Growers’ Notes and Photos (USDA Zones 3-5 Experience)
Seeds are from Aelita, hybrid. Info from the packet: Early-ripening, starts producing around 100 days. Semi-determinate. The plant is compact and barely requires any pruning. Simple trusses with 7-9 round fruits weighing 4.5 oz (130 g). Sweet with a slight tang. Genetically predisposed to high yields.
In reality: Semi-determinate, tried running a single stem, and it really didn’t throw out too many suckers. My fruits were bigger than the packet claimed, around 5-5.5 oz (150-160 g), really pretty and perfectly uniform in size and shape. You could easily spot them in a mixed pile. Excellent yield.
Flavor is your standard, classic tomato – nothing to write home about, but not overly acidic either. The tomatoes are quite dense, they don’t turn to mush when you slice them, they hold their shape perfectly. I canned them in halves. This hybrid is absolutely perfect for processing.
Didn’t notice it being particularly early, but I didn’t plant it specifically for an early crop, just sowed it with the main batch around March 8-10. Chocolate Marshmallow, Abbot, and Striped Chocolate all ripened earlier.
Unfortunately, couldn’t find a photo of the fully ripe ones 😳 These photos are from early August.
I grew it this year from a packet that looked like this. Did not like it at all, maybe I got a bad batch of wrong seeds. Grew two vines in the greenhouse—zero yield, terrible flavor, ugly tomatoes. I didn’t even bother taking pictures of the fruit.
Meri, did your tomatoes actually look like the ones on your packet? Does it match Aelita’s description? Mine were completely different – much flatter and wider.
Mine were perfectly round and pretty small, just like the shape on my packet.
Quote from Meri:
Mine were perfectly round and pretty small, just like the shape on my packet.
Wow, so they really were completely different 🤷♀️
Quote from Lyolikovna:
Wow, so they really were completely different 🤷♀️
Olya, that’s because your packet says “Lyolya” and Meri’s packet says “Lelya”. That’s why they are totally different tomatoes! 😄
Quote from Olvika70:
Olya, that’s because your packet says “Lyolya”, and Meri’s packet says “Lelya” . That’s why they are totally different tomatoes! 😄
Olya 😄 You have eagle eyes 😲 You’re totally right 👍
Full Summary: Plant, Yield, Taste and Uses
- 🌿 Plant: Semi-determinate hybrid. The plant is relatively compact and manageable. Growers report success when training it to a single stem, noting that it doesn’t aggressively produce suckers.
- 🍅 Fruit: Very uniform, slightly flat-round red fruits. Real-world sizes tend to be slightly larger than the packet claims, averaging 5-5.5 oz (150-160 g).
- 📈 Yield: Excellent. Consistently sets high amounts of fruit in simple trusses.
- 👅 Taste & Use: Standard, classic tomato flavor. Its true value lies in its texture—the fruits are incredibly dense, hold their shape perfectly when sliced, and are absolutely phenomenal for processing and canning (including canning in halves).
