Growers’ Notes and Photos
Grew the Orlik variety from this seed packet. Here’s how they turned out:
Grew 5 bushes up to about 1.5 ft (0.5 m) tall. Had them planted off to the side. They grew almost identical to each other and were heavy yielders. The packet says it’s an early variety, and for me, growing outdoors with absolutely no cover, it ended up being the earliest in the garden. I started soaking the seeds on March 21st, and we were eating the first ripe tomatoes by July 14th.
The fruits turned out pretty firm but not rock hard, with a standard tomato flavor, not candy-sweet, but not super sour either. We ate the first ones fresh, and then I canned the rest in quart jars, some by themselves, some pickled with cucumbers. I’ll try to report back this winter on how they taste out of the jar.
There was one discrepancy from the seed packet description. It says the fruits weigh 1.4-1.6 oz (40-45 g), but my biggest one actually clocked in at 2.4 oz (67 g).
Edited November 8, 2014 by Esme
Here they are sliced up. They just kept setting, growing, and ripening right up until fall.
Almost forgot to mention how I pruned the bushes. I was really careful with them, just plucked the suckers at the very base, and then let them grow out to 3-4 stems. I left the sucker right below the first flower truss, and kept 2-3 suckers above that. They didn’t really grow out much after that anyway.
Edited November 8, 2014 by Esme
How did Orlik hold up for canning?
Edited January 26, 2015 by Drosera
Full Summary: Plant, Yield, Taste, and Use
- 🌿 Plant Habit: A highly compact, ultra-early determinate bush. It tops out around 1.5 ft (0.5 m) making it an incredible candidate for container growing, patio pots, or the front row of an outdoor garden bed. Because it is so short and terminates early, growers recommend minimal pruning—just remove the lowest ground-level suckers and let the plant bush out into 3 or 4 main stems.
- 📈 Yield & Appearance: Despite its tiny size, the plant is a heavy, reliable yielder that produces over a long harvest window. The fruits are uniformly round and bright red. While the seed packets claim fruits around 1.5 oz (40 g), they often push closer to 2.5 oz (67 g) in good soil.
- 👅 Taste & Application: It offers a classic, balanced, old-school tomato flavor. The firm texture and small size make it a fantastic dual-purpose tomato: decent enough for fresh eating early in the summer, but absolutely elite for whole-canning and pickling in quart jars later in the season.
