Quick Summary of Russkaya Krasavitsa (Russian Beauty)
- 🌍 Origin: Officially included in the Russian State Register of breeding achievements in 2007. A highly sought-after pink oxheart variety.
- 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate, mid-season. Reaches about 1.5 meters (5 ft) in height. Requires staking and pruning. It has remarkable disease resistance, officially noted for resisting Fusarium wilt and Tobacco Mosaic Virus (TMV).
- 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Beautiful pink/raspberry heart-shaped (oxheart) fruits with slight ribbing. The official registry lists them at 200-250g, but growers consistently harvest much larger fruits weighing 500-700g (1.1 – 1.5 lbs). Note: The registry classifies it as a “canning” tomato, but growers completely disagree—it is way too massive for jars and is the ultimate fresh slicing beefsteak. The flesh is dense, meaty, and has a beautiful “sugary” (sparkling) texture when sliced.
- 👅 Flavor: Rated “Excellent” in the state registry. Growers confirm the flavor is predominantly sweet and very rich.
- 🌡️ Extreme Weather Tolerance: This is the standout feature of this variety! It is practically indestructible. Growers in the South report it surviving and thriving in 50°C (122°F) heatwaves without suffering from sunscald or dropping blossoms. Meanwhile, growers in Siberia report that it produces heavy yields of perfect hearts even during freezing, rainy summers. A must-grow for difficult climates!
From the State Registry:
“Included in the State Register of the Russian Federation for cultivation in open ground and under film shelters… Requires tying and pruning. Salad and canning type. Mid-season. Indeterminate plant… Fruit is heart-shaped, slightly ribbed, of medium density. Unripe fruit is green with a dark green shoulder, ripe fruit is pink. Weight is 200-250 g (up to 500 g / 1.1 lbs). Taste is excellent. Resistant to Fusarium wilt and TMV.”
This variety grew outdoors in open ground for me, it was very productive, I will definitely repeat it. However, I disagree with the registry and I wouldn’t call this a “canning” variety 😳 The fruits start at 200 grams and go way up, I will add a photo on the scale later.
Seeds were from Verochka-Tomatinka. 🌸
Svetlana, and what does this tomato taste like?
LiliaYa said:
Svetlana, and what does this tomato taste like?
Excellent! What, don’t you trust the State Registry? 😆
The taste is predominantly sweet, but to be fair, growing outdoors in 50°C (122°F) heat and zero rain, I didn’t have a single tasteless tomato. Some were a bit bland, but Russian Beauty is definitely not one of them. 👍 Pay attention to the cross-section photo, look how beautiful the flesh is, it even has a slightly sugary/sparkling texture.
This year I will test this variety in the greenhouse. The fruits should be even larger.
You describe this variety so “deliciously” 😋, looks like it just went on my must-grow wish list for the 2018 season 😆
I originally chose this variety based on Vera’s descriptions… She described it even better than I and the registry combined. It’s a very worthy variety!
Especially since it didn’t burn (no sunscald) in our extreme heat, while the rest of the heart-shaped varieties barely hung on for life. I got my seeds from Tyumen (Siberia), so I’m thinking this year my own adapted seeds will perform even better. At least, I hope so. 😳
I absolutely fell in love with this variety. The summer was rainy and freezing cold, yet outdoors in open ground it set an absolute ton of tasty and beautiful hearts 🙌 Out of all the oxheart varieties I grew that year outdoors, only this one and “Vater Rhein” made me truly happy with their yield.
I grew Russian Beauty in 2013 (seeds were sent by Yaroslavna in 2012).
Description: “Beautiful raspberry-colored fruits reaching 500-700g (1.1 – 1.5 lbs), very dense, meaty, sweet, with elevated yield. Bush 1.5m (5 ft).”
