📌 Quick Summary: Volgograd Early 323
- 🌍 Origin: A classic, historic commercial variety released in 1973 by the Volgograd Experimental Station of the VIR (Vavilov Institute). It is a cross between a local Russian variety and the American Bush Beefsteak.
- 🌱 Plant Habit: An extremely compact determinate (almost micro-dwarf in scale). The bushy, heavily branched plants stay very short, typically growing only 6 to 16 inches (15–40 cm) tall.
- 🍅 Fruit & Yield: Produces early harvests (95-110 days) of smooth, round red tomatoes weighing 3 to 3.5 oz (80-100g). Known for heavy, concentrated yields.
- 👅 Flavor & Use: A classic, old-school “acidic” tomato flavor. Very juicy. It lacks modern sugary sweetness, making it a top-tier choice for canning and processing.
- ☀️ Growing Tips: Famous for its ruggedness. It can survive severe spring cold snaps outdoors without protection and still pump out a massive harvest.
I couldn’t find this tomato in our database yet, so here is the official commercial description:
Volgogradskiy Skorospeliy 323 (Volgograd Early 323)
1. Origin: Bred by the Volgograd Experimental Station (VIR) by crossing a local variety with Bush Beefsteak. Officially released in 1973.
2. Maturity: Early-season, 95-110 days from seedling to harvest.
3. Yield: High-yielding. Fruits weigh 3-3.5 oz (80-100g). Average yield is about 0.8-0.9 lbs per sq ft (4-4.2 kg/m2).
4. Plant Description: Red, round-to-flat smooth fruits. The plant itself is determinate, extremely compact, highly branched, and very leafy, growing only 6 to 16 inches (15-40 cm) tall. Excellent flavor, versatile use, and good shelf life/transportability. The first flower truss forms above the 6th leaf, and subsequent trusses form every single leaf (or back-to-back).
5. Recommended Regions: Recommended for outdoor growing in the Central Black Earth and Lower Volga regions.
My personal notes: I sowed a whole seed packet, and I actually got a bit of genetic diversity in weight and shape—some were perfectly round, some were ribbed, ranging from medium to large.
Yulia, what is your personal overall impression of this variety?
What are the main pros and cons?
Did you grow the ones in the first photo outdoors in the dirt?
And how was the flavor?
Marina55 said:
Yulia, what is your personal overall impression of this variety?…
Marina, yes, I grew them completely outdoors in the garden. For some reason, my photos make the tomatoes look smaller than they actually were (I’m a terrible photographer).
Flavor: It has a really nice acidic bite to it. Very juicy and stores quite well. Honestly, almost all tomatoes taste good to me, unless they are completely bland and mealy. Out of all the tomatoes I grew last year, only one turned out like that—Tlacolula was totally tasteless. Though I admit that was my own fault (sowed it too late, planted it in the baking sun, probably lacked nutrients, etc.).
Pros: This Volgograd tomato got hit by a brutal cold snap (I planted them out first and didn’t cover them with frost cloth, thankfully I hadn’t planted out the rest of my seedlings yet!). Despite the freeze, it completely bounced back, pumped out a huge harvest, and didn’t catch a single disease.
Cons: The flavor is probably too “ordinary” for tomato snobs/connoisseurs.
Thank you for the detailed reply, Yulia! 🌺🌺🌺
I grew it again this season just for the pure nostalgia 🙂. This was the very first variety I ever grew during my first year of gardening (alongside De Barao).
It is absolutely fantastic for canning, and perfect for people who don’t like cloyingly sweet tomatoes. I honestly can’t say a single bad thing about any variety I grew this year; they all have their specific purpose, and I love all kinds of 🍅. This variety is 53 years old now, after all…
