Quick Summary of Smilyanskiy Rudasa
- 🌍 Origin & History: A rare Eastern European heirloom with a great backstory. It was bred by Ukrainian breeder A.P. Rudas. The seeds in this thread took a fascinating journey: bought at a market in Hungary, brought to Germany, and then shared with Russian growers.
- 🌿 Plant Habit: Determinate (bush). It is a short, compact plant growing up to 70 cm (28 inches) tall. Growers strongly advise against pruning or suckering, as it produces heavily on all branches.
- 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Red, dense, small plum/paste type tomatoes weighing 50-60g (1.8-2.1 oz). They feature a distinct, cute little pointed tip on the blossom end (affectionately called a “pipochka” or little beak by Russian growers).
- 🧬 Unique Growing Trait: It exhibits fascinating sequential ripening. A single truss will yield ripe fruit over a two-month period. The tiny, unfertilized ovaries at the end of the truss will stall their growth and simply “wait” until the first ripe tomatoes are picked; only then will they resume growing!
- 👅 Flavor & Usage: Rated as above-average in taste. Because of their density, uniform size, and excellent shelf life, they are absolutely perfect for whole-fruit canning and pickling.
Mid-September. My Sasha [husband] comes home and asks why we aren’t picking the bush full of red tomatoes. I answer that nothing will happen to the tomatoes, they won’t spoil, we will collect them all at once—immediately realizing that it’s Smilyanskiy Rudasa. This variety was the only one left completely covered with bright red tomatoes in September.
This is my second year growing it. The bush is short, up to 70 cm (28 inches), we didn’t prune (sucker) it, there are a lot of suckers, lots of flowers in the truss, and fruit set is excellent. A special feature of the variety is that the truss yields ripe fruits over the course of two months. The small ovaries at the end of the truss stall and wait until the first tomatoes are picked, and only then do they start to develop. I’ve seen this happen with the Zolotoy Dozhd (Golden Rain) variety too. The tomatoes are dense, good keepers, the taste is above average, 50-60 g (1.8-2.1 oz). For us, they all went into jars whole. Are they good in jars? We’ve already tried them, for us they are all good. Our bush was sitting under a shelter.
The breeder of this variety is A.P. Rudas, Ukraine. I wish success in continuing her father’s work to his daughter, Lyudmila Andreevna Rudas. I received the seeds from Inna from southern Germany; her husband went to Hungary and they were selling this variety there.
These compact trusses will later stretch out to 15-20 cm (6-8 inches) in length.
10.10.17
Quote by Rodebielesumer:
Lena, on the forum the girls call tomatoes like this “pipochki” (little beaks/nipples). 😄
The photos ran away from the first post, apparently during the redesign of our forum. Adding them back. And last year the variety made it into our top 10 for yield, excellent density, and taste.
