{"id":5081,"date":"2026-10-11T14:19:40","date_gmt":"2026-10-11T14:19:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/en\/?p=5081"},"modified":"2026-10-11T14:30:08","modified_gmt":"2026-10-11T14:30:08","slug":"kibitz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tomat-pomidor.com\/en\/kibitz\/","title":{"rendered":"Kibic (Kibitz) Tomato Review & Photos: A Heavy-Yielding Early Paste"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
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\ud83c\udf45 Quick take:<\/strong> Kibic (sometimes spelled Kibitz or Kibis) is an early, very compact determinate<\/strong> paste tomato originating from Poland<\/strong>. Growing only up to 20 inches (50 cm) tall, it produces an avalanche of small, red, elongated plum tomatoes weighing around 1.7\u20132.5 oz (50\u201370 g). It\u2019s highly praised as an ideal, trouble-free bush for outdoor growing and canning. Full summary \u2193<\/a><\/div>\n

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Growers’ Notes and Photos (USDA Zones 3-5 Experience)<\/h2>\n

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Knyaginya Olga \u2b50 Pro Grower (775 posts)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Determinate, grows up to 20 inches (50 cm), early season 95-105 days, fruits are red, elongated plums about 1.7-2.5 oz (50-70 g). I had seeds from two different sources, but the true one only grew from Balashov’s seeds.<\/p>\n

As a seedling, Kibic is beautiful – sturdy, stocky, and doesn’t get leggy at all. In the description, Balashov recommends not pruning the suckers, and that’s basically what I did – I only removed suckers up to the first flower cluster. I tied up only the main stem, and the rest tried to hold themselves up, but mostly just sprawled on the ground.<\/p>\n

Fruit set is excellent, I didn’t notice any dropped blossoms. The bush is absolutely loaded with fruit.
\nDrawbacks: the ripe fruits drop off the bush very easily.
\nAs for the taste: just okay. I grew it strictly for sun-drying and canning.
\nRegarding diseases: no leaf roll, it was healthy as a horse, but towards August the leaves yellowed a bit – didn’t affect fruiting at all. It didn’t resist late blight, like everything else, but the damage was less severe than on other varieties.<\/p>\n

I sowed seeds on March 7th, potted up on April 11th, and planted them outside under low tunnels on May 3rd. The sunny side of the bed was shaded with row cover.
\nFirst red fruits showed up on July 2nd.<\/p>\n

\"Kibic<\/a>
\n\"Kibic<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Knyaginya Olga \u2b50 Pro Grower (775 posts)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Here’s an overall view of the garden bed as of July 18th:<\/p>\n

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pomidorka (Olga) \ud83c\udf3f Novice (114 posts)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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I actually gave up on Kibic. It grows poorly for me in my sandy soil–low fruit count, and the bush doesn’t develop well. The taste isn’t bad for an early tomato, but it’s a bit too small for me.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Natella_14 (Nataliya) \u2b50 Veteran Grower (1,819 posts)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Got my seeds from Nadezhda Berezhnova. Can’t wait for the harvest!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Elena35 (Elena) \ud83c\udf3f Novice (286 posts)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Hey y’all, aren’t Kibic and Chibis the same thing? I have Chibis, and looking at the photos, it’s an exact match!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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pomidorka (Olga) \ud83c\udf3f Novice (114 posts)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Elena35 wrote:<\/strong>
\nHey y’all, aren’t Kibic and Chibis the same thing? I have Chibis, and looking at the photos, it’s an exact match!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I think it’s the exact same variety. It’s Polish, I believe. People call it Kibis, Kibic, or Chibis depending on how they translate it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Yaroslavna (Natalya) \u2b50 Veteran Grower (6,274 posts)<\/span><\/div>\n
\ud83d\udccd Northern Yaroslavl Region, Russia (USDA Zone 4)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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My Kibic seeds came from Ukraine, I’ve been growing it for about 7 years now. Productive, low-maintenance, stocky little beauty! At first, I tried growing it in the greenhouse, but it’s way too hot for it in there. In our climate zone, it does perfectly fine outdoors in the dirt. I have loamy soil. The bushes are short, sturdy, and fruit set outdoors is highly satisfactory! The fruits are dense, pepper-shaped, excellent for canning.<\/p>\n

\"Kibic<\/a>
\n\"Kibic<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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tomatinka (Vera) \u2b50 Veteran Grower (14,911 posts)<\/span><\/div>\n
\ud83d\udccd Tyumen Region, Russia (USDA Zone 3)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Natasha, do you think it would have enough time if I direct sow it outdoors? Looks gorgeous! Kicking myself for not planting it this year.<\/p>\n

Elena, my Chibis is completely different. The tomatoes are little fingers. Just slightly bigger than cherries.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Yaroslavna (Natalya) \u2b50 Veteran Grower (6,274 posts)<\/span><\/div>\n
\ud83d\udccd Northern Yaroslavl Region, Russia (USDA Zone 4)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Vera, of course it’ll have enough time! It’s an early variety! You’ve successfully grown far later varieties than this out in the dirt. It’s never too late to try.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Marina \u2b50 Pro Grower (2,483 posts)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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I bought Chibis, and the packet says 2-2.5 oz (60-70 g). That’s fairly large, I know from growing Luch, they are about the same size. If Chibis turns out like that, I’d be thrilled.<\/p>\n

Vera, how does it taste?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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tomatinka (Vera) \u2b50 Veteran Grower (14,911 posts)<\/span><\/div>\n
\ud83d\udccd Tyumen Region, Russia (USDA Zone 3)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Marina, it’s pretty decent. Definitely not a sour bomb.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Marina \u2b50 Pro Grower (2,483 posts)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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That’s good, the main thing is that it’s not sour or watery. Needs to be firm and meaty, without hollow cavities inside.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Semechka (Svetlana) \u2b50 Veteran Grower (23,539 posts)<\/span><\/div>\n
\ud83d\udccd Krasnoyarsk Suburbs, Russia (USDA Zone 3)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Drosera (Svetlana) \u2b50 Pro Grower (5,414 posts)<\/span><\/div>\n
\ud83d\udccd Yekaterinburg, Russia (USDA Zone 3\/4)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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pomidorka wrote:<\/strong>
\nI think it’s the exact same variety. It’s Polish, I believe. People call it Kibis, Kibic, or Chibis depending on how they translate it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Whether Kibic is Ukrainian or Polish is up for debate, but I definitely wouldn’t go looking for the Russian “Chibis” in this thread.<\/p>\n

I split the topic, the Chibis variety is discussed elsewhere.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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salix (Iva) \ud83c\udf3f Avid Grower (631 posts)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Kibic turned out to be extremely responsive to heavy feeding. I’m growing it for the third year, and I finally got to see it truly dripping with fruit. At first, I actually thought I overfed it with too much nitrogen and that it had fattened up – I gave it a very generous dose of Ispolin fertilizer at planting, just like I do with my massive indeterminates. But as a result, the variety absorbed it all and exploded with a huge yield. I guess I accidentally found the right approach for it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Zolotse (Yuliya) \ud83c\udf3f Novice (304 posts)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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In German, Kiebitzer means lapwing or peewit (Vanellus vanellus L.).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Svetikk (Svetlana) \u2b50 Veteran Grower (29,385 posts)<\/span><\/div>\n
\ud83d\udccd South Moscow Region, Russia (USDA Zone 4)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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A good, productive little tomato for canning, fruits are red, fairly firm, up to 1.7 oz (50 g).<\/p>\n

\"Kibic<\/a>
\n\"Kibic<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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ilja (Ilya) \ud83c\udf3f Avid Grower (758 posts)<\/span><\/div>\n
\ud83d\udccd Klin, Moscow Region, Russia (USDA Zone 4)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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I plant Kibic every year. For me, it’s one of the best varieties with this fruit shape.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Inn@ (Inna) \u2b50 Veteran Grower (6,399 posts)<\/span><\/div>\n
\ud83d\udccd Sverdlovsk Region, Russia (USDA Zone 3)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Yes, Kibic is great. Productive, trouble-free. These little bushes grew outdoors without any cover at all. A massive thank you to Sveta @Svetikk for the seeds.<\/p>\n

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Full Summary: Plant, Yield, Taste and Storage<\/h2>\n