Growers’ Notes and Photos (USDA Zones 3-5 Experience)
Midnight Sun (Polunochnoe Solntse). One of the very best new varieties from the renowned Canadian breeder Karen Olivier, from her True North series.
Karen breeds and selects specifically for her True North line, specializing in potato-leaf varieties, and every single one of her releases is a genuine work of art! This variety underwent trials in my northern climate this season alongside several other selections from the “Northern Gardener.”
Midnight Sun is the result of crossing Ludmilla’s Pink Heart with Captain Lucky. It is currently at the F9 generation.
I planted two vines in my polycarbonate greenhouse, pruning each to a single stem. That first season proved that this variety can easily handle being pruned to two or even three leaders. The plants have sparse, droopy oxheart foliage, but at the same time possess strong, sturdy stems that definitely require solid trellising.
Tall, exceptionally healthy plants with large potato leaves and flawlessly beautiful pink-and-yellow heart-shaped fruit. Average fruit weight is 9-12.5 oz (250-350 g). The flesh is dense, pure meat with almost zero seeds, delivering a rich, complex, concentrated flavor.
Under my conditions, it performed as a mid-season cropper. It is still too early to give a final verdict on total yield potential, but this is a must-grow with massive capabilities waiting to be unlocked.
“Midnight Sun is the result of crossing Ludmilla’s Pink Heart with Captain Lucky.”
“Polaris is the result of crossing Ludmilla’s Pink Heart with Captain Lucky.”
“True Colours is the result of crossing Ludmilla’s Pink Heart with Captain Lucky.”
“Taiga is the result of crossing Ludmilla’s Pink Heart with Captain Lucky.”
Are you telling me four completely different varieties came out of the exact same two parents? 🤦
Uef: Are you telling me four completely different varieties came out of the exact same two parents? 🤦
Even more than four varieties!
When you cross two distinct heirloom parents, the first generation (F1) is uniform. But in the F2 generation, massive genetic recombination kicks off, splitting into an explosion of different fruit shapes, foliage types, and colors.
That is where a breeder steps in, selects the most promising individual lines, and stabilizes each one over eight full generations before releasing them to the public.
That process is genetic segregation. You can pull dozens of distinct lines out of a single cross. This specific cross between Ludmilla’s Pink Heart and Captain Lucky hit the absolute jackpot for selection!
Uef: Are you telling me four completely different varieties came out of the exact same two parents?
I grew both True Colours and Taiga this year. They were complete twins as seedlings and in their fruit. Well, that solves the mystery! 🙂
I fell head over heels for this variety.
I sourced seeds from two different vendors. The plants from one source produced fruit with a fair amount of seeds, while the other was practically seedless, maybe four seeds in an entire massive tomato.
It was the very earliest variety in my whole garden. We ate our first fully ripe tomato in June! Grown in the greenhouse.
Hello everyone!
Why is it that when you run this name through an online translator, it spits out “Midday Sun”? Well, since the entire gardening world calls it Midnight Sun, that works for me.
I loved it, both for the incredible flavor profile and the solid yield. In the photo, the stem slightly threw off the presentation, but look at that fruit!
Full Summary: Lineage, Plant Habit, Earliness & Flavor
- 🌿 Breeder & Genetic Lineage: Developed by Canadian artisan breeder Karen Olivier (Ladysmith, BC) as part of her famous True North Series. It originates from the historic cross between Ludmilla’s Pink Heart and Captain Lucky, stabilizing alongside famous sister lines like Taiga, True Colours, and Polaris.
- 🍃 Vine Habit & Pruning: Vigorous indeterminate with a unique combination of large potato-leaf (PL) foliage and sparse, weeping/wispy oxheart growth. Because the canopy is open and allows excellent airflow and light penetration, plants can easily be trained to 2 or 3 stems without overcrowding.
- ⏱️ Remarkable Earliness: While rated mid-season (75-80 days), northern growers consistently report that it is among the very first large-fruited varieties to ripen under greenhouse plastic, with harvests kicking off as early as late June in Zone 4.
- 🍅 Fruit & Weight: Dense, blunt heart-shaped slicers averaging 9-12.5 oz (250-350 g). The skin ripens a glowing yellow-amber with vivid pink-to-ruby blush radiating from the blossom end. The interior is virtually seedless, packed with solid, buttery bicolor meat.
- 👅 Flavor Profile: Outstanding. Sweet, rich, and tropical, combining the sweet, melt-in-your-mouth texture of a pink heart with the complex, fruity acidity of Captain Lucky.
- 🌎 Proven Climates: Highly adapted to cold, short northern seasons across USDA Zones 3 and 4 (Upper Volga, Southern Urals, and Western Siberia).
Midnight Sun was bred by independent Canadian breeder Karen Olivier (Northern Gardener) on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Olivier created her True North Series specifically to solve a common dilemma for high-latitude growers: most complex-flavored heirloom bicolors and tricolors are late-maturing, wispy, or struggle in cool climates.
The forum exchange between Vadim and Natalya touches on one of the most famous crosses in modern artisan tomato history: Ludmilla’s Pink Heart × Captain Lucky. That single cross resulted in four distinct masterpieces released by Olivier:
• Midnight Sun: Yellow-pink bicolor oxheart with potato leaf.
• Taiga: Pointed oxheart with rich tricolor flesh (green, yellow, and red).
• True Colours: Blunt tricolor heart/beefsteak with prominent green-when-ripe exterior.
• Polaris: Dusky purple-green-bronze beefsteak with deep red interior.
All four varieties carry potato-leaf foliage and produce virtually solid meat with extraordinarily few seeds, making seed saving challenging but giving gardeners an unrivaled gourmet culinary experience.
