Quick Summary of Palenka F1
- 🌍 Origin: A commercial Russian F1 hybrid produced by the “Semco” (Семко) seed company.
- 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall) and highly vigorous. It is strongly recommended for greenhouse growing (especially polycarbonate greenhouses). While the packet suggests pruning to 1 stem, many growers successfully train it to 3 stems with massive yields. It exhibits incredible cold tolerance at the end of the season, surviving autumn frosts in the greenhouse long after other varieties have died.
- 🛡️ Disease Resistance: Excellent genetic resistance to TMV (Tobacco Mosaic Virus), Fusarium wilt, Verticillium wilt, and Fusarium root rot. However, it is prone to Blossom End Rot (BER) if watering and calcium levels are not properly managed.
- 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Red, elongated-oval (plum/paste) tomatoes weighing 130–140g (4.5–5 oz). The fruits are exceptionally firm and dense.
- 🥫 Culinary Use & Storage: Highly praised as a top-tier canning and pickling tomato (“super for jars”). It boasts extreme shelf life and transportability, with growers reporting that fully ripe picked fruits can easily last over a month in the refrigerator without losing quality.
Description from the seed packet:
Mid-early, indeterminate. 105-110 days from germination to maturity. The plant is vigorous, trained to one stem. The first inflorescence is formed above the 10-11th leaf, subsequent ones every 2-3 leaves. Fruits are elongated-oval, red, weighing 130-140g (4.5-5 oz), very firm, with excellent taste. Good fruit set. High marketability and transportability. Resistant to TMV, Fusarium and Verticillium wilt, and Fusarium root rot. Recommended for fresh consumption and canning.
Quote from Olga (from the old forum):
“Palenka (from Semco-Junior) – disappointed me, it was a bit too small and constantly caught Blossom End Rot (BER).”
Photo credit: Olga
Palenka is among my absolute favorites. It is simply hyper-productive. Super for canning in jars.
mopsdad1 wrote:
Palenka is among my absolute favorites. It is simply hyper-productive. Super for canning in jars.
I don’t know about that… 😞😞😞😞 (Didn’t work out for me).
Mikhail, could you tell me which seed company your highly productive Palenka was from?
Palenka is a hybrid from Semco. It seems that to achieve high yields, it really needs southern heat and rich black soil (chernozem).
Zulfiya wrote:
It seems that to achieve high yields, it really needs southern heat and rich black soil.
It was highly productive for me this year (the summer was indeed very “southern” and hot). Two plants yielded more than 2 buckets (approx. 5+ gallons) in just 2 harvests (picked fully ripe).
Grew it in a greenhouse, trained to 3 stems, they hang perfectly on the vine, and they store for over a month in the refrigerator even when picked fully ripe. Thanks to Mikhail for the recommendation! 🎩
This winter I bought some terribly expired, discounted seeds from 2009. There were only 5 seeds in the packet. Two germinated, one was stunted/deformed. I planted the single normal bush in the polycarbonate greenhouse (PCG).
It turned out to be incredibly successful! Even though we already had a night frost and everything outdoors in the open ground withered and died off, right now in the greenhouse only Palenka and Tolstoy F1 are still alive and thriving.
I’ll have to check the seed producer when I get home.