Quick Summary of Rozovye Shchechki (Pink Cheeks)
- 🌍 Origin: A Russian commercial variety originally developed by the “Manul” seed company. The name translates to “Pink Cheeks”.
- 🌿 Plant Habit: Determinate (bush). Generally grows 0.6-0.8 m (2-2.5 ft) tall outdoors, but can reach 1.5 m (5 ft) in a greenhouse if trained properly. Note: The bush tends to grow very wide and takes up a lot of horizontal space.
- 🍅 Fruit Characteristics (The TRUE variety): Pink, oblate (flattened) beefsteaks weighing 200-350 g (7-12 oz). The fruits are very meaty and dense.
- 👅 Flavor & Performance: The authentic strain has a great taste and an exceptionally long shelf life. However, it forms complex, fan-shaped trusses and is highly prone to “blossom drop” (flowers falling off without setting fruit), which can lower the overall yield.
- ⚠️ Seed Warning: As seen in the forum thread, there is a massive issue with off-type (incorrect) seeds on the market depending on the seed company. If you get plants that produce tiny 60 g (2 oz) tomatoes—you got a bad batch!
Description from the seed packet:
“Pink Cheeks — a determinate variety with a unique combination of early ripening and large fruit size. 108-115 days from germination to ripening. Plants are 0.6-0.8 m tall (up to 1.5 m in a greenhouse). The fruits are large, weighing 200-350 g (7-12 oz), multi-chambered, with dense flesh. The unripe fruits are green with dark green shoulders; upon ripening, they acquire a beautiful crimson-pink color.”
My actual experience:
In July 2014, there were still no tomatoes. By September, only 2 fruits finally set, and they grew to a mere 60 grams (2 oz) each. Maybe I missed something in my growing technique? It grew in the greenhouse and was pruned. I don’t know what went wrong.
I planted it back in 2013. It didn’t impress me at all. I don’t even remember the taste, only the name. :-\
Quote from Lyubov:
By September, only 2 fruits finally set, and they grew to a mere 60 grams…
Are you sure you didn’t just get an off-type (crossed/wrong seeds)?
It’s hard to even call it an off-type! Thanks for the answers. I wanted to test it again, but I think these seeds just fall into the “pretty pictures on the packet, garbage inside” category.
Lyuba, I also grew “Pink Cheeks” last season (seeds were from the “Manul” brand). I had 2 bushes, and they completely matched the description! I really liked them—they were early, productive, and tasty tomatoes. I will definitely plant a couple of bushes again this year.
I think the seed packers just threw whatever they had on hand into my packet. :- I read some other reviews online just now, and they aren’t great either, so I definitely won’t plant them again. But yours look very decent—and you say they are tasty and productive! :yep: Thanks.
It’s surprising that the packet calls it “early.” Even in their own description, it says 108-115 days, which makes it mid-late.
I grew 2 bushes three years ago outdoors. The yield was so-so; apparently, our summer was just too short for them to finish. However, the fruits did match the description perfectly—they were pink, oblate, and tasty.
I am not surprised at all that you got off-type seeds from the “Manul” company. I already talked about their “Dessert” variety on the forum, which I grew for two years and got a monstrous off-type both times.
I also grew Pink Cheeks (if I’m not mistaken, in 2012). I got the exact same misunderstanding as Lyubov did (tiny 60g tomatoes).
Back in 2008, I had an excellent harvest of this variety, but my seeds were packed by “Aelita-Agro”. It grew outdoors in the open ground and was very unfussy and highly productive. That’s why I liked it. I had 5 bushes, and they were all perfectly uniform.
The taste is just standard. They didn’t have time to finish ripening on the vine before the frost, so they ripened indoors. (I keep strict garden records: I sowed them for seedlings on April 4th, 2008).
And here are my Pink Cheeks! I bought the seedlings at the Timiryazev Agricultural Academy. I really liked them, both in terms of yield and taste.
I grew Pink Cheeks for several years. They are indeed determinate, pink, large, truly tasty, and on top of that, they store for a long time in the pantry. Are they early? Maybe compared to other dense tomatoes, but generally, I’d call them mid-season.
But here are the downsides: The trusses are complex/multiflora, and a lot of the flowers suffer from “blossom drop” (they fall off without setting fruit). The bush grows very wide and takes up a lot of space. I kept growing it because of the great taste and long shelf life, but I got so sick of the blossom drop. Overall, the final yield per bush is low.
I stopped growing it this year; there are too many other new varieties to try.
