{"id":2967,"date":"2026-09-19T15:43:25","date_gmt":"2026-09-19T15:43:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/en\/?p=2967"},"modified":"2026-09-19T15:43:25","modified_gmt":"2026-09-19T15:43:25","slug":"bolshaya-deva","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/en\/bolshaya-deva\/","title":{"rendered":"Bolshaya Deva (Big Maiden) Tomato Review"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n<div class=\"kk-star-ratings kksr-auto kksr-align-left kksr-valign-top\"\n    data-payload='{&quot;align&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:&quot;2967&quot;,&quot;slug&quot;:&quot;default&quot;,&quot;valign&quot;:&quot;top&quot;,&quot;ignore&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;reference&quot;:&quot;auto&quot;,&quot;class&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;count&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;legendonly&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;readonly&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;score&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;starsonly&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;best&quot;:&quot;5&quot;,&quot;gap&quot;:&quot;5&quot;,&quot;greet&quot;:&quot;Rate this&quot;,&quot;legend&quot;:&quot;0\\\/5 - (0 votes)&quot;,&quot;size&quot;:&quot;24&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Bolshaya Deva (Big Maiden) Tomato Review&quot;,&quot;width&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;_legend&quot;:&quot;{score}\\\/{best} - ({count} {votes})&quot;,&quot;font_factor&quot;:&quot;1.25&quot;}'>\n            \n<div class=\"kksr-stars\">\n    \n<div class=\"kksr-stars-inactive\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"1\" style=\"padding-right: 5px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"2\" style=\"padding-right: 5px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"3\" style=\"padding-right: 5px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"4\" style=\"padding-right: 5px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"5\" style=\"padding-right: 5px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n<div class=\"kksr-stars-active\" style=\"width: 0px;\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" style=\"padding-right: 5px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" style=\"padding-right: 5px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" style=\"padding-right: 5px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" style=\"padding-right: 5px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" style=\"padding-right: 5px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n                \n\n<div class=\"kksr-legend\" style=\"font-size: 19.2px;\">\n            <span class=\"kksr-muted\">Rate this<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<div class=\"tldr-box\" style=\"background: #f4f9f4; padding: 20px; border-left: 5px solid #4CAF50; margin-bottom: 30px; border-radius: 4px;\">\n<h3>\ud83d\udccc Quick Summary (TL;DR): Bolshaya Deva (Big Maiden)<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>\ud83c\udf0d <strong>Origin:<\/strong> A Russian heirloom variety. The name &#8220;Bolshaya Deva&#8221; translates to &#8220;Big Maiden&#8221; or &#8220;Big Virgin.&#8221; Note: It should not be confused with the pink variety simply named &#8220;Deva.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>\ud83c\udf3f <strong>Plant Habit:<\/strong> Officially listed as determinate, but acts more like a <strong>semi-determinate<\/strong>. Grown outdoors in open ground, it typically reaches 1 &#8211; 1.2m (3-4 ft). However, if grown in a greenhouse and heavily pruned to a single stem, growers report it can easily reach the greenhouse roof.<\/li>\n<li>\ud83c\udf45 <strong>Fruit Characteristics:<\/strong> Large, red, oblate (flat-round) beefsteaks. Typical weights range from 300g to 500g (10.5-17.5 oz). The flesh is very meaty with classic, rich tomato flavor.<\/li>\n<li>\u23f0 <strong>Maturity &amp; Disease Resistance:<\/strong> While originally described as mid-late, many growers actually find it to be quite early. Since it sets such massive, heavy fruits on a relatively short bush, the bottom fruits often rest on the ground\/mulch, making them susceptible to Gray Mold (Botrytis) if not properly supported or harvested in time.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"add-review-cta\" style=\"margin: 20px 0; padding: 15px; background: #f9f9f9; border-left: 4px solid #4CAF50; border-radius: 4px;\"><strong>\ud83c\udf45 Grown Bolshaya Deva in your garden?<\/strong> <a href=\"#wpdcom\">Click here to add your own photos and review below!<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"forum-post\">\n<div class=\"author-header\">\n<div class=\"forum-avatar\">O<\/div>\n<div class=\"author-meta\">\n<div class=\"author-name\">Ovechka (Lyudmila) <span class=\"author-stats\">\u2b50 Pro Grower (13,966 posts)<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"author-geo\">\ud83d\udccd Russia<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"post-content\">\n<p><strong>Bolshaya Deva<\/strong><br \/>\nMid-late season, determinate, high-yielding variety for both open ground and greenhouses. Fruits are oblate (flat-round), weighing 300-500g (10.5-17.5 oz).<br \/>\nIt grows perfectly outdoors in open ground, there is absolutely no need to waste precious greenhouse space on it. This was literally the best-tasting tomato out of all the varieties I grew this year. (I received the seeds from N.N. Titova in Moscow). The largest fruit weighed 550g (1.2 lbs).<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/uploads\/newforum\/galleries\/1\/66-071113054554.jpeg\"><br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/uploads\/newforum\/galleries\/1\/thumb_66-071113054554.jpeg\" alt=\"Large red Bolshaya Deva beefsteak tomato\" width=\"119\" height=\"160\" \/><br \/>\n<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/uploads\/newforum\/galleries\/1\/66-071113054619.jpeg\"><br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/uploads\/newforum\/galleries\/1\/thumb_66-071113054619.jpeg\" alt=\"Sliced red tomato showing meaty flesh\" width=\"160\" height=\"120\" \/><br \/>\n<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/uploads\/newforum\/galleries\/1\/66-071113054645.jpeg\"><br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/uploads\/newforum\/galleries\/1\/thumb_66-071113054645.jpeg\" alt=\"Two red beefsteak tomatoes\" width=\"120\" height=\"160\" \/><br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"forum-post\">\n<div class=\"author-header\">\n<div class=\"forum-avatar\">O<\/div>\n<div class=\"author-meta\">\n<div class=\"author-name\">Ovechka (Lyudmila) <span class=\"author-stats\">\u2b50 Pro Grower (13,966 posts)<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"author-geo\">\ud83d\udccd Russia<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"post-content\">\n<p>I&#8217;ve been growing this variety for 5 years now, and I haven&#8217;t found any &#8220;duplicates&#8221; or identical varieties yet. It retains all its traits perfectly year after year.<\/p>\n<p>I do have a question about it being determinate, though\u2014it really doesn&#8217;t seem determinate to me. I&#8217;m no expert, but my plants reach about 1.2m (4 ft) tall. I&#8217;d love to hear opinions from the forum members I sent these seeds to. Does it retain its traits for you? And I&#8217;d really love to see your photos! \ud83c\udf3a<br \/>\nHere is Bolshaya Deva during this (generally low-yielding) year. It still maintained its high yield.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/uploads\/newforum\/galleries\/138\/66-090816151606.jpeg\"><br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/uploads\/newforum\/galleries\/138\/thumb_66-090816151606.jpeg\" alt=\"Clusters of large red tomatoes on the plant\" width=\"160\" height=\"105\" \/><br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"forum-post\">\n<div class=\"author-header\">\n<div class=\"forum-avatar\">P<\/div>\n<div class=\"author-meta\">\n<div class=\"author-name\">Plena (Elena) <span class=\"author-stats\">\u2b50 Pro Grower (9,239 posts)<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"author-geo\">\ud83d\udccd Solnechnogorsk, Moscow Region<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"post-content\">\n<p>Lyuda, mine grew in the greenhouse, and it absolutely reached the ceiling. I pruned it to a single stem. It pushed out suckers at first, but then eventually stopped producing them. As for whether it&#8217;s truly determinate, I can&#8217;t really say because I topped (pinched the growing tips off) all my plants eventually.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"forum-post\">\n<div class=\"author-header\">\n<div class=\"forum-avatar\">O<\/div>\n<div class=\"author-meta\">\n<div class=\"author-name\">Ovechka (Lyudmila) <span class=\"author-stats\">\u2b50 Pro Grower (13,966 posts)<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"author-geo\">\ud83d\udccd Russia<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"post-content\">\n<blockquote><p><strong>Vladvlad wrote:<\/strong><br \/>\nBolshaya Deva<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/uploads\/newforum\/galleries\/148\/12284-300916165834.jpeg\"><br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/uploads\/newforum\/galleries\/148\/thumb_12284-300916165834.jpeg\" alt=\"Harvested Bolshaya Deva tomato\" width=\"160\" height=\"120\" \/><br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"forum-post\">\n<div class=\"author-header\">\n<div class=\"forum-avatar\">O<\/div>\n<div class=\"author-meta\">\n<div class=\"author-name\">Ovechka (Lyudmila) <span class=\"author-stats\">\u2b50 Pro Grower (13,966 posts)<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"author-geo\">\ud83d\udccd Russia<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"post-content\">\n<blockquote><p><strong>Lyudasik wrote:<\/strong><br \/>\nBOLSHAYA DEVA &#8211; she really is big! The bush is tall, powerful, and vigorous. The tomatoes are very large, and there are a lot of them! A delicious, highly productive tomato!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p><strong>Yanina wrote:<\/strong><br \/>\nBolshaya Deva<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Photos from forum member ElenaMariya.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/uploads\/newforum\/galleries\/139\/8992-140816124628.jpeg\" alt=\"Massive red beefsteak Bolshaya Deva tomato\" width=\"1000\" height=\"750\" \/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"forum-post\">\n<div class=\"author-header\">\n<div class=\"forum-avatar\">O<\/div>\n<div class=\"author-meta\">\n<div class=\"author-name\">Olvia (Olya) <span class=\"author-stats\">\u2b50 Pro Grower (1,829 posts)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"post-content\">\n<p>Seeds were from Lyuda (Ovechka). They sat in my stash for a few years, but I finally planted them this season. It&#8217;s a tall determinate, growing to about 1m (3.3 ft). It produces very large, round, slightly flattened (oblate) beefsteaks. The lowest fruits were so heavy they were resting on the mulch. I almost missed picking them in time\u2014Gray Mold (Botrytis) started setting in. Like many large beefsteaks, it&#8217;s not super resistant to rot when touching the soil.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;d give the flavor a 4 out of 5, but only because I&#8217;m already so spoiled by the rich, complex flavors of pink and bicolor tomatoes.<br \/>\nHowever, for me, it was actually one of the very first to ripen\u2014it was an early variety. Because of this, I honestly think there might be some variety mix-up happening out there. The description actually fits <em>Bolshaya Mamochka<\/em> (Big Mommy) perfectly.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/uploads\/monthly_2019_08\/473838299_.jpg.33c6e85f791775ee71f146bc5d913d04.jpg\"><br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/uploads\/monthly_2019_08\/2130530753_.thumb.jpg.1e44842a3517ab1648daef167c771730.jpg\" alt=\"Ripe red Bolshaya Deva tomato\" width=\"300\" height=\"168\" \/><br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"forum-post\">\n<div class=\"author-header\">\n<div class=\"forum-avatar\">T<\/div>\n<div class=\"author-meta\">\n<div class=\"author-name\">tomatinka (Vera) <span class=\"author-stats\">\u2b50 Pro Grower (14,911 posts)<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"author-geo\">\ud83d\udccd Tyumen Region, Siberia, Russia (USDA Zone 3)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"post-content\">\n<p>I grew a variety just called &#8220;Deva&#8221; (Maiden). It&#8217;s pink. The bush habit was exactly the same outdoors in open ground, just over a meter (3.3 ft) tall. Honestly, the whole description matches perfectly, except for the color of the fruits.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\ud83d\udccc Quick Summary (TL;DR): Bolshaya Deva (Big Maiden) \ud83c\udf0d Origin: A Russian heirloom variety. The name &#8220;Bolshaya Deva&#8221; translates to &#8220;Big Maiden&#8221; or &#8220;Big Virgin.&#8221; Note: It should not be confused with the pink variety simply named &#8220;Deva.&#8221; \ud83c\udf3f Plant Habit: Officially listed as determinate, but acts more like a semi-determinate. Grown outdoors in open &#8230; <a title=\"Bolshaya Deva (Big Maiden) Tomato Review\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/en\/bolshaya-deva\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Bolshaya Deva (Big Maiden) Tomato Review\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2967,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52,1,5],"tags":[48,30,11,49,47],"class_list":["post-2967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bush-and-dwarf","category-beefsteak-large-slicers","category-russian-eastern-european-heirlooms","tag-early-season","tag-heavy-yielder","tag-huge-tomato","tag-open-ground","tag-red-beefsteak"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2967","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2967"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2967\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2969,"href":"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2967\/revisions\/2969"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2967"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}