Donkey Ears (Oslinye Ushi) Tomato Review & Photos

Oslinye Ushi variety (mine are from V. Redko). Indeterminate, mid-season (first fruits ripened in the greenhouse in very early July). The shape is a large plum, slightly ribbed near the stem, raspberry-red, up to 10.5 oz (300 g), tasty, 3-6 tomatoes per truss. Pruned it to two stems, height reached 6.5 ft (2 m), doesn’t take up much space and requires moderate suckering. Will definitely plant it again next year, it’s a tasty and productive tomato. You just want to hold these big plums in your hand.

In the photo showing the cross-section, the flesh has a literal diamond sparkle 😍 Gorgeous!

Grew Donkey Ears this season, seeds from T. Yashchenko. The vine is tall, sparse foliage, internodes are spaced far apart. The fruits are large, soft, and don’t store for long.

Hey folks, is the Donkey Ears variety meaty or not? I really like meaty, sweet tomatoes, but my kids prefer juicy ones. I end up having to split my grow list 50/50 for us and them, it’s such a headache. So glad this forum exists.

It’s meaty but not overly dense, a little grainy in texture, so it should be perfect for you 😉

As usual, my experience is completely different from everyone else’s. Didn’t work out for me. Barely pumped out 2 tomatoes by the end of the season. It didn’t like my greenhouse, probably needs more heat.

Marina wrote:
As usual, my experience is completely different from everyone else’s. Didn’t work out for me. Barely pumped out 2 tomatoes by the end of the season.

Marina, where did you get your seeds from???

Seeds from Redko (some folks shared). But her S. Marzano, which is a det, did really well for me.

My variety is from Yashchenko T. Beautiful, tasty, but I can’t get good yields out of it, neither outdoors nor in the greenhouse.

Mine was absolutely loaded in the greenhouse…

Guess I’m just a terrible grower then 😛 😛 😛

Nelli wrote:
Mine was absolutely loaded in the greenhouse…

Agree with Nelli, this variety was a massive yielder for me too 🙌 Our dear Tomatanya kindly shared the seeds, big shoutout to her for that 🌹🌹🌹 Grew it in the greenhouse, pruned to 3 stems. The fruits are all large, kind of oval and flattened on the sides. A very worthy variety for growing in our climate, mostly for fresh eating/salads 😋

Mine were low yielding and half hollow. Grew them in the greenhouse, I guess they didn’t like something.

Lidiya wrote:
Mine were low yielding and half hollow. Grew them in the greenhouse, I guess they didn’t like something.

Lidia, mine were total duds back in 2013 too, even though they grew in the greenhouse in a sunny spot 😛 But Angelina’s were absolutely gorgeous 🎉 🎉 🎉 Guess it depends on the seed source, plus our weather conditions just didn’t suit it 😳

Grew in the greenhouse, topped out around 6.5 ft (2 m). Not too many suckers, the plant doesn’t take up much room. Trusses have about 4 fruits each, very uniform, almost all the exact same weight. Pruned to 2 stems. The flesh is sugary on the cut, meaty, leaning more towards sweet.

Really happy with this variety! It was super productive, kept fruiting right up until frost. But with big temperature swings between day and night, the last fruits started cracking. Tasty, meaty, definitely repeating it. Seeds are from Slovakia.

Planted two vines, one outdoors and one in the greenhouse. The outdoor one was a low yielder. Tall vine, not many suckers. One of the first to start ripening. The one in the greenhouse was incredibly productive. Fruits are meaty and tasty.

I planted 2 vines in the greenhouse in a less-than-ideal spot. Both performed amazingly! They were among the first to ripen and pumped out fruit steadily until frost. The yield was fantastic. Full, rich flavor, meaty fruits with no hollow spots. Didn’t drop blossoms, didn’t catch any diseases. By fall, I tied them in an arch under the roof, they were way over 6.5 ft (2 m) tall. Huge thanks to Vera from Rostov-on-Don for the seeds! 🌹 🤠 😘 There was one minor drawback. They reacted to my habit of heavy watering, some fruits cracked 😳

A productive and gorgeous stunner. Mine turned out a bit on the dry side, I probably messed something up, maybe it needed more potassium. But overall I’m happy with the variety. Thanks GalinaD for it 🌹

Good variety, some individual fruits were massive. It doesn’t really like extreme heat, though. It was over 95 F (35 C) in the greenhouse all summer, it set fruit okay but did drop some blossoms.

Excellent variety! Heavy yielder, the fruits are very tasty, sweet, and tender. Reached over 6.5 ft (2 m) in the hoophouse.

This beauty is tasty, sweet, and very tender. Grew it outdoors, some fruits cracked. The plant itself isn’t very vigorous.

Here is my Donkey Ears tomato. We liked it, grew in the hoophouse, productive, on the sweeter side, but the flesh was a little dry.

Donkey Ears got a permanent spot in my greenhouse about three years ago, and looks like it’s here to stay. The plant is compact, tall (well, it’s an indet!), thin foliage. Yield is excellent, sets fruit even right under the ceiling. The tomatoes are meaty, at least 4-5.5 oz (120-150 g), the big ones up to 14 oz (400 g). For canning, they only fit in the jar if you slice them. Taste is pretty standard. Just a really solid garden tomato, it’s just not round 😄 but hey, to each their own…. Picture is of them still green (hope it attaches) 🙂

Ordered seeds from Ilya Korolev. A very successful workhorse of a variety. Unfussy, heavy yielding, tasty. The vine isn’t very strong, but it’s tall and sets every truss without dropping blossoms. The only downside is that it cracks. Then again, with constant rain, that’s no surprise.

Seeds from V. Redko. Greenhouse. Pruned to 1 stem. When it was a seedling, I called it an “ugly, sprawling mess”, it was all spread out and the leaves hung down like wet rags. The seedling got overgrown. It set and grew 2 tomatoes and then finally started actually growing. Weak plant. But it did grow eventually and set more fruit. Foliage is medium, droopy. Reacts poorly to feeding when loaded with fruit. Plant density at the bottom is 60%, at the top 20%. Width of one stem is about 16 inches (40 cm). Taste is good, similar to Bull’s Heart but not as rich and slightly less sweet. Edible even when not fully ripe: 4.9 out of 5 stars. I’m going to work on getting better yields out of it. Definitely planting again.