Velmozha (Nobleman) Tomato Reviews

This is what grew from the seed packet labeled “Velmozha”. I grew them in open ground, but honestly, I planted them all over the place and they were absolute garbage everywhere. Max 3.5 oz (100 g), moderately sour, and pretty watery. Didn’t like them at all.

Edited Nov 22, 2015 by Drosera

Marina, looks like you didn’t get Velmozha. Velmozha is an improved Budenovka, which means it should be oxheart-shaped. You most likely got an off-type from mixed or crossed seeds.

Marina, do you remember whose seeds you had? Mine were from “Plasmas” or “Agronika”, I don’t even know what to properly call that seed company 😂

My Velmozha was round too (didn’t notice any “oxheart” shape), closer to pink, and meaty. The plant is vigorous, determinate (topped itself), about 24-28 inches (60-70 cm) outdoors, and I barely had to prune any suckers. The spot I picked for it wasn’t great, so the yield was low.

Seeds were from Logunov.

Here is mine, though this one is a bit small, not the biggest, but it’s the only pic I have. Pink, not sour, yield seems normal too. Siberian Garden (SibSad) brand.

Actually, it looks more like a heart in real life, it just looks a bit elongated here—I guess I’m just a bad photographer 🙂

Velmozha is in the forum catalog. It’s listed as oxheart-shaped there.

Nadine wrote:
Actually, it looks more like a heart in real life, it just looks a bit elongated here—I guess I’m just a bad photographer 🙂

I also had seeds from SibSad, my tomatoes were identical to Nadezhda’s, pink colored, and delicious.

SibSad’s seed quality is all over the place lately. That summer I planted only 2 Velmozha plants in the garden. The 1st plant was a true Velmozha (the one I’m used to), and the 2nd one was exactly like Appetitnyi (Appetizing) 😲 Couldn’t have mixed them up myself, since I started these 2 varieties separately. I’m without Velmozha this year.

Grew 5 plants this year, seeds from SibSad. All five were exactly like Nadezhda’s, deep pink color, meaty, juicy, with a great real tomato taste 👍 Yield was average (but taking this year’s bad weather into account, it’s fine). Liked the variety. If you’re not constantly chasing new varieties to trial, it’s definitely worth growing year after year.

This year I got this Velmozha from SibSad, oxheart-shaped, meaty, but not sweet at all.

Natalya 83 wrote:
This year I got this Velmozha from SibSad, oxheart-shaped, meaty, but not sweet at all.

Natalya, same here, the fruits are just gorgeous! But there is absolutely no taste 😲. It’d be one thing if all my other varieties were bland, then my lousy gardening skills would be to blame, but no, I do have tasty varieties growing just fine.

Tatiana, I had Velmozha growing right next to Rozovyi Myod (Pink Honey), both from SibSad. Both outdoors side-by-side, and in the greenhouse side-by-side. They looked like twin brothers on the vine, just a slight difference in shape: Velmozha is a flat-oxheart, Pink Honey is a round-oxheart. Velmozha was completely bland, while Pink Honey was super sweet (even my picky husband from Volgograd said about it: “Turned out good and sweet, definitely edible!”).

My Velmozha from SibSad produced some really nice tomatoes. Reposting the photo (I originally posted it in the “Biggest Tomato” thread).

Last year I planted about 10 Velmozha plants, and they produced three types of fruit: flat-round, oxheart, and somewhat elongated ones. The elongated ones were actually the tastiest of the bunch.

My Velmozha was an elongated oxheart shape, beautiful, and tasty. Pity I didn’t manage to take photos of the ripe ones. I liked it. I’m generally a big fan of pink slicers.

Grew it in the greenhouse, had one plant, pruned it to two stems. The plant is rather “skinny” with wispy foliage, not very tall. The fruits are oxheart-shaped, not super huge, about 10.5-14 oz (300-400 g) each. Tasty. Seeds were from V. Redko. Somehow I forgot to snap a picture of a ripe one.

Found a pic of my Velmozha. Didn’t manage to photograph a ripe one.

Girls, it says on the packet here that this is Siberian Budenovka. Is this the same Budenovka as yours? Because I got super jealous, especially since it’s a determinate…

Margosha wrote:
Girls, it says on the packet here that this is Siberian Budenovka. Is this the same Budenovka as yours? Because I got super jealous, especially since it’s a determinate…

I planted Budenovka from a packet exactly like that this year. Out of ten planted seeds, three determinates grew (they are only 4 inches / 10 cm tall right now), one has potato leaves, and six kinda look alike. Which of this “bounty” will actually turn out to be Budenovka is anyone’s guess 🤦‍♂️

Edited Jan 16, 2015 by Drosera

Marina, that is Velmozha—pink oxheart tomatoes, determinate, about 28 inches (70 cm) tall.

Budenovka is an indeterminate; they are completely different varieties.

Margosha wrote:
Girls, it says on the packet here that this is Siberian Budenovka. Is this the same Budenovka as yours? Because I got super jealous, especially since it’s a determinate…

Marina, my Budenovka was a tall plant, but the tomatoes themselves do look similar. 🌸

Budenovka (aka Velmozha)

Edited Nov 23, 2014 by Rok5

This year I planted seeds saved all the way back in 2007. I honestly thought they wouldn’t germinate, but I really wanted to save the variety. Excellent tomatoes grew. Brand was “Plazmennye Semena” (Plasma Seeds) from St. Petersburg.

Hey everyone. Looks like Velmozha can vary quite a bit… Here is mine. I liked it at first, it grew vigorously. Started seeds on March 4, transplanted into the greenhouse on April 20, photographed on May 30. But the final yield ended up being pretty average.

Merit wrote:
Looks like Velmozha can vary quite a bit…

According to the Russian State Register, Velmozha is:

“For outdoor growing. Slicer. Mid-season. Ripens in 103-117 days from emergence. Determinate plant, 21-24 inches (54-62 cm) tall. Medium-sized light green leaves. Complex inflorescence. First truss forms above the 7-8th leaf, subsequent ones every 1-2 leaves. Pedicel with a joint. Fruit is oxheart-shaped, moderately ribbed. Unripe color is green with a dark shoulder, ripe color is crimson/raspberry. 4 or more locules. Fruit weight 4.6-8.8 oz (131-250 g). Taste of fresh fruits is good and excellent.”

Originator: Institute of Cytology and Genetics, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

My Velmozha is a determinate (seeds were sent to me from Kyiv). It was one of the very first to ripen, tasty, medium size, definitely not a giant.

I grew Velmozha outdoors in 2018. Seeds were from Aelita. Grew exactly according to the State Register description, just pink-crimson instead of pure crimson.

Mid-early in our climate, tasty, heavy yielder. The fruits are large, and my relatives (who got some of my extra seedlings) really fell in love with it. It has a memorable taste, a specific flavor profile characteristic only of Velmozha—it definitely stands out on a platter of sliced tomatoes. It didn’t make it to my repeat grow list, but I still remember it.

I grew Warfield’s Wonder this year, and it has a very similar flavor note.

Edited Nov 30, 2019 by Oksana Evgenievna

Tasty, but outdoors it grew to 4 ft (120 cm). Crimson skin, pink flesh. Cracked badly during a rainy summer, but looks exactly like the stock picture from SibSad.

Seeds from SibSad. Good taste, though I’d say it leans a bit on the mild/bland side; lovers of oxhearts should enjoy it. Here’s my plant loaded with green tomatoes (I didn’t snap the ripe ones). It grew to about 31 inches (80 cm) tall.

My Velmozha was planted in the determinate section of my garden, since the seed packet promised a 27-40 inch (70 cm – 1 m) bush. I ended up having to pound in a tall stake to tie it up! I eventually topped it off at about 5 ft (1.5 m). Pruned it to 2 main stems. The fruits were massive hearts, pink, meaty and delicious, without any tough cores, and they ripen evenly. They do get a bit smaller towards the top of the plant. Produces fruit for a long time. The weight on the photo isn’t accurate, you can add another 25-30% to it—a screw came loose on the bottom of my kitchen scale and it was showing less.

This tomato is definitely on my repeat list for this year.

Here is my Velmozha.

Some fruits have a pointy tip (classic oxheart), while others are just round bombs (they are all from the exact same plant in the photo). Weight is 9 oz (250 g) and up. Pink-fruited with sugary flesh. The flavor is a little on the mild side, but it’s absolutely perfect for making bulk tomato sauce/paste. I’ve been growing this variety since 2018, originally from SibSad seeds. I used to grow it outdoors (though it’s a bit too tall for that), and this year I put it in the greenhouse—it reached about 6.5 ft (2 m). Trusses set fully and were very heavy. A great variety for heavy yields, perfect for lecho (pepper and tomato stew), juicing, etc.