Quick Summary of Samokhval (The Boaster)
- 🌍 Origin: A commercial variety released by the Russian seed company “Siberian Garden” (Sibsad). The name translates to “The Boaster” or “Show-off.”
- 🌿 Plant Habit: Mid-season, indeterminate plant. Reaches heights of 1.2–1.7 meters (4 to 5.5 ft) depending on whether it is grown outdoors or in a greenhouse. It has standard Regular Leaf (RL) foliage.
- 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: According to the breeder, these should be large, pure yellow beefsteaks/hearts weighing 350–600g (12–21 oz). They are often compared to small yellow melons, sometimes even developing a slight netting texture near the stem.
- 👅 Flavor: The flesh is sugary, very sweet, and low in acid with very few seeds. Highly recommended for fresh summer salads due to its elevated beta-carotene content.
- 🧬 The Seed Mystery (Off-types): As this forum thread reveals, commercial packets of Samokhval were notoriously unstable. Many growers experienced “off-types” (seed mix-ups or crosses). While some grew the correct pure yellow fruits, others ended up with gorgeous orange hearts or yellow-and-red bicolors. Surprisingly, everyone agreed that regardless of the color they got, the tomatoes were absolutely delicious!
Variety from Siberian Garden (Sibsad) – SAMOKHVAL.
An interesting mid-season variety with large yellow fruits that resemble small “Kolkhoznitsa” melons (a popular sweet yellow Russian melon). Near the stem on some tomatoes, you can even see a light netting, just like on melon skin. The variety is recommended for both greenhouses and open ground. The plant height is 1.2-1.7 m (4-5.5 ft) depending on growing conditions, and the fruits are large, 350-600g (12-21 oz) each.
The flesh has very few seeds, is sugary, sweet, with reduced acidity and increased carotene content. Highly recommended for making summer salads and general home cooking. Yield is up to 5 kg (11 lbs) per plant.
Elena, could you please tell me if you grew it in a greenhouse or outdoors? Did you like it, and will you be planting it again? I bought this variety for next year, but I’m not sure if it’s worth the space.
Kseniya, I really liked the variety! The fruits are meaty and dense. The only issue was that there wasn’t a lot of sweetness, but I blame that flaw entirely on our terrible summer—it poured rain constantly starting in July. However, I must warn you: those Sibsad seed packets are absolutely full of mixed-up seeds and off-types! 😠
Elena said:
Kseniya, I really liked the variety! The fruits are meaty and dense…
SAMOKHVAL is such an interesting name, I need to buy it immediately.
The funniest part is that I live in Abakan, and my summer cottage is actually located on a mountain called “Samokhval”! What a funny coincidence.
Valentina said:
…my summer cottage is actually located on a mountain called “Samokhval”! What a funny coincidence.
Valentina, I urgently need to multiply these seeds and send them to you! There are so many mixed-up off-types in the commercial packets. Out of everyone on the forum who grew it this year, I think mine was the only one that grew true-to-type.
I ordered Samokhval from the vendor Kulik, we’ll see how it turns out next year…
I loved both the taste and the color. Here is how mine turned out. I definitely want to repeat it 😉
Alexander, which company or vendor did your Samokhval seeds come from?
Zulya – mine were from Siberian Garden (Sibsad).
Alexander said:
Zulya – mine were from Siberian Garden (Sibsad).
Yours looks very orange/red!
Elmira said:
Yours looks very orange/red!
Yes, it seems mine actually turned out to be a bicolor!
My Samokhval was pure yellow, exactly like Elena’s. Not a bicolor at all.
I will grow it again and see what happens.
Alexander said:
I loved both the taste and the color. Here is how mine turned out. I definitely want to repeat it 😉
Wow, what a handsome tomato! 👍 I sowed mine from last year’s leftover seeds—they were pure yellow, also from Sibsad. I wish I got one like yours… Do you happen to remember what the batch number was on your packet? Just in case I stumble upon the same ones? Here is what my packet looks like.
Yes, my batch number is exactly the same, only my expiration date was listed as 12.2015…
You guys really cast some doubt on me, so I went back and found the original photo. I remembered that I was doubting it myself at the time—the photo on the packet shows a pure yellow tomato, and the description says “yellow”… 🤷♂️
I had a lot of yellow and orange varieties growing last year. Based on the description, it also looks a bit like the variety “Iskusitel” (The Tempter), but even then, it’s not quite a perfect match. Either way, I loved it.
That makes sense… it’s the same batch, but the expiration date passed, so they just printed a new expiration date over it. I’ll hope I get lucky and get some like yours! Mine were pure yellow, or rather, bright yellow.
Valentina said:
I’ll hope I get lucky and get some like yours! Mine were pure yellow, or rather, bright yellow.
I seriously doubt I have the “correct” Samokhval anymore 😄 But hey, I really enjoyed it 😉
And this is the seed packet I sowed this year:
Could anyone tell me what type of leaf this variety is supposed to have? 😳
Marina said:
Could anyone tell me what type of leaf this variety is supposed to have?
I grew Samokhval from both Siberian Garden and Kulik. The foliage was Regular Leaf (RL).
Seeds were from Svetlana. Copying this from my 2020 garden report:
I absolutely love orange hearts. Samokhval did not disappoint. I didn’t get any overly massive ones, but they were great.
