Quick Summary of Pinocchio
- 🌍 Origin: A popular Russian commercial variety named after the fairytale character Pinocchio.
- 🌿 Plant Habit: Micro-dwarf (tree-type / rugose foliage). Plants are highly compact and determinate, typically reaching only 20-35 cm (8-14 inches) in height. Perfect for small pots (2-3 liters / 0.5-0.7 gallons), windowsills, and balconies.
- 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Bright red, round to flat-round cherry tomatoes. Average weight is 15-20 g (0.5-0.7 oz), though some outdoor growers report fruits up to 40 g (1.4 oz).
- 👅 Flavor: Sweet, tasty, and highly praised by kids. Great for fresh snacking and canning whole in small jars.
- ⏳ Maturity: Mid-season, but very quick to fruit when grown under lights.
- 💡 Pro Tips for Growing: Pinocchio is incredibly versatile. It can be grown outdoors (where yields and plant size slightly increase), in greenhouses, or completely indoors. With proper grow lights, it can produce fruit year-round, making it a favorite for winter gardening.
Description from the seed packet:
Recommended for growing as a potted culture indoors and on balconies. Mid-season, rugose (tree-type) variety. Plants are determinate, 20-35 cm (8-14 in) tall. Fruits are flat-round, smooth, small, weighing 15-20 g (0.5-0.7 oz), red, with excellent taste, looking great in preserves and festive table settings. Moderately resistant to major diseases. Yield up to 1.5 kg (3.3 lbs) per plant.
That’s 1.5 kg according to the description, but what is it in reality?
Olviya wrote:
That’s 1.5 kg according to the description, but what is it in reality?
In reality, I get about half a kilo (1.1 lbs), and it’s a sickly variety (for me).
Olviya wrote:
That’s 1.5 kg according to the description, but what is it in reality?
According to the description, it’s UP TO 1.5 kg, which means that 100 grams (3.5 oz) per bush will also be “Up to 1.5 kg” :D.
Indoor Pinocchio.
Soil volume – approx. 2 liters (0.5 gallons). Without any feeding, just plain water.
Mid-summer.
Late autumn.
No, well, it’s still so cute, just a little doll :-*.
It’s best to grow this variety in the open ground, because in a greenhouse and in hanging planters the yield is waaaay lower.
I really love Pinocchio. I plant it in the greenhouse (I used to grow it in a cold frame). It doesn’t get sick, bears fruit beautifully (the kids love it very much).
I grew 9 bushes per 1 square meter in the ground. The bushes are sturdy and there are a lot of tomatoes. I had to tie the bushes up because they were falling over from the weight. The weight of some was 40 g (1.4 oz). They didn’t get sick. I harvested about 2 buckets. We ate them fresh, and I pickled 16 half-liter jars — my daughter loves scooping them with a spoon and popping them whole into her mouth.
In early October, I sowed a couple of Pinocchios in a pot under a grow light. By the New Year’s table, we got to taste these delicious, bright, festive, toy-like tomatoes.
For me, Pinocchio grows better in pots, specifically small-volume ones. It fruits for a long time and abundantly. I tried to keep it through the winter, but it didn’t work out, it dies off in December. Outdoors and in the greenhouse it got sick, but in pots it stayed healthy until mid-November.
Here is what Pinocchio looked like outdoors in the open ground in 2015 :-*
This year, with grow lights, it bore fruit all year round.
Pinocchio Red.
A toy-like variety up to 20 cm (8 in) tall for growing in pots from 2.5 liters (0.6 gallons). I planted 2 bushes in the open ground; there the bushes were about 5 cm taller and the fruits were larger, tasty, and sweet.
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