Quick Summary of Sugar Giant (Sakharnyi Gigant)
- 🌍 Origin & Vendor Issues: A large-fruited Russian commercial variety. The name translates to “Sugar Giant”. However, there is massive inconsistency between the major seed vendors (Russian Garden/RO vs. Siberian Garden/SibSad).
- 🔍 The Shape Mystery: The packet from “Russian Garden” promises a large, barrel-like (cuboid) or blocky plum shape. However, most growers report that the true stable shape of this variety is actually a large, pink/red oxheart. SibSad packets often result in complete off-types (пересорт).
- 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall) and vigorous.
- 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Large to massive pinkish-red tomatoes. The first fruits of the season often come from mega-blooms (fused blossoms) and have irregular, boat-like shapes. Subsequent fruits are beautifully heart-shaped. They have very thin skin.
- 👅 Flavor & Culinary Use: Meaty, juicy, and sweet. While some consider it top-tier for fresh eating, its thin skin and high juiciness make it absolutely perfect for processing into thick tomato juices, ketchup, and sauces.
🍅 Have you grown this variety? Scroll down to add your review and photos in the comments below!
Real Grower Reviews & Photos
On the seed packet, they promised a barrel-like shape… but the shape I actually got suited me perfectly too… 😃
The first small fruit came from a mega-bloom (fused blossom):
Sliced open – it was slightly greenish, I picked it a bit underripe…
The second and subsequent fruits were heart-shaped, juicy, sweet, and meaty… very good 👍 🧺
Ksyusha, whose seeds were those, tell us please, and write a few words about how it behaved over the summer. I bought seeds from “Russkiy Ogorod” (RO).
Larisa said:
Ksyusha, whose seeds were those…
Lora, mine were also from Russkiy Ogorod… An amazing tomato! 👍 🧺 I will plant it next year without a doubt, and definitely more than just one bush…
Larisa, my Sugar Giant last year was from Olya Cherry (a private collector), and it wasn’t cuboid/barrel-shaped, but close to heart-shaped, and very tasty.
This year, I had it from SibSad (Siberian Garden). They grew into massive trees with a very small amount of raspberry-colored fruits. Only one plant (out of 4 bushes) had fruits close to a cuboid shape. The rest were some kind of wonky, crooked things. Since it didn’t impress me with abundance and was quite late, I have no burning desire to grow it again.
I planted Sugar Giant from SibSad, and something completely incomprehensible grew, I didn’t even bother taking pictures. Apparently, a complete genetic off-type. According to the description and the photo on the packet, it didn’t look like yours at all.
Galina said:
I planted Sugar Giant from SibSad, and something completely incomprehensible grew…
Looks like SibSad is misbehaving and playing tricks! As usual, the human (manufacturer) error factor is huge… Thank you, Galina! 🌸
I also planted Sugar Giant from RO (Russkiy Ogorod). The image on the picture is very, very different from what actually grew – the fruits are indeed large, completely identical to Ksyusha’s from the non-mega-bloom flowers. Personally, it seemed to me that it is a wonderful variety for juices, ketchups, and other processing/canning, but its transportability is poor due to the thin skin. For eating fresh in salads, there are tastier varieties 😉
I planted it in 2014, seeds also from Russkiy Ogorod, though bought way back in 2011. I was very pleased with it, both productive and tasty, truly “sugary.” The weight in the photo is 510g (1.1 lbs). I wouldn’t say it is a late variety. On the first truss there were 6 fruits, on the second also 6 fruits. On the 3rd truss – 4 fruits… I stopped recording after that.
In 2012, I had a few bushes of Sugar Giant from RO. The fruits only set at the very top of the plant, and only a few of them at that. I threw the seeds away, so I can’t check the batch or year. A friend from Stavropol also planted it that year (bought the seeds herself in a store), and she had the exact same issue. We were just unlucky. 😠
This is the first time I’ve read that SibSad is misbehaving! …. 😞
I usually rank them at number 1 for myself….
Sergey said:
This is the first time I’ve read that SibSad is misbehaving!
Seryozha, they misbehave big time! 😃 I got several “surprises” from them this year under different names!
I planted my Giant from RO outdoors on the north side of the garden bed. It turned out to be mid-early, beautiful, with average yield, but a bit tart for me. I probably should have planted it in full sun 😕.
Last year I couldn’t repeat it – it didn’t germinate… and that was from my own saved seeds 😃
But this year it germinated and made me very happy 👍
