Growers’ Notes and Photos (USDA Zone 5-6 Experience)
Description from the seed packet: Mid-season, 110-115 days from germination to fruiting. The plant is a tall vine. Fruits are an intense red color, nice round shape, large, weighing 7-9 oz (200-250 g), firm, meaty, multi-locular with very few seeds. Exceptionally high taste and market qualities. Multipurpose usage. The variety is prized for its high yield, resistance to major diseases, and ability to handle bad weather. Can be grown outdoors or in high tunnels. Great for personal use or market sales.
Photo credit: Oksana
There are a bunch of different tomatoes called “Mashenka” put out by different seed companies. And the descriptions for them are completely different depending on the brand. Unfortunately, in the first post, Sveta didn’t mention which seed company that description came from.
I grew two different “Mashenkas” in 2014, one from Biotekhnika and one from SibSad. Completely different tomatoes.
Mashenka from Biotekhnika:
Their description says it’s a backyard bred variety. Tall vine, average foliage, requires suckering. The tomato is large, round, weighing up to 1.3 lbs (600 g), pink, meaty, sets 4-5 fruits per truss. They recommend pruning to 1-2 stems and letting it set 4-5 trusses. Exceptional taste.
My experience: Grew one plant out in the dirt. Only managed to find a photo of it from June. Honestly, it didn’t impress me at all. It just got lost in the shuffle among my other plants. Didn’t wow me with yield or taste. I didn’t even bother weighing or photographing the ripe ones, and definitely didn’t save seeds.
Mashenka from SibSad (Siberian Garden):
Their description (pulled from the internet since I got these seeds in a trade without the packet): Mid-early, up to 14 oz (400 g), round, red, 4-5 ft (1.2-1.5 m) tall. Beautiful bush loaded top to bottom with uniform, tasty fruits.
My experience: Also a total dud for me in 2014. Terrible yield and completely forgettable flavor. Sadly no photos. Didn’t save seeds of this one either.
I really wanted to love these because my granddaughter’s name is Mashenka. I’d be really interested to hear if anyone else had better luck with these strains since I still have some leftover seeds.
Edited January 28, 2015 by Katerinka
Seeds from Biotekhnika, 2015 season:
Full Summary: Plant, Yield, Taste and Storage
- 🌿 Plant: Both major strains are indeterminate vines requiring staking and pruning. The SibSad strain maxes out around 4-5 ft (1.2-1.5 m), while the Biotekhnika strain grows taller and is recommended to be pruned to 1-2 leaders.
- 📈 Yield: Despite commercial claims of heavy production, forum growers reported very poor yields, referring to the plants as “duds” that easily got lost among better-performing heirloom varieties.
- 👅 Taste: Forgettable. None of the growers reported the “exceptional taste” promised on the seed packets.
- 📦 Texture/Usage: Highly dependent on the seed source. The SibSad version produces 14 oz (400 g) red slicers. The Biotekhnika version is supposed to produce massive pink beefsteaks up to 1.3 lbs (600 g).
