Growers’ Notes and Photos (USDA Zones 4-5 Experience)
Nastenka acted a fool for me this season. Seeds were from Aelita. Planted 3 bushes out in the dirt.
The plants themselves were identical in height – about 2-2.3 ft (60-70 cm) =- same foliage, and same yield (all were heavily loaded). But the fruit shapes were all over the place. Nastenka #1 and Nastenka #3 tasted similar. But Nastenka #2 was gorgeous to look at, while the taste was an absolute dud (super bland, tasted like cardboard).
Here is Nastenka #2, the one that tasted like a dud.
And this is Nastenka #3.
I grew Nastenka from SibSad seeds (a few years back). Had 3-4 bushes and they were all identical. Mid-season, decent yield, bushes stayed around 2 ft (60 cm). Fruits were pink, round-oval shapes, with a really good taste.
I’ve had nothing but bad luck with this variety starting right from the seedling stage. Tried to grow it two years in a row. The seedlings would look gorgeous and then catch some nasty crud. First a powdery coating on the stem, then on the undersides of the leaves. Eventually, a crust would form on the stem and literally eat it to the core.
My Nastenka threw out heart shapes. Very tasty and sweet. Great yield. One of my pink favorites.
Last year was a total disaster for veggies here, it rained all summer long. The tomatoes ripened poorly, plants were dying off left and right, but this variety really showed up. Every bush was loaded with tomatoes. And on top of that, it actually tasted good.
My Nastenka:
I like Nastenka too! On the bottom trusses the fruits were medium oval shapes, but higher up they got much larger and definitely looked like blunt hearts, slightly flattened on the sides 😄
Quote from Ninulia:
I like Nastenka too! On the bottom trusses the fruits were medium oval shapes, but higher up they got much larger and definitely looked like blunt hearts, slightly flattened on the sides 😄
I really liked it too, tasty and meaty.
Hey folks, will this one work for an early harvest (assuming I sow in early Feb and transplant to the greenhouse mid-April)? Or should I not get my hopes up 😂
Quote from Alena Andreeva:
Hey folks, will this one work for an early harvest…
It wasn’t very early for me.
Quote from anasst2010:
It wasn’t very early for me.
Thanks Nastyush. Turns out I specifically want early dets 😕 Y’all are leading me astray here 😕
Alen, the early dets that worked for me were Em-Champion, Danko, and Syzranskaya Skorospelaya. Not counting the tree-type dwarfs, of course.
It wasn’t early at all. The taste didn’t impress me, but I absolutely loved it for sun-drying because it has very thick walls.
Ninulechka, whose seeds did you use? I have a packet from Seeds of Altai (Semena Altaya) this season, want to give it a test run.
Quote from elena0508:
Ninulechka, whose seeds did you use?
Lena, I honestly don’t even know! One of the girls on the forum sent them to me.
Quote from Leno4ek:
The taste didn’t impress me, but I absolutely loved it for sun-drying because it has very thick walls.
I actually really liked Nastenka. Seeds were from Seeds of Altai.
Turned out tasty, meaty, with a nice sweetness. Good in salads. Handles well in jars, too.
Grew it out in the dirt completely uncovered. Sowed in early April, transplanted out to the garden in late May. We had a brutally hot season in 2021, and it started ripening up in the second half of July.
Hey Innusya, out of the two, which one did you end up liking better: Nastenka or Nastya Sibiryachka? I don’t have enough space, so I can only grow one of them. Which one should it be?
Quote from sofochkamai:
which one did you end up liking better: Nastenka or Nastya Sibiryachka?
Sveta, they are identical in every way. At least I couldn’t spot a single difference. It’s highly likely they are the exact same variety.
Nastenka is solid! In the greenhouse, it acts like a true det, doesn’t overgrow, stayed under 2 ft (60 cm).
Tasty, not bland at all. Seeds were from YaLyubov.
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Extremely productive variety. Seeds from Terentiev (Donetsk). Love using them for pickling and marinades. The bush is sturdy, getting up to 3.2 ft (1 m) outdoors. Has zero issues with BER (Blossom End Rot).
Full Summary: Plant, Yield, Taste and Storage
- 🌿 Plant: A well-behaved, rugged determinate bush that typically stays around 2 ft (60 cm), though it can stretch up to 3.2 ft (1 m) outdoors in good soil. It thrives uncovered in the dirt and exhibits excellent resistance to heavy rains and poor summer conditions.
- 📈 Yield: Extremely heavy producer, though growers note it is mid-season to late, not an early cropper. Highly reliable even when surrounding varieties succumb to the weather.
- 👅 Taste: Generally rated as a good, sweet processing tomato. While not a top-tier fresh slicer, its dense, meaty texture makes it highly versatile.
- 📦 Texture/Usage: The fruits are pink, meaty, and have very thick walls. Shape varies widely from oval/plums on the bottom trusses to blunt hearts higher up. Exceptional for canning, marinades, and making sun-dried tomatoes due to the low moisture content and thick flesh. Highly resistant to Blossom End Rot (BER).
The first post perfectly illustrates a common issue with mass-produced Russian seed lines. When seed companies like Aelita mass-produce heirlooms, the genetics often drift, resulting in different phenotypes (shapes) emerging from the exact same packet. This is why one plant produced oval plums and another threw out beautiful (but bland) hearts. Additionally, as Inna pointed out, competing companies often rename the exact same variety to boost sales—in this case, “Nastenka” and “Nastya Sibiryachka” (Siberian Nastya) appear to be identical genetic twins.
