Quick Summary of Shapka Monomakha (Monomakh’s Cap)
- 👑 What is “Monomakh’s Cap”? The name translates to Monomakh’s Cap, which is the legendary, jewel-encrusted, sable-trimmed crown of the early Russian Tsars (dating back to the 13th century). The crown has a distinct dome/cone shape with a pointed top. Therefore, the “true” heirloom tomato of this name is supposed to be dome-shaped or have a pointed tip—a point of hot debate among growers!
- 🌍 Origin: A famous Russian amateur heirloom from the early 1990s, later commercialized by several seed companies (most notably Siberian Garden / SibSad). Over the years, different commercial lines have segregated, leading to varying fruit shapes on the market.
- 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (though some lines behave like tall semi-determinates), reaching 1.5 to 2.5 meters (5 to 8.2 ft) depending on greenhouse or open ground conditions. The foliage is regular, and the stems are relatively thin for such a large-fruited variety. Note: It is quite susceptible to Leaf Mold (Cladosporium) in humid greenhouses.
- 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Massive pink/dark pink fruits. It is not uncommon for growers to harvest tomatoes weighing over 1 kg (2.2 lbs), with averages around 400-600g (14-21 oz). Shape varies by seed source: some get the true conical/dome shape, while others get flattened hearts or standard oblate beefsteaks.
- 👅 Flavor: An excellent, classic, sweet, and meaty salad tomato.
Shapka Monomakha (from Siberian Garden / SibSad)
I find it hard to determine the plant type. For 2 years I planted it outdoors in open ground – I was sure it was a semi-determinate (110-120 cm / 4 ft), but in 2012 I planted it in a greenhouse and it grew over 2.5 m (8.2 ft) tall.
Pink, large-fruited, shape… 🤔 some kind of truncated cone maybe… or a flattened heart. The taste is very good, a juicy tomato, meant for slicing/salads, mid-season ripening. Good resistance to late blight.
In 2012 in the greenhouse, it showed magnificent fruit set on the upper trusses.
This is at a height of about 2 meters (6.5 ft).
I completely agree with Olya, a successful variety, both tasty and large. But for me, it was early. It was the first to take off among all the Siberian Garden varieties.
In 2012, I managed to sprout and grow one single seed from a batch saved in 1995. Back then, someone gifted me a bush of Shapka Monomakha.
If I remember correctly, that original bush grew only a couple of fruits, one very large (bigger than the current one) and one small. Now, this new plant produced three fruits (the largest is in the photo) and a few small ones. Indeterminate, the bush is flimsy. Mid-season. I liked the taste, especially when it was slightly underripe. The fruits are meaty, but quite juicy.
Girls, for some reason your tomatoes are totally different in shape… 😳
Quote from tomatinka:
Girls, for some reason your tomatoes are totally different in shape…
…Sharp-eyed clever girl..! You noticed correctly…. Different fruit shapes. The first one is pure Siberian selection… large, flattened… And the second one looks more like the Chelyabinsk selection… However, there are signs of cross-pollination with the Cardinal variety…
Seeds from different sources.
Except in 1995, the Cardinal variety didn’t exist yet. This was a purely amateur heirloom variety from those years.
Quote from Esme:
Except in 1995, the Cardinal variety didn’t exist yet.
…….The Cardinal variety by breeder N. Egorov dates back to the very early nineties…..
My Shapka Monomakha was exactly the same as Olga’s, but in the greenhouse it produced very few fruits (which is weird), while outdoors in the street, the tomato showed itself in all its glory.
Hi girls! It’s kind of weird how small your tomatoes are in the photos. Yes, sometimes there are only one or two fruits on the bush, but the size and weight of Shapka are usually much larger. This year I grew 20 tomatoes on 20 bushes, and every single fruit was over a kilogram (2.2 lbs). One was 1450 grams (3.2 lbs).
This variety (Shapka Monomakha) is now on my permanent grow list 👍🙌😘
Seeds from Siberian Garden (SibSad). The bush is powerful, tall. I led it in two stems. I think it’s early, because I bought it late and sowed it on April 18. Between sprouting and pricking out, a lot of vegetative time was lost. Despite that, it managed to set perfectly and pump up huge, tasty fruits that looked sugary on the break. The variety is simply SUPER!!!
Unfortunately, I didn’t think to weigh it. And another thing, it didn’t catch a single disease.
Liked it very much, and I grew it from Siberian Garden seeds…
I grew one this year slightly over a kg (2.2 lbs). The tomato has a regular, beautiful shape, slightly elongated. I didn’t try the taste. I sacrificed it for saving seeds.
I think this variety deserves to be remembered. I grew a bush this year from SibSad seeds. The fruits are large, very tasty. In the photo (not a very good one – taken with a phone) the fruit is over a kilogram (2.2 lbs). Meaty, but juicy. I will tame this one.
My seeds were old, long past their expiration date, but last year they still gave a good harvest (I don’t have the packet on hand, so I don’t remember the brand, but not SibSad). They were from 300 to 680g (10-24 oz) on my bushes, productive, early/mid-early, indeterminate, regular leaf.
The color is slightly distorted by my cheap camera, on the outside it’s like a deep red, and on the cross-section it leans more towards crimson…
I planted only one bush last year, there weren’t many fruits, the largest was 700 grams / 24 oz (in the photo. I had to pick it early because it got scratched on the edge of the raised bed, otherwise it probably would have grown even bigger). My seeds were also from SibSad, grew in a hoop house. Tasty and spectacular 🙂 great for showing off to guests :).
For me, this variety is one of the best large-fruited varieties for open ground. Every year it pleases me with an abundant harvest of tasty, heart-shaped fruits.
This season I grew the famous Shapka Monomakha, one of the old and very beloved varieties of mine… But not the one that has been residing in my collection since Soviet times, but from seeds sent by Tanya Kushnareva, labeled “Shapka Monomakha” (English transliteration).
Six plants were planted in different greenhouses, I pruned them all, mostly to 2-3 stems…
A strong indeterminate, with thin stems and regular foliage, mid-season even in such a summer…
The fruit shape differs noticeably – the fruits are mostly cone-shaped, all of them, starting from the lower trusses. Branches hold 3-4-5 pink heart-shaped fruits, the flesh has a dense texture and a well-balanced taste.
All fruits are large to very large, up to 300-500g (10-17 oz).
An amazing variety! I liked it a lot!
What should I call it now? Shapka Monomakha from Canada? 📝
And I had SibSad seeds and this is what came out.
I’m keeping it on my permanent grow list, as I liked both the yield and the taste.
I had these tomatoes this year (SibSad seeds):
Tasty, meaty, salad type, they ripened the very first among the SibSad varieties. In the photo the fruit weighs 300g (10.5 oz), there were larger ones.
I grow in a polycarbonate greenhouse, sowing was on March 15, 2018, I picked the first tomato on July 17, 2018.
Productive, grew in the greenhouse, thanks to Tatunya for the seeds.
Hello! Interested in your opinion, is this a feature of the variety or a disease? The largest one, first truss. The fruit is ripening in spots (blotchy ripening). The bush and neighboring fruits seem to have no signs of disease. Although, maybe I’m missing something.
Everyone seems to have a different shape, and not very much resembling a “cap”… This is how mine turned out:
Quote from Lana_s_Kavkaza:
Everyone seems to have a different shape, and not very much resembling a “cap”…
Judging by the name, it should look like the Tsar’s Monomakh’s Cap, meaning it should taper upwards to a point. That means the tomato must have a pointed tip (nipple/beak). All the round and flat ones are a degeneration (segregation/off-types), in my opinion.
I have a seed packet from SibSad, expiry date 12.2014.
The description says: “Tomato is oval-round in shape, dark crimson color.”
