Growers’ Notes and Photos (USDA Zones 3-6 Experience)
Growing this for the first time. Really loved the variety, definitely a favorite this season. I have two vines growing outdoors in the dirt. Indet, about 5-5.2 ft (1.5-1.6 m) tall. The plant is slender with wispy, drooping foliage. Mid-season maturity.
Fruits are heart-shaped, a very beautiful pink color, weighing 7-14 oz (200-400 g). On the exact same vine you get both elongated hearts with a little beak and flatter, crested hearts. Very meaty and aromatic. The flesh is dense, very sweet, and delicious, not bland at all.
Failed to germinate on me twice!!! 😞 Never even got to try it. 😛
My Lithuanian Crested didn’t sprout until day 20, I thought they were dead for sure. Good thing I didn’t throw the seedling cups away 😊 Seeds were from Redko.
I have it on my grow list for this year. Should I just sow it now and start waiting? 😲
Grew this variety in 2017, seeds from Sofia27 🌺 Turned out very productive, the fruits were massive and beautiful. But the flavor ended up being a bit bland, probably didn’t get enough heat since the summer was cold and wet.
Lithuanian Crested Pink
Grew it this season (2023) in the greenhouse. Took forever to set any fruit, I was actually about ready to yank both vines out. But later on it set so many tomatoes that my support ties snapped multiple times! Trusses are long and complex.
Yield is above average, fruits are gorgeous pink hearts. Extremely delicious.
Seeds from Larisa @CUCSA. Thank you! 🌺
Full Summary: Plant, Yield, and Taste
- 🌿 Plant: A wispy-leafed, slender indeterminate vine growing to around 5-5.5 ft (1.5-1.6 m). A major quirk of this variety is its notoriously slow germination—growers report seeds taking up to 20 days to pop, so don’t throw your seed cups away too early!
- 📈 Yield: It can be a late bloomer, taking its time to set fruit early in the season. However, once it gets going, it produces massive, complex trusses so heavy they are known to snap support ties. Performs great in both greenhouses and outdoors.
- 👅 Taste & Appearance: Produces large pink oxhearts weighing 7-14 oz (200-400 g). The plant famously produces two different shapes: sleek, pointy hearts and flatter, ribbed (“crested”) hearts. The flesh is incredibly meaty, dense, and sweet. However, like many oxhearts, it requires good sun and heat to build its sugars; in cold, rainy summers, the flavor can become watered down and bland.
- 🌎 Who Reviewed It: Grown successfully across multiple zones, from the harsh climates of Kemerovo (Siberia) and Kostroma to the warmer Volgograd region.
