{"id":3457,"date":"2026-09-24T14:10:31","date_gmt":"2026-09-24T14:10:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/en\/?p=3457"},"modified":"2026-09-24T14:10:31","modified_gmt":"2026-09-24T14:10:31","slug":"vovchik","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/en\/vovchik\/","title":{"rendered":"Vovchik 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;3457&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;Share your rating&quot;,&quot;legend&quot;:&quot;0\\\/5 - (0 votes)&quot;,&quot;size&quot;:&quot;24&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Vovchik 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\">Share your rating<\/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): Vovchik<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>\ud83c\udf0d <strong>Origin:<\/strong> A commercial variety from Russia\/Ukraine. The name is an affectionate diminutive for Vladimir (Little Vova).<\/li>\n<li>\ud83d\udca1 <strong>Editor&#8217;s Note (The Famous Mix-Up):<\/strong> This thread is a classic example of a happy accident. The official commercial seed packets describe Vovchik as a regular round\/oblate tomato. However, a massive batch of seeds released to the public contained an &#8220;off-type&#8221; (wrong seeds). Growers ended up with a Potato Leaf (PL) dwarf plant producing red, pear-shaped paste tomatoes. The funny part? The off-type turned out to be so incredibly productive and tasty that growers kept it and continued passing the seeds around under the name Vovchik!<\/li>\n<li>\ud83c\udf3f <strong>Plant Habit:<\/strong> The popular off-type is a determinate micro-dwarf, topping out around 20 inches (50 cm) with Potato Leaf foliage. The &#8220;true&#8221; variety (rarely found) grows more like a sprawling ground-cover, similar to the famous Mongolian Dwarf.<\/li>\n<li>\ud83c\udf45 <strong>Fruit Characteristics:<\/strong> (Off-type): Red, pear-shaped\/elongated fruits. The flesh is dense and slightly dry.<\/li>\n<li>\ud83d\udc45 <strong>Flavor &amp; Uses:<\/strong> Sweet and tart. Because they are on the drier side, they are absolutely top-tier for canning, making thick sauce, or dehydrating (sun-dried tomatoes). They are also phenomenal keepers, lasting weeks on the counter without rotting.<\/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 this variety?<\/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\">S<\/div>\n<div class=\"author-meta\">\n<div class=\"author-name\">Svetlyachok-plyus (Svetlana) <span class=\"author-stats\">\u2b50 Pro Grower (1,450 posts)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"post-content\">\n<p>An adorable little plant \ud83d\udc4d. A tiny bush at 20 inches (50 cm) tall that is just absolutely smothered in little red pears. I only pruned the suckers up to the first truss, and after that I just let it do whatever it wanted. And it wanted to do a lot! \ud83d\ude02<\/p>\n<p>The tasty, firm little tomatoes are great fresh, perfect for pickling, canning in their own juice, and dehydrating\/sun-drying. The taste is sweet and tart, a little on the dry side. It&#8217;s the absolute find of the year for me. Practically zero disease issues. It&#8217;s staying on my grow list forever.<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-images\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/uploads\/newforum\/attachments\/58623_64fcbfc5996e4f51b3d277bd956d7b53f48168e6.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/uploads\/newforum\/attachments\/58623_64fcbfc5996e4f51b3d277bd956d7b53f48168e6.jpg\" alt=\"Vovchik red pear tomatoes on a dwarf plant\" width=\"730\" height=\"547\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/uploads\/newforum\/attachments\/58625_ac887a56a29e7f606a575b40440b2a1c73303f3a.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/uploads\/newforum\/attachments\/58625_ac887a56a29e7f606a575b40440b2a1c73303f3a.jpg\" alt=\"Harvest of Vovchik paste tomatoes\" width=\"730\" height=\"547\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"forum-post\">\n<div class=\"author-header\">\n<div class=\"forum-avatar\">M<\/div>\n<div class=\"author-meta\">\n<div class=\"author-name\">Marina <span class=\"author-stats\">\u2b50 Pro Grower (2,483 posts)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"post-content\">\n<p>Sveta, what did the photo of Vovchik originally look like on your seed packet? Wasn&#8217;t it oblate (flat-round)? And did yours turn out to have Potato Leaves (PL)?<\/p>\n<p>Because mine grew exactly like that (just like yours), the complete opposite of the picture on the packet. But I actually really liked this off-type.<\/p>\n<p>Funny enough, this year I grew Kmicic (from Italy, Galinka Esme sent me the seeds) and that variety is an exact 1-to-1 copy of the Vovchik off-type!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"forum-post\">\n<div class=\"author-header\">\n<div class=\"forum-avatar\">E<\/div>\n<div class=\"author-meta\">\n<div class=\"author-name\">Esme (Galina) <span class=\"author-stats\">\u2b50 Pro Grower (5,701 posts)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"post-content\">\n<p>Marina, Kmicic is a Polish variety.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"forum-post\">\n<div class=\"author-header\">\n<div class=\"forum-avatar\">F<\/div>\n<div class=\"author-meta\">\n<div class=\"author-name\">Fotinia (Svetlana) <span class=\"author-stats\">\u2b50 Pro Grower (8,948 posts)<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"author-geo\">\ud83d\udccd Tambov, Russia (USDA Zone 5)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"post-content\">\n<p>So what&#8217;s the difference between them? Are they actually different varieties?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"forum-post\">\n<div class=\"author-header\">\n<div class=\"forum-avatar\">S<\/div>\n<div class=\"author-meta\">\n<div class=\"author-name\">Svetlyachok-plyus (Svetlana) <span class=\"author-stats\">\u2b50 Pro Grower (1,450 posts)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"post-content\">\n<blockquote><p><strong>Marina wrote:<\/strong><br \/>\nSveta, what did the photo of Vovchik originally look like on your seed packet? Wasn&#8217;t it oblate (flat-round)? And did yours turn out to have Potato Leaves (PL)?<br \/>\nBecause mine grew exactly like that (just like yours), the complete opposite of the picture on the packet&#8230;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Marina, yep, the leaves were Potato Leaf (PL), and the fruits were little pears. On my packet, just like yours, they pictured completely different tomatoes, large and oblate. So I have no idea what variety this actually is, but whatever was written on the packet is the name I&#8217;m keeping for it. And I can now add that the maters of this variety are excellent keepers.<\/p>\n<p>I still have about 10 of them sitting in a basket on the cool floor, and the taste is still pretty good, obviously a bit worse than fresh off the bush. I throw them into soups, they add a really nice flavor profile \ud83d\ude0b. And sometimes I just munch on them plain, also great \ud83d\ude0b.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"forum-post\">\n<div class=\"author-header\">\n<div class=\"forum-avatar\">R<\/div>\n<div class=\"author-meta\">\n<div class=\"author-name\">Rodebielesumer (Elena) <span class=\"author-stats\">\u2b50 Pro Grower (1,832 posts)<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"author-geo\">\ud83d\udccd Germany \/ Luxembourg \/ France border area (USDA Zone 8)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"post-content\">\n<p>Our Vovchik turned out exactly like Svetlyachok&#8217;s, doesn&#8217;t look a thing like the photo on the packaging. The description on the packet doesn&#8217;t match either; they write that the fruits are round, 4.2-5.3 oz (120-150 g), with the first truss reaching up to 8.8 oz (250 g). The listed pros: firm, ripens fully on the vine. Yield up to 3.3 lbs (1.5 kg) per bush. Did anyone actually get a different Vovchik?<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-images\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/uploads\/newforum\/galleries\/34\/2212-190914162713.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/uploads\/newforum\/galleries\/34\/thumb_2212-190914162713.jpeg\" alt=\"Vovchik off-type thumbnail\" width=\"160\" height=\"106\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/uploads\/newforum\/galleries\/34\/2212-190914163303.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/uploads\/newforum\/galleries\/34\/thumb_2212-190914163303.jpeg\" alt=\"Vovchik tomato thumbnail\" width=\"160\" height=\"106\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"forum-post\">\n<div class=\"author-header\">\n<div class=\"forum-avatar\">E<\/div>\n<div class=\"author-meta\">\n<div class=\"author-name\">Elena SAR <span class=\"author-stats\">\ud83c\udf31 Member (125 posts)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"post-content\">\n<p>I bought this variety this year too.<\/p>\n<p>The packaging says the fruits are round, weighing 1.8-2.1 oz (50-60 g).<\/p>\n<p>The leaves are already showing up as Potato Leaf (PL), so based on your reviews, I feel like I&#8217;m in for a surprise \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n<p>But if you guys liked it, I figure I won&#8217;t be too disappointed either.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"forum-post\">\n<div class=\"author-header\">\n<div class=\"forum-avatar\">M<\/div>\n<div class=\"author-meta\">\n<div class=\"author-name\">m_Kallista (Yulia) <span class=\"author-stats\">\u2b50 Pro Grower (9,801 posts)<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"author-geo\">\ud83d\udccd Neftegorsk, Russia (USDA Zone 4)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"post-content\">\n<blockquote><p><strong>Elena SAR wrote:<\/strong><br \/>\n&#8230;The leaves are already showing up as Potato Leaf (PL), so based on your reviews, I feel like I&#8217;m in for a surprise \ud83d\ude42<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Elena, what kind of &#8220;Vovchik&#8221; did you end up getting?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"forum-post\">\n<div class=\"author-header\">\n<div class=\"forum-avatar\">M<\/div>\n<div class=\"author-meta\">\n<div class=\"author-name\">Maiya <span class=\"author-stats\">\ud83c\udf31 Member (406 posts)<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"author-geo\">\ud83d\udccd Kirov, Russia (USDA Zone 3)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"post-content\">\n<p>My Vovchik&#8217;s plant shape and structure turned out looking a lot like Mongolian Dwarf, and the fruits were oblate exactly like they were on the picture \ud83d\ude32<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"forum-post\">\n<div class=\"author-header\">\n<div class=\"forum-avatar\">S<\/div>\n<div class=\"author-meta\">\n<div class=\"author-name\">Svetlyachok-plyus (Svetlana) <span class=\"author-stats\">\u2b50 Pro Grower (1,450 posts)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"post-content\">\n<p>Wow, you actually got the real deal \ud83d\ude32. Maiya, how did you like the taste?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"forum-post\">\n<div class=\"author-header\">\n<div class=\"forum-avatar\">M<\/div>\n<div class=\"author-meta\">\n<div class=\"author-name\">Maiya <span class=\"author-stats\">\ud83c\udf31 Member (406 posts)<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"author-geo\">\ud83d\udccd Kirov, Russia (USDA Zone 3)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"post-content\">\n<p>Can&#8217;t really say anything about the taste, it got lost in the baskets among the overall harvest. Friends from Kyiv sent me the seeds in a Ukrainian packet.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"forum-post\">\n<div class=\"author-header\">\n<div class=\"forum-avatar\">F<\/div>\n<div class=\"author-meta\">\n<div class=\"author-name\">Fotinia (Svetlana) <span class=\"author-stats\">\u2b50 Pro Grower (8,948 posts)<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"author-geo\">\ud83d\udccd Tambov, Russia (USDA Zone 5)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"post-content\">\n<blockquote><p><strong>Svetlyachok-plyus wrote:<\/strong><br \/>\nAn adorable little plant \ud83d\udc4d. A tiny bush at 20 inches (50 cm) tall that is just absolutely smothered in little red pears&#8230;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>I&#8217;m growing a Vovchik from your seeds right now. The fruits are slightly elongated, don&#8217;t really look like pears just yet, maybe they will a bit later. Even though the bush is a tiny micro-dwarf, it&#8217;s absolutely loaded with fruit.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\ud83d\udccc Quick Summary (TL;DR): Vovchik \ud83c\udf0d Origin: A commercial variety from Russia\/Ukraine. The name is an affectionate diminutive for Vladimir (Little Vova). \ud83d\udca1 Editor&#8217;s Note (The Famous Mix-Up): This thread is a classic example of a happy accident. The official commercial seed packets describe Vovchik as a regular round\/oblate tomato. However, a massive batch of &#8230; <a title=\"Vovchik Tomato Review\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/en\/vovchik\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Vovchik Tomato Review\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3457,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52,102,4,438],"tags":[74,30,96,77,10,28,87],"class_list":["post-3457","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bush-and-dwarf","category-cocktail-salad-tomatoes","category-paste-canning","category-red-tomatoes","tag-determinate-tomato","tag-heavy-yielder","tag-long-shelf-life","tag-micro-dwarf-tomato","tag-paste-tomato","tag-potato-leaf","tag-sun-dried-tomatoes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3457","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=3457"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3457\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3459,"href":"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3457\/revisions\/3459"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}