Quick Summary of Slastena (Sweet Tooth)
- 🌍 Origin & The Name Mix-Up: The name “Slastena” translates to “Sweet Tooth”. In Russia, there are actually two different varieties circulating under this name. The one highly prized by heirloom collectors is an old, large-fruited indeterminate variety. However, commercial seed companies registered a completely different, small-fruited determinate (bush) variety under the same name.
- 🌿 Plant Habit (Heirloom Version): Indeterminate, medium-tall (around 1.5 m / 5 ft). It is known for being remarkably early for an indeterminate beefsteak type. Performs great in greenhouses and can be grown in the open ground if the summer is warm.
- 🍅 Fruit Characteristics (Heirloom Version): Red, flat-round or round beefsteaks. They typically weigh 200-300 g (7-10.5 oz), occasionally reaching up to 450 g (1 lb). (Note: The commercial determinate version produces small 30-90 g cocktail/plum tomatoes).
- 👅 Flavor: The heirloom version completely lives up to its “Sweet Tooth” name. It is intensely sweet, juicy, and has a delicate, melting texture.
- ⏳ Maturity: Early to mid-early. Often one of the very first large red tomatoes to ripen in the garden.
A very good variety from V. Redko’s collection, indeterminate, with excellent yield! 👍 Grew it in the greenhouse in 2 stems. It started ripening as one of the very first among the indeterminates. The taste completely matches its name (“Sweet Tooth”) 😋
Very balanced, with distinct sweetness, on par with famous sweet varieties like Yablochnyi Lipetskiy, Kolokolchik, and Gloria 😉
Svetochka, what is the average weight?
Olena:
Svetochka, what is the average weight?
200-300g (7-10.5 oz), up to 450g (1 lb).
Yes. I agree. A good little tomato. It’s going on my wish list for next year.
And my Slastena is a dwarf / tree-type determinate. But it’s also a great tomato. I liked it.
Tomatinka:
And my Slastena is a dwarf / tree-type determinate. But it’s also a great tomato. I liked it.
Vera, does it also have sweetness in the taste? And how is the yield?
I direct-sowed it right into the open ground outdoors in 2013. Very productive, and despite the fact that I was already eating plenty of other tomatoes by then, I really liked the taste. It looks like a neat little plum shape. 😋👍 It impressed me just as much as the famous Sarayev cold-hardy varieties.
I bought seeds from the commercial brand “Ural Summer Resident”. The packet said: “For greenhouses. Indeterminate. 30-35g fruits.” But in reality, I have 2 bushes growing side by side: one is exactly as stated on the packet, but the other one is growing large, round fruits.
The tastiest and sweetest red tomato I had this year. 😋😋 And on top of that, it has a great yield. 👍👍 Seeds were from Svetikk.
I loved it so much. I plan to plant 2 bushes next year. 🙂
I tried searching for Slastena online, and everywhere this variety is described as a cocktail tomato, looking completely different from the photos presented here in this thread. I’m so confused.
Olvia:
I tried searching for Slastena online, and everywhere this variety is described as a cocktail tomato…
The Slastena pictured here in the photos is an amateur heirloom variety, whereas commercial seed companies sell a completely different registered one.
Here is the official commercial registry description: “Included in the State Register for the Ural region for open ground growing. Salad type. Early ripening. Determinate plant. Medium green leaf. Simple inflorescence. Fruit is elliptical, smooth, medium density. Weight 60-80 g. Good taste.”
My Slastena, the indeterminate one.
I absolutely loved the variety, the taste is amazing, so sweet 😋
One of the best early, tasty indeterminate varieties:
Does anyone have a photo of the whole bush? I want to understand if I can and should plant 2 plants in one planting hole. Or is it better to plant just one and prune it to 2-3 stems?
Mine grew individually pruned to 2 stems, and it delighted me with an early harvest. The bush has medium foliage and grows to about 1.5 m (5 ft) tall. You can grow it in the open ground if the summer is warm.
I planted it for the first time this year. It was the very first to set three clusters (by June 10th). It survived two serious frosts (inside a polycarbonate greenhouse). So it turns out it is very early. The fruits are swelling simultaneously on all clusters.
Valeriy1968:
The fruits are swelling simultaneously on all clusters.
Valeriy, judging by the oval shape of the fruits, you are growing the commercial determinate Slastena, not the forum’s heirloom indeterminate one. Our heirloom has flattened-round fruits. Where are your seeds from?
For me, the “correct” Slastena is the commercial one, the rest is just self-published amateur stuff 😞
The stated characteristics of mine: Medium-early, high-yielding. 15-20 fruits per cluster. Fruits are round, dense, uniform, red. Weight 30-35 g.
In reality, there are about a dozen fruits on a cluster, but the little tomatoes are beautiful, uniform, a perfect Cherry+. The tomatoes have a rich taste, juicy and sweet (with the only exception being this year, the sweetness was moderate, but that’s the first time in 6 years of knowing this variety).
About 15 years ago I bought either seeds or seedlings of Slastena. It was a not-so-tall indeterminate with flattened red fruits. It ripened as one of the earliest, and at the same time, it was the absolute sweetest tomato of the entire season. It just so happened that I either lost the seeds or forgot to save them. But I always remembered it, its taste, and its yield.
Later, I saw Slastena seeds in a commercial store and greedily grabbed three packets out of joy. But what grew was a vague determinate plant with tiny little balls… And then, about five years ago, I ordered Slastena from the collector V. Redko. It turned out to be EXACTLY the variety I had been searching for! 🎉 Now I plant it every single year!
It’s completely reliable! High-yielding! One of the tastiest red-fruited varieties!!! 👍😋
Today we ate our first two Slastena tomatoes: 85 and 125 grams (3 oz and 4.4 oz – grown with almost no watering and no pruning, so the size could have been bigger). Mine is flattened-round, just like Svetikk’s at the beginning of the thread. Seeds are from Sveta 777, thank you so much!
The taste and texture are delicate, very good. The skin peels off easily. It’s the very first red tomato for us this year. 🎉 Delicious. 👍
The Slastena variety in my greenhouse turned out medium-tall, productive, and early ripening. The fruits were medium-sized (about 100 grams / 3.5 oz), round shape. Tasty, juicy, and meaty.
My Slastena completely failed to live up to its tasty name. I didn’t even think tomatoes grown outdoors in the fresh air could have a taste like this… or more accurately, no taste at all 😞 (It was the commercial determinate version).
An excellent “old” variety. I love red ones. I usually plant it in the greenhouse, but this year it was planted in the open ground and produced an excellent yield. It was one of the best in 2020.
Slastena.
It fully lives up to its name — very tasty, sweet! We liked it very much. Somehow my husband would identify it among several dozen other tomato varieties and happily eat it.
Indeterminate, mid-early, with red round fruits weighing 200-300 g (7-10.5 oz). Extremely high yield! I think it set a fruit for every single flower that bloomed! The fruits are delicious from the very first tomato. A gorgeous variety!
