Growers’ Notes and Photos (USDA Zones 3-8 Experience)
Det, bush height is 2 ft (0.6 m), beautiful shape, orange color. Mostly a canning tomato. For outdoors.
Edited January 24, 2015 by Drosera
Lida, did you grow it in the dirt or in a greenhouse?
Grew Lisichka indoors. Fruits ripened on the vine and were super firm, with thick orange flesh inside. Pleasant, sweetish flavor. Perfect for canning whole or drying.
Just adding my two cents. Mid-early (grew it outdoors), decent yield.
My seeds were from the St. Petersburg House of Seeds.
On 10/24/2013, Esme said:
Just adding my two cents. Mid-early (grew it outdoors), decent yield.
My seeds were from the St. Petersburg House of Seeds.
Galya, those are actually your seeds, thanks! Found another great canning variety.
Adding one more pic. They are a bit muddy from the constant rain, but most importantly they survived.
Edited October 30, 2013 by Lidiya
The absolute best discovery of the so-called “summer” of 2013 😢. Shoved Lisichka between the greenhouse and the raspberry patch in mid-June because I ran out of room. It grew in perpetual shade under the hanging raspberries, but by early August it was totally loaded with clusters and plumped up super fast 😲. Height was exactly as claimed, about 2 ft (60 cm). Didn’t prune it at all, it stays perfectly compact on its own. Gotta give major props to this variety 👍 (Got mine from House of Seeds at Lenta).
Lisichka is amazing for canning. Thin skin, but it doesn’t split in the jars, and tastes super good fresh too. The seedlings looked totally wimpy at first, but the final result blew away my expectations.
I actually really didn’t like the taste of Lisichka at all. Someone gave me some transplants, so I don’t know how they were started before they got to me.
Grew mine outdoors. First to set fruit and first to ripen too. But the flavor… just totally bland. The walls were tough but not thick, and the seed locules were super watery. Shape is long with a pointed tip, getting a bit thicker toward the end, like an icicle, bright orange. I guess I just don’t like these icicle types… Mine got to about 3.3 ft (1 m) tall. Pruned it a little, but not much. Overall it was productive.
🙂 Grew Lisichka (House of Seeds) last year in 2013. Short bush, pretty heavy yielder, beautiful and tasty, some even had a little tail on the end.
Grew it in the 2012-13 seasons. Low-maintenance variety for outdoors, pretty average across the board. As it ripens, the color shifts from egg-yellow to orange. Like most folks here, my seeds were from House of Seeds SPb.
Nadya (Nadin) shared her Lisichka seeds with me. One of the absolute most low-maintenance and heavy-yielding varieties. Really loved it in jars too, firm and tasty!!! Color was bright orange.
Short bush, only about 1.6 ft (0.5 m). Grew it outdoors. Zero fuss, takes minimal care. The tomatoes are delicious, flesh is downright buttery. Really great for canning. Seeds from Lera (Bel Ami).
Grew Lisichka in the greenhouse. Turned out tasty, but I only got about a dozen fruits total.
Grew Lisichka for 3 years. Decided to drop it, even though it’s early and tasty, the yields are just too low for me 😞 😢
If you need something for canning, this is your variety. My entire bush was absolutely loaded with fruit. Picked everything at the end of August (the 20th) when they forecasted a frost, and it still managed to set more clusters over the next three weeks. Super low maintenance. Grew it outdoors.
During the cold, rainy summer of 2014, this and Black Moor were my top performers outdoors. Set fruit faster and heavier than any other variety and completely shrugged off late blight despite the endless rain, ripening right out in the open. The last ones that I ripened indoors on the counter held their taste and looks the longest.
Grew it again outdoors this year and it was great. Gave some to a friend who put it in a poly greenhouse. Figured it would drop blossoms in the heat, but nope, threw out gorgeous massive clusters. Canned a ton of them. It just grew taller in there. Outside mine stayed around 3 ft (90 cm).
Definitely gets more orange as it ripens. And tastier for me, since I love orange varieties. Firm, easy to pack for road trips.
Growing outdoors in raised beds. Very low-maintenance, heavy yielding and tasty little gem. Has a permanent spot on my grow list now.
Really loved Lisichka. Planted it and forgot about it. Ripened early. Beautiful and meaty. Seeds were from Vera Tomatinka on the forum.
Lisichka showed excellent yields in the 2016 season.
Flawless again this year, just like in my previous post.
Folks say it’s a twin of Karotinka, even though both are listed separately in the State Register.
Planted two bushes, one outdoors and one in the greenhouse. One of the highest yielding varieties I’ve got. Totally covered in tomatoes. Taste is simple but nice, definitely better suited for canning. If you let it fully ripen, it’s great in salads too. I picked them when they were yellow, rarely let them go full orange. Long harvest window. Tried to prune it at first, then just left it alone. The photo shows the leftovers after the main harvest. Put up 5 quarts of pickled tomatoes just from this one bush.
Lisichka was one of the best varieties in my patch during this terrible gardening year. Tasty and productive. During our tomato tasting, my daughter picked Lisichka as the absolute best one.
Saved my own seeds, gonna plant a couple bushes every year 👍
Lisichka has beautiful orange icicle fruits, great flavor for both salads and pickling. Excellent heavy yielding variety. Grew outdoors, stayed under 2.3 ft (70 cm). Made it onto my must-grow list.
Grew it in 2018 (House of Seeds). Had a few bushes outside in the dirt. Super low maintenance, didn’t pamper it at all. Yield was excellent. Harvested crates of them. Didn’t really like the taste fresh. Haven’t tried them canned yet. I canned them by stuffing a garlic clove into the blossom end of each one, they should turn out tasty. 🙂
Absolutely loved Lisichka! Even as a seedling it was beautiful, lacy foliage but very sturdy! The yield didn’t disappoint either, was the very first to ripen and kept producing right up until our Belarusian frosts hit… Probably would’ve kept going, but I cleared out the greenhouse. Gorgeous variety and looks great in jars!
Here is what my Lisichka looked like in 2018. Beautiful, tasty, heavy yielder. It’s a det, but it does need tying up. Seeds from @ElenaPr. Thanks Lena, sowed it again this year.
Full Summary: Plant, Yield, Taste and Storage
- 🌿 Plant: Very compact determinate bush. Outdoors, it usually stays between 1.6 and 2.3 ft (0.5-0.7 m), though it can stretch to 3.3 ft (1 m) in a greenhouse. Requires almost zero pruning or suckering. The fruits are bright orange, elongated paste/icicle types with a distinct pointed tip.
- 📈 Yield: Extremely high. Growers unanimously report the small bushes being completely smothered in fruit. It is an early ripener with a surprisingly long harvest window, often producing right up until the first frost.
- 👅 Taste: Utilitarian but pleasant. Some growers find the fresh eating flavor a bit bland or watery compared to large heirlooms, but its firm, buttery flesh shines once processed.
- 📦 Hardiness: Bulletproof. It performs exceptionally well outdoors even in cold, rainy, short-season climates, and demonstrates massive resistance to late blight. The thick skins prevent cracking, making it a top-tier choice for whole-canning and pickling.
