Quick Summary of Red Hunter (Krasnyi Okhotnik)
- 🌍 Origin: A highly reliable, time-tested commercial Russian variety.
- 🌿 Plant Habit: Determinate, tree-type dwarf (stout bush). It grows very compact, no taller than 50-60 cm (20-24 inches), with strong, thick foliage. Excellent for outdoor growing.
- 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Bright red, firm, barrel-shaped “blocky plums” weighing 80-90 g (2.8-3.2 oz).
- ⏳ Storage: Phenomenal shelf life! They can be stored indoors at room temperature for a very long time (the skin will eventually start to wrinkle, but the flesh remains firm).
- 👅 Flavor & Usage: Classic tomato flavor. Due to its dense texture, it is a top-tier “paste” tomato. It is perfect for whole-fruit canning, winter processing, and sun-drying (dehydrating).
A reliable, time-tested variety for the open ground (outdoors) that I have tested many times in our climate.
The plant has a tree-type dwarf habit, growing no taller than 50-60 cm (20-24 inches). It is stout and strong with thick foliage. The fruits are firm little barrels, weighing 80-90 g (2.8-3.2 oz), bright red, with a classic tomato taste.
They can be stored for quite a long time, even at room temperature. This is a very successful variety for whole-fruit canning, all kinds of winter processing, and for sun-drying…
Here is a photo of ripe fruits that have been sitting in storage for a long time… The skin on some of them is just starting to wrinkle, but the flesh still remains perfectly firm.
Natalya Pavlovna, thank you! I actually just bought these seeds yesterday. I want to compare this variety with Vovchik and Signal Trevogi (Alarm Signal).
Zhenechka, I don’t know what Vovchik is, but Red Hunter definitely does not look like Alarm Signal. Alarm Signal grows over a meter (3.3 ft) tall and has multiflora fan-shaped trusses. And the fruit size on it is much smaller, too.
Quote from Zhenya:
I actually just bought these seeds yesterday. I want to compare this variety…
Zhenya, send me your address—I will mail you seeds of my own Red Hunter! 😉 You can do a side-by-side comparison of my saved seeds with your store-bought ones. :mail: I’m also very curious to see what kind of Red Hunter is being sold in commercial packets right now.
I completed the comparison, Natalya Pavlovna! :thx:
In this case, the “Poisk” seed company was completely honest—both sets of Red Hunters grew up to be identical twins. In the photo below, you can see the tomatoes grown from Natalya Pavlovna’s saved seeds next to the ones from the “Poisk” commercial packet:
Zhenya, a huge THANK YOU for conducting this investigation! :appl:
And, of course, thanks to the “Red Hunter” variety itself, which didn’t let us down and has preserved all of its best qualities over time. :mail:
