Growers’ Notes and Photos (USDA Zones 3-4 Experience)
Mid-season, tall vine, round orange fruits with red-orange flesh. Weight is about 7-10.5 oz (200-300 g). The fruits are very dense, meaty, and have a long shelf life. Heavy yielder and sweet. I really loved that it didn’t get sick at all. The foliage stayed perfectly clean until the very end of the season.
It left me with negative emotions. Way too much liquid inside, and it just didn’t look appetizing when sliced. The flavor tasted watered down to me. Just not a good one at all. Sorry.
Elena, sorry, but maybe you didn’t have the real one? Mandalay had absolutely zero watery gel in it, it was pure meat. Dense, sweet, and gorgeous on the inside. The vine is completely unique, it stands out from all the others.
Here is the flesh of Mandalay, sorry for the low-quality photo. My seeds were originally from Lidiya Ganzen, sent to me by Lena Ch, big thanks to both of them.
I want to add some details about the vines themselves. The plants are truly unusual. The branches point straight up like a date palm.
Edited October 14, 2018 by Drosera
I really liked this variety. Interesting color, great taste, and excellent yields.
Mine was from Redko. My soul just didn’t connect with it. Even the internal color was off-putting to me. Brought me zero joy and no flavor. Doesn’t seem like a seed mix-up though. Closer to orange on the outside, red flesh inside. Is that the one?
Belka said:
Mine was from Redko. My soul just didn’t connect with it. Even the internal color was off-putting to me. Brought me zero joy and no flavor. Doesn’t seem like a seed mix-up though. Closer to orange on the outside, red flesh inside. Is that the one?
It is intensely orange both inside and out. I don’t have a sliced photo, but trust me on this. It’s excellent. Let me send you a few seeds.
Mine was yellow on the outside, leaning towards orange, and pink on the inside. A seed mix-up? All the tomatoes were round, firm, and not very large. Here it is with some other yellows, the two with the stems facing up.
Edited October 15, 2018 by Jamilya
Yep, that’s the one. Pinkish-red flesh.
Jamilya said:
Mine was yellow on the outside, leaning towards orange, and pink on the inside. A seed mix-up? All the tomatoes were round, firm, and not very large.
Not the real one. Mandalay has a highly characteristic vine. The leaves are fuzzy and point straight up. The color is very orange, not yellow at all. The flesh is the same color.
Edited October 20, 2018 by Drosera
Shame that it wasn’t the real deal…
Growing Mandalay for the second year. I love it, very tasty, doesn’t turn to mush. Definitely planting it again next year. I agree, those last photos show a seed mix-up. These photos are from last year.
Mine actually came from you, Nadezhda! Huge thanks for this variety!
Edited October 20, 2018 by Drosera
Nataliya said:
Mine actually came from you, Nadezhda! Huge thanks for this variety!
Natasha, I’m so glad you liked it!
Everyone loved this variety. The vine is beautiful, dark green with a really strong constitution. The fruits are firm, bright orange on the outside and reddish on the inside. Incredible flavor with obvious sweetness and I even picked up some spicy hints on the finish. Grown outdoors, the fruits were significantly larger than the ones in the greenhouse.
Edited September 14, 2019 by elja1968
This variety is incredibly prone to nitrogen toxicity (fattening up). Because of that, I ruthlessly ripped one plant straight out of the dirt and stomped on it in frustration. On the second one, I violently chopped off almost all of its FAT leaves. Left just one FAT main stem. Even the name sounds suspicious. Man, I was so mad!
But the vine must’ve gotten terrified of imminent death and understood the weight of my hatred toward it, because by early September it turned out to be an absolutely magnificent producer (over 11 lbs (5 kg) from that one plant, even with all the drama described above!). Best flavor (solid 5+) out of all the yellows I grew (and there were some heavy hitters in that lineup!).
The fruits are orange with a pinkish, buttery flesh weighing 10.5-17.5 oz (300-500 g). GETS A PERMANENT SPOT IN THE GARDEN FOR SURE!!!
Grew it in the greenhouse. Reached about 4 ft (120 cm). Pruned it to two stems.
P.S. If anyone risks planting this monster, do not overfeed the bastard! Don’t dump extra fertilizer in the planting hole. A pinch of superphosphate and a handful of ash is plenty for it. Seeds from L. Ganzen.
Edited March 7, 2020 by Stepanych
On 9/13/2019 at 12:59 PM, elja1968 said:
Everyone loved this variety. The vine is beautiful…
Elya, whose seeds did you have? Did your leaves also point straight up like the folks mentioned above?
Edited June 30, 2020 by T@tka
The tastiest tomato of 2020, and the yields didn’t disappoint either.
On 3/14/2021 at 4:47 PM, arel1982 said:
The tastiest tomato of 2020, and the yields didn’t disappoint either.
Valeria, did it grow in a greenhouse? How was the timing?
Grew it in a poly greenhouse, it was late for me. Dropped fruit from August 10th through the end of September, but honestly, with a flavor like that, you forgive the late timing. Might have been my fault with the sowing dates. Sowed it earlier this year.
On 6/30/2020 at 9:14 PM, T@tka said:
Elya, whose seeds did you have? Did your leaves also point straight up like the folks mentioned above?
Tanya, just saw your question today, sorry! 🤦♀️
Yes, exactly, the leaves on the vine point straight up. To be honest, it was my first time ever seeing a plant structure like that.
Lena Ch sent me the seeds, she got them from Lidiya Ganzen.
There it is! What a beauty! Fuzzy leaves pointing straight up, a very unusual plant.
On 10/4/2023 at 8:55 PM, priora said:
There it is! What a beauty! Fuzzy leaves pointing straight up, a very unusual plant.
I ended up with crossed seeds. Waited so long for it. Grew into a determinate plant throwing little red cherry spheres.
Full Summary: Foliage, Feeding, and Yield
- 🌿 Plant & Foliage: Indeterminate, mid-to-late season. The defining trait of the true Mandalay is its foliage. It produces distinctly fuzzy (pubescent) leaves on branches that point straight up, resembling the fronds of a date palm. Highly disease resistant.
- ⚠️ Fertilizer Warning: This variety is incredibly sensitive to excess nitrogen. As noted by growers, overfeeding will cause severe “fattening up” (massive, thick vegetative growth with no blossoms). Keep nitrogen low and stick to PK (phosphorus/potassium) like wood ash or superphosphate.
- 🍅 Fruit: Firm, dense, meaty orange fruits with a reddish-pink interior. Weighs around 7-17.5 oz (200-500 g). Excellent shelf life.
- 👅 Taste: Universally praised by those who grew the true strain. Extremely sweet, dense, “pure meat” texture with zero watery gel.
Certain heirlooms, like Mandalay, have a very poor tolerance for rich, nitrogen-heavy compost or manure in the planting hole. If overfed, they will respond with massive vegetative growth—growing trunks as thick as broomsticks and giant dark green leaves—but will drop all their blossoms. If you see a vine acting like this, cut the nitrogen immediately and stress the plant slightly with phosphorus and potassium (like wood ash) to force it to set fruit!
