet as in previous years. Meaning the flavor isn’t dependent on climate, weather conditions, or feeding. I really love varieties like that. I was happy with the yield this year.

Lenochka’s Spaniard is just outstanding! I trust her taste and always try to hunt down seeds for the varieties she likes. I managed to get L’Espagnol Lefebvres from folks on the forum through “third parties” 😂🌺

I grew 1 bush in a polycarbonate greenhouse in the middle row. Ran it to 1 stem. I didn’t get trusses like Lena’s, but it just quietly kept setting fruit through the heat wave without skipping any blossoms right to the top, until I cleared out the greenhouse.

Ended up with over 20 pepper-shaped fruits weighing around 7 oz (200 g) each. Excellent flavor! Stores and counter-ripens well. Thanks to the forum and personally to Elena! 🤠

I grew it outdoors in the dirt. It didn’t yield very well because right when the second truss was blooming, we had a massive heat wave, so it dropped those blossoms. It started setting again after that, but only 2-3 fruits per truss. I’m definitely going to try it again in 2018 though, because I absolutely loved the taste.

Thanks to Lena (Stolin) for the seeds of this tomato. It was one of the few varieties that didn’t drop its blossoms during the wet, freezing “non-summer” of 2017.

Obviously, my trusses weren’t as full and pretty as ElenaN’s, but the variety still performed very respectably. To be fair, it did lack a bit of sweetness. Interestingly, the higher up the plant the tomatoes grew, the bigger they got. Part of the harvest was already picked here:

I want to add my two cents, this mater is one of my favorites, sweet, and in 2019 it really put on a great yield. Took the picture on my phone, so the photo isn’t great, but it is what it is.

L’Espagnol Lefebvres

Indet, excellent variety, heavy yielder. Fruits are red, pepper-shaped icicles up to 4.5 oz (130 g). Very meaty, but not dry, extremely tasty! 😋

You have a golden touch! Mine all ended up with yellow shoulders 😞 But yes, very productive and a vigorous bush. I even ran it to multiple stems.

Tatunya: You have a golden touch! Mine all ended up with yellow shoulders 😞…

You probably grew yours in full direct sun. My plant ended up in a small greenhouse on the north side, plus that greenhouse is shaded for part of the day. I’ve literally never had yellow shoulders on tomatoes in there for 7 years.

I grow everything outdoors in the dirt. It’s pretty common for a variety to underperform for me. But I really liked this mater – sweet, beautiful, and productive.