📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Vishnya Zimnyaya (Winter Cherry)
- 🌍 Origin: A Russian commercial variety. The name translates to “Winter Cherry”. Intended for outdoor growing in middle and northern climates.
- 🌿 Plant Habit: Determinate (bush). The seed packet claims it is a stout, tree-type dwarf that requires zero pruning, but growers report it grows as a standard bush around 24 inches (60 cm) tall.
- 🍅 Fruit Characteristics (Expectation vs. Reality): The commercial packaging claims the fruits are dark crimson, crack-resistant, and weigh 3.2-3.9 oz (90-110 g). However, multiple growers consistently report that the fruits are much smaller—essentially large cherry or cocktail-sized tomatoes.
- 👅 Use: Because of their size, dense texture, and smooth skin, growers highly recommend them for whole-fruit canning and pickling.
Here is the description from the seed packet: “Early season variety for open ground. 103-105 days from germination to maturity. The bush is a tree-type (stout dwarf) and requires no pruning. Fruits are uniform, dark crimson in color, dense, smooth, meaty, with good shelf life and high flavor quality. Fruit weight is 3.2-3.9 oz (90-110 g), resistant to cracking. The variety is designed for open ground cultivation in the middle and northern zones of Russia.”
I grew it from that exact same packet. The fruits were nowhere near the claimed 3.5 oz (100 g). They were just slightly larger than a standard cherry tomato, but the yield was quite high. The bushes were about 24 inches (60 cm) tall. I completely disagree with the packet claiming it has a “tree-type” stout dwarf habit.
That is exactly the one I planted—Winter Cherry 😉 And my packet was exactly the same 📝 The fruits were also just a little bigger than cherry tomatoes…..
Mine were cocktail-sized too. I used them for canning/pickling in jars. My seeds were from Yashchenko.
