Quick Summary of Tyulenka Rozovaya (Pink Tyulenka)
- 🌍 Origin: A commercial Russian variety introduced by the “Gavrish” seed company. The charming name translates to “Little Pink Seal”.
- 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate and very powerful. Unlike typical oxhearts that often have wispy, “weeping” foliage, this plant has thick, sturdy stems and a robust structure.
- 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Deep pink, massive blunt hearts (blocky oxhearts). While the commercial seed packet claims weights of 200-400g (7-14 oz), real-world growers consistently report harvesting absolute giants pushing 1 kg (2.2 lbs)!
- 👅 Flavor & Texture: Extremely meaty, juicy, and sugary with very few seeds. The flavor is described as harmonious and perfectly balanced.
- ⏳ Maturity & Yield: Mid-season (105-110 days from germination). It is an incredibly heavy yielder, setting huge fruits all the way up the vine without skipping trusses.
“Mid-season (105-110 days), high-yielding salad variety for greenhouses and open ground. Requires staking. Indeterminate, medium foliage, recommended to be grown in 1 stem. Fruits are heart-shaped, pink, meaty, and sugary. Bright, well-balanced tomato flavor with sweetness. Weight 200-300g (up to 400g). A ‘lazy’ tyulenka (seal) will generously reward a caring gardener with a rich harvest of large, delicious fruits.”
This season I was introduced to a very interesting variety from the Gavrish seed company – Tyulenka Rozovaya.
I bought it in an online store among many other varieties, as they promised a mid-season, fairly large-fruited variety, stated up to 400g (14 oz). I liked the shape of the fruit on the packet picture, kind of a blunt heart (blocky heart). The result exceeded all my expectations! Out of what matched the description: the ripening time, the color, and the great taste. But instead of the stated 200-300g fruits (up to 400g max), I got absolute giants pushing 1 kg (2.2 lbs).
The plant is powerful, tall, with thick stems, but at the same time, it’s not overly unruly. I was expecting the typical spindly/wispy foliage that oxhearts usually have, so I planted 2 plants per planting hole. Don’t do that! 😄 It sets large fruits all the way to the top of the plant. The shape of the fruits varies a bit, but mostly it reads as a blunt heart. Even the initial fruit sets (ovaries) look immediately large and powerful.
Overall, the variety gives an impression of sheer power. It’s a very heavy yielder. I pruned it to 2 stems; I don’t think you should leave more than that given the massive fruit size. And they look quite uniform on the bush. There is no massive size gap between the first and last fruits (no “peas to a kilogram” situation).
The tomatoes are delicious, juicy, with a very pleasant, harmonious, and well-balanced taste. There aren’t many seeds, but they are there. I saved seeds for next year, let’s see how it performs in the future. So far, I love everything about it.
