📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Volovyi Ushi (Ox Ears)
- 🌍 Origin: A Russian commercial and heirloom variety. The name translates to “Ox Ears” (sometimes sold as Volovye Ushko or “Little Ox Ear”). Note: Multiple seed companies (like Altai Seeds and Myazina) sell lines under this name, resulting in wild variations in fruit shape and size.
- 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate. Can grow very tall (up to 10 ft / 3 m in a greenhouse). Usually exhibits wispy, drooping, vine-like foliage that is typical of many heart and paste tomatoes.
- 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Red, elongated plum or barrel-shaped tomatoes. Size varies drastically depending on the seed line—some get small 2.8 oz (80 g) canning tomatoes, while others get massive XXL paste tomatoes. The larger ones often develop hollow cavities inside.
- 👅 Flavor & Use: Generally considered average for fresh eating, but it excels as a processing tomato. The thick walls and lower moisture content make it perfect for sauces, paste, and canning.
- » Pro Tip: Don’t let them sit on the counter too long, as the flesh can become mealy/mushy when overripe.
Ox Ears. I really, really wanted to get my hands on this variety. And Galina (Esme) sent it to me 🌸. I absolutely love these little barrel shapes. The shape turned out great—that’s for sure. And the size of these “ears” was straight up XXL.
Indeterminate, red, mid-season, plum-barrel shape. The plant height in the greenhouse was over 10 ft (3 m). The bush isn’t overly vigorous or bulky; the foliage is light-colored, small, somewhat drooping/wispy, and the main stem is very flexible—it grows almost like a liana (vine). The yield is average, I think it’s inefficient to prune this one to just a single stem.
The fruits are beautiful, but the taste is mediocre. They have hollow cavities inside and get soft very quickly. Great for juicing, making tomato paste, and other processing, but not ideal for whole-fruit canning. Fairly juicy, average sweetness, good for a fresh salad if eaten right off the vine. If you let it sit on the counter, the taste changes for the worse.
The last photo is a late autumn double/fused fruit hanging right under the greenhouse roof. How it managed to stay attached to such a thin, wispy stem is amazing to me. The pedicel (stem attachment) is basically made of iron-clad concrete 😉
Edited Oct 16, 2013 by Pomidoroved
Mine turned out exactly like Valentina’s. Except I grew them outdoors in open ground. The bush was about 32 inches (80 cm) tall. It was completely loaded with little fruits weighing about 2.8 oz (80 g) each, all perfectly uniform. It didn’t rot or crack in our cold, damp summer. 👏 If you didn’t know better, you’d think it was a commercial F1 hybrid. Will definitely plant it again!
I grew Ox Ears too, the seeds were from the “Altai Seeds” brand. Mine looked like this. My original photo disappeared somewhere… I’ll quote myself but add some new pics.
Here are my Ox Ears. The plant is tall. My yield turned out to be average. Sowed the seeds on March 15, transplanted into the ground in May (into a hoophouse).
To me, the taste is just ordinary – probably better suited for canning/pickling than eating fresh – there are much tastier varieties for fresh eating. I’m debating whether to keep it on my grow list or not.
Vera, were your seeds from the “Altai Seeds” brand?
Vera, what was the maturity timing on it?
Oh, the seeds weren’t from Altai. They were some store-bought commercial packet. They produced elongated little barrels without any “beak” (pointy tip). They fit perfectly into canning mason jars 😆 I just didn’t care for them fresh. I’ll see how they turn out pickled.
As for timing, mine was mid-season. Started picking the first ones around July 20th.
Grabelka wrote:
Oh, the seeds weren’t from Altai… They fit perfectly into canning mason jars 😆
I think yours look more like the forum heirloom version, I’ll be planting them next year. I planted the commercial “Altai Seeds” version of Ox Ears this year – and absolutely hated them: very soft, mealy/mushy flesh, and not juicy at all.
I am very happy with this variety. Heavy yielder. My seeds were from Tomatanya. The bush is quite sturdy, mid-sized. The tomatoes are red with thick walls, moderately firm. I love tomatoes like this. Classic tomato flavor.
Edited Aug 5, 2021 by Olga-70-KAZ
I planted seeds of the “Volovye Ushko” (Little Ox Ear) variety from the Myazina seed company this year.
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