Quick Summary of Streak Lightning (Polosa Molnii)
- 🌍 Origin: A stunning striped and anthocyanin (purple-splashed) variety. In Russian collections, it circulates under the translated name Polosa Molnii.
- 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall), reaching 1.4–1.8m (4.5–6 ft). Seedlings can look remarkably spindly and fragile (wispy foliage), but the plant gains moderate vigor once planted out. Avoid over-fertilizing with nitrogen, as it is prone to excessive vegetative growth (leafing out at the expense of fruit).
- 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Elongated plum/paste type, often featuring a distinct “Pinocchio-like” pointy beak. The base color is pink with golden stripes, and with sufficient sunlight, the shoulders develop beautiful dark purple (anthocyanin) streaks. Weight ranges from 70g to 230g (2.5–8 oz).
- 👅 Flavor & Texture: Most growers praise its incredibly sweet flavor and “marmalade-like” jelly flesh with thin skin and few seeds. In poor conditions (or outdoors in cooler climates), it can become more acidic and firm.
- ⏳ Maturity & Yield: Mid-season. Yield is generally rated as average to above average, with long, steady fruiting.
Seeds from V. Redko. Indeterminate, grew in the greenhouse trained to 2 stems. The fruits are very beautiful, glossy, elongated with a pointy beak. They are pink with golden stripes, and when exposed to enough sun, they get purple streaks. Weight from 70 to 230g (2.5 to 8 oz).
The yield was average. They turned out to be unusually tasty, juicy, and sweet 👍😋. In terms of juiciness and sweetness, they are very similar to the Purple Russian variety.
Growing it for the second time. I don’t remember exactly who the original seeds were from, either A. Kulik or V. Redko. Two bushes are growing in open ground (outdoors) with good yields. A vigorous, tall bush. The fruits are very beautiful elongated plums with a pointy beak and purple dusting. Sweet. This variety once again showed its magnificent taste and good yield.
Svetikk wrote:
Seeds from V. Redko. Indeterminate, grew in the greenhouse trained to 2 stems.
Svetlana, can I ask a quick question about its ripening time?
Lena rost.obl. wrote:
Svetlana, can I ask a quick question about its ripening time?
Mid-season.
I liked this variety too. Even though it had a low yield for me, it was delicious. I will plant it again next year.
Svetikk wrote:
Mid-season
Thank you!!! In our region, it might even be earlier 😋
A wonderful, very tasty variety! Marmalade-like flesh, extremely tender skin, and very few seeds.
o-lya-lya wrote:
I want it so much 😢
Olya, I have some 😉 They are still fermenting. This year all the tomatoes are ripening very late, so if you’re not in a rush, I can send you some seeds in a couple of weeks.
I am growing it for the second year. Last year it was low-yielding, but this year it’s the exact opposite—very highly productive, about 10 trusses on each bush! But the tomatoes are all different sizes on the same truss 😄
Tanya, don’t worry! I will share with our fellow local, especially since we already agreed in another thread to meet up and exchange seeds)))
By the way, how did it perform for you in St. Petersburg’s climate? Is it disease resistant?
Vedma wrote:
By the way, how did it perform for you in St. Petersburg’s climate? Is it disease resistant?
Marina, it doesn’t get sick with anything. It seems to me that mine is more “Pinocchio-like” (very pointy noses) 😄
Tomatanya wrote:
Marina, it doesn’t get sick with anything. It seems to me that mine is more “Pinocchio-like” (very pointy noses) 😄
Well said: “Pinocchio-like”! Mine are slightly less so. But the shape isn’t the main thing here, the inside is…
My Streak Lightning grew in the greenhouse. Thanks to Sveta (Veta) for the seeds. The bush grew to about 1.8 m (6 ft) tall. Yield was average. The fruits are very beautiful, weighing about 100g (3.5 oz). Though, they weren’t as pointy-nosed as Tomatanya’s.
The taste is good. I think if it had been planted on the sunny side of the greenhouse, the purple stripes would have shown up much brighter.
I liked the variety, even though it grew in a less-than-ideal spot. I need to repeat it.
I repeated this variety from my own seeds and from Tomatanya’s seeds (which were more pointy-nosed). They grew in the greenhouse, both trained to 3 stems. They grew into two absolutely identical, highly productive bushes with an equally average pointiness 😄.
Tall vines, long fruiting period, and the fruits are beautiful, juicy, and sweet—truly for gourmets! Striped pink with a slight blue tint on the shoulders, weighing up to 110g (4 oz).
My Streak Lightning grew outdoors in open ground, the bush was 1.4 m (4.5 ft) tall. As a seedling, it was so spindly and pathetic you just wanted to “hug it and cry”, but once in the garden bed, I’d say it showed medium vigor. Good yield, and the taste is predominantly sweet.
I planted Streak Lightning for its unusual color and cute nose. The tomatoes look like little Christmas tree ornaments. I wasn’t expecting anything special from the taste, but I was wrong. Under the thin skin hides a sweet flesh that looks like jelly.
Yield was average for me. The bush in the greenhouse was tall. Definitely on the repeat list. Seeds were from Sveta (Svetikk).
Seeds from Svetikk (thank you). I grew one bush in open ground, and another in the polycarbonate greenhouse (PCG). Yield was below average.
In open ground, the fruits were significantly smaller and more sour. In the greenhouse, the bush went completely vegetative (excessive foliage)—and it started doing this suddenly while still a seedling, right after potting up. The taste fluctuated; even fruits picked from the same bush at the same time differed quite a bit, but overall, it was mostly acidic with a slight hint of sweetness. But personally, I prefer tomatoes with a dominant acidity over blandly sweet ones. The flesh was very firm, not marmalade-like at all, as the girls described above. The shape of the fruits on the vine also varied (but only in the greenhouse).
I will repeat it, but I won’t plant it outdoors. I liked the firmness of the tomatoes, I’ll try them for canning/pickling.
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