📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Ispanskiy Temno-Malinovyi (Spanish Dark Raspberry)
- 🌍 Origin: A popular commercial and collectible variety in Russia. The name translates to “Spanish Dark Raspberry”. Sourced through collectors like V.V. Redko and commercial vendors like Uralskiy Dachnik.
- 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall/vine) and extremely vigorous. Growers highly recommend pruning it to 3 or 4 leaders (stems) because it is so powerful. Performs excellently in a greenhouse.
- 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Dense, chocolate-colored plum/paste tomatoes weighing around 1-1.7 oz (30-50 g). Like many elongated paste types, it needs a steady supply of calcium to prevent Blossom End Rot (BER).
- 👅 Flavor & Use: Meaty and sweet, though it can have a nice acidic tang depending on the season. An absolute workhorse for canning whole and making sun-dried tomatoes.
I first grew this one in 2018. Sourced my seeds from V.V. Redko’s collection. The “Uralskiy Dachnik” commercial seed company sells it too, though I didn’t try their line. I pruned it to 2 stems. It’s a vigorous indeterminate. In the greenhouse, it reached almost 6.5 feet (2 m).
It’s an incredibly powerful plant, and I quickly realized that pruning it to just two stems wasn’t enough. This year I let it go with 4 main leaders, and it shot up to almost 8 feet (2.5 m)! It produces both simple and complex trusses. Heads up: it requires high calcium levels in the soil.
It also performed fantastically for a friend up in St. Petersburg. I use these for sun-drying and canning. They produce dense, chocolate-colored plum tomatoes weighing about 1 to 1.7 oz (30-50 g). Last year they were incredibly sweet; this season they had a bit more of an acidic tang. It’s earned a permanent spot on my grow list.
I’ve been growing this one since 2015 using seeds from the Uralskiy Dachnik company. The tomatoes are very dense and meaty. They are absolutely perfect for canning whole in their own juice.
Just another copycat of Black De Barao and Zaychik (Bunny). I actually grew them all side-by-side back in 2014.
An absolute favorite. I grow it every single year. I have it tucked away in the north corner of the greenhouse and it pushes 4 leaders no problem.
Lyudmila notes that this variety “requires high calcium levels.” This is excellent advice for American growers! Elongated plum and paste tomatoes are notoriously susceptible to Blossom End Rot (BER). Ensuring consistent watering and supplementing your soil with bone meal, gypsum, or a Cal-Mag solution early in the season will keep these dark beauties looking perfect.Also, Olya mentions this is a “copycat” of De Barao Black. The Russian heirloom market is famous for commercial seed companies taking old, reliable workhorses (like the legendary De Barao family) and renaming them to boost sales. Even if it is a De Barao offshoot, its ability to support 4 main stems and pump out dense canning tomatoes makes it a winner!
