📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Vesennie Zamorozki (Spring Frosts)
- 🌍 Origin & Breeder: A famous Russian heirloom bred by Pavel Saraev. Saraev dedicated his life to developing extreme cold-tolerant tomatoes capable of surviving light spring frosts in open ground without protection. The name translates perfectly to “Spring Frosts”.
- 🌿 Plant Habit: Determinate (bush) variety. A compact, short plant typically reaching 20-28 inches (50-70 cm) in height. Perfect for small spaces, pots, or growing under low tunnels.
- 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Red, round-to-oblate fruits. The official description claims weights of 7-10.5 oz (200-300 g), though some growers report smaller fruits depending on how the plant is pruned. Great as both a fresh slicer and a canning tomato.
- 👅 Flavor: Good, classic tomato flavor. While it won’t compete with late-season heirloom beefsteaks, it is highly praised for being sweet and delicious for such an extra-early variety.
- ⏳ Maturity: Extra-early season. One of the first tomatoes to ripen in the garden, capable of producing ripe red fruit by late May or early June if started indoors early.
A variety bred by Pavel Saraev. Very early season, bush height is 20-22 inches (50-55 cm), fruits up to 7-10.5 oz (200-300 g). Excellent as both a slicer and a canning tomato.
Photo author: Sha_iri
Vesennie Zamorozki – is that photo taken in a greenhouse? It’s just that they don’t look like they are 20 inches (0.5 m) tall in the picture… or is it just me???
I got my Vesennie Zamorozki (Spring Frosts) seeds from Irina (Iskorka). I’ll be growing it for the third season now. What can I say about this variety?…
Yes, it’s early (out of the two early varieties I grow, this one is the absolute earliest). Height is about 20 inches (50 cm) in the greenhouse. I start the seeds indoors on February 15th, and by the end of May, I already have my first red fruits.
The weight, of course, isn’t 7-10.5 oz (200-300 g) for me, it’s closer to 3-3.5 oz (90-100 g). The taste is good… they are the very first tomatoes of the season, so naturally, they taste delicious. Haven’t noticed any diseases on it. I partially prune the suckers. When pruned, the tomatoes get a bit bigger, but not by much, and you get fewer of them. If you don’t prune it at all, the entire bush is just plastered with smaller fruits… roughly 2 oz (60 g) each. As an extra-early variety, it satisfies me 100%.
The bush isn’t tall, about 28 inches (70 cm), grew tucked away in a corner of the greenhouse and didn’t take up much space. Early. Weight was around 8.8 oz (250 g), and the taste is very good for an early variety, with a nice sweetness.
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