Apple Lipetsk (Yablochnyi Lipetskiy) Russian Heirloom Tomato Review

Tomatanya gave me the seeds, and hers are from ESME — 😘
This is a compiled description from our forum (I made a table before sowing). Mid-season, round sometimes oval sometimes with a point (mine was oval, almost round), about 200g (7 oz), average yield, red, tomatoey.

Grew in the greenhouse. And indeed, it turned out to be very tasty. But I taste all varieties with salt. Trying it plain straight off the bush, I didn’t like it. Maybe I expected something extraordinary? But with salt, it was one of the tastiest.
It didn’t crack, didn’t get sick, despite the fact that many other varieties cracked and suffered from gray mold.
It doesn’t give a huge amount of fruits. The fruits are very beautiful, like an apple. It had shoulders, but they weren’t hard, they ripened through and didn’t affect the taste at all.
Reached the ceiling of the greenhouse, but didn’t hit it — still tall. Mid-season.

And this is my Yablochnyi Lipetskiy.) I can’t say anything about the taste, because I didn’t get to try it. They ate it while I was away))

This year my Yablochnyi Lipetskiy was severely affected by blossom end rot, there were few healthy fruits.

I grew it in 4 stems. Overdid it a bit, they ended up at 150g (5 oz). But the taste is excellent with a fruity note, we ate them straight off the bush, got 43 fruits in total. I don’t know if that’s a lot or a little. I will plant it again. Didn’t get sick with anything.

The taste is rich, profound. 😋 In the greenhouse, due to the heat, the yield was average, so I will repeat it outdoors in open ground. A permanent resident in my collection now. 👍 Didn’t get sick with anything.

Sveta, how tall was your bush? I’m thinking where to plant it, near the wall or near the pathway 🤔

tomik: Sveta, how tall was your bush? I’m thinking where to plant it, near the wall or near the pathway 🤔

Toma, mine grew near the wall, it didn’t like it there, there was too little space, I had to bend the bush. Plant it near the pathway.

For me, this variety is the benchmark of tomato flavor. 😋

And on top of that, it is productive. Stays in my collection 📝

I also really like Yablochnyi Lipetskiy, both for its yield and especially for its taste!
I will definitely be planting it.

Wow! I only had 1 seedling plant, and my cat broke it. 😢 What a pity, such beautiful tomatoes. A sight for sore eyes.

Tatyana Kemerovo: Tried growing it for the first time… Yield wasn’t huge… Will definitely repeat in 2016!

I only managed to repeat it in 2017. Galochka Esme deserves a monument just for YL! 🫡

Grew it in a poly greenhouse on the southwest side. Abnormal heat again. A bush of ‘Podsinskoye Chudo’ grew next to it and fell victim to BER almost completely. YL stood strong. Only one small fruit suffered (with the exact same calcium feeding and watering). Yield was higher. Pruned to 2 stems, picked 23 fruits and there were sets all the way to the top without skipping. No small fruits, average 250g (9 oz). No green shoulders, hard cores, or cracks. The tastiest among red-pinks, with or without salt! Clusters are strong, don’t snap, didn’t even tie them up.

In my conditions, this is a wonderful variety! Thank you, Galya! 😘

I liked the variety. It was good both in the greenhouse and outdoors. Early, tasty, productive.

In my opinion, Yablochnyi Lipetskiy has the most perfect taste. No other variety can compare to it. I would say it’s the benchmark of flavor for a tomato. But unfortunately, year after year it gets severely hit by blossom end rot (BER) for me. Other varieties nearby don’t even have a hint of it. But this one gets entirely sick. Next year I’ll try aggressively feeding it with calcium. Maybe it will help.

The absolute unsurpassed favorite of our family, selected from about 40 varieties, tested for more than one year. Incredibly tasty!
I don’t like exaggerations, but all my grandma’s friends rated this tomato as “the forgotten tomato taste” ))) It has a very pleasant texture — somewhat buttery, delicate, but meaty and dense, not watery. It transports well, even though the skin isn’t tough.
Sweet even in a cold summer outdoors. Doesn’t get sick, doesn’t crack, has no tendency toward a hard core, early, large, productive. Simple and straightforward to prune (it is tall). Tested in a cold summer when all others were sour and unexpressive…

Grew Yablochnyi Lipetskiy for the first time this year. Sown on March 2nd, grown in extreme conditions during the seedling stage, which allowed it to successfully survive the “joys” of a cold May and a harsh Middle Ural summer.
Planted in a poly greenhouse on May 5th near the entrance door, pruned to one stem.
Turned out to be a mid-season variety. Showed very good yield in our difficult climate.
Produced many slightly elongated, heavy tomatoes weighing 400-500 g (14-17.5 oz).
Did NOT catch Blossom End Rot (unlike some).
The tomato fruit worm ignored it, it was too tough for them.
Gray mold completely ignored it too.
It is susceptible to leaf mold (Cladosporium), though.
Shot up over 2 meters (6.5 ft) and after topping, sent out new shoots with flower clusters. The bush is powerful and beautiful. The taste is harmonious, slightly buttery.

Due to its valuable qualities, it is suited for the Urals, Siberia, and regions with a cool, short summer for greenhouse growing. Across all parameters, my rating is a solid 5. Candidate for a permanent spot for me.
Highly recommended.

Yablochnyi Lipetskiy. Repeated this variety once again, indeterminate, grew in the greenhouse in 2 stems, good yield, long fruiting period. Very tasty, weight up to 250g (9 oz), fruits are red, round to slightly oval.

Yesterday I ate a fruit that had fallen from a height while still green and ripened on the windowsill, and it was still tasty and fragrant, even though it was bruised!

Planted this variety for the first time. The fruits are even, smooth, beautiful, and tasty. Very productive!

I also grew Yablochnyi Lipetskiy this year. Only the most positive impressions. Very productive, unpretentious, and surprisingly tasty. Rich tomato flavor. A wonderful variety!

A very worthy variety, planted it outdoors in open ground for two years. Yield was 4.4 kg (9.7 lbs) per plant in ’18 and 4.9 kg (10.8 lbs) in ’19.

Last year they were very tasty, fruits are quite dense, meaty, and hearty. Average weight 150-200g (5-7 oz), maximum – 367g (13 oz).

mopsdad1: You can, of course, do a rain dance to beat the BER, but for me, it’s not worth it…

I didn’t listen to the advice and planted this variety. Then I regretted it. Everything happened exactly as in mopsdad1’s message.

I really liked this variety. The taste is wonderful, the fruits have an undefined, charming shape, very beautiful, stood out among the rest, around 200-250 grams (7-9 oz), yield is quite good. Only sporadically affected by BER. I will definitely repeat it next year.

I got this variety directly from Galya (Esme). Have been growing it since 2014. The tomato is very tasty, but the yield is below average; perhaps it doesn’t like our extreme heat. Never had BER once.

I had two bushes in different spots, and both turned out to be prone to BER (I provided calcium regularly). Taste-wise it’s classic, simple, I didn’t like it. Won’t be giving it a second chance.

I started doubting… Is this it or not? I see everyone has different ones. Some have barrel-shaped ones, some have round ones. What is Yablochnyi Lipetskiy actually supposed to look like? This is my first year with it. The yield is small. It was affected by BER just like everything else (except 2-3 varieties and hybrids), it cracks a little, but stores well and is tasty.

For me, this variety was round, late. The bush was absolutely covered in fruit. It didn’t suffer from BER. There were no green shoulders.

We’ve been growing it for 2 years (seeds from Zolushka). Tasty, very classic flavor with an excellent acid/sugar balance and richness. Here, YL grows outdoors in open ground, it’s a very unpretentious tomato. Outdoors it doesn’t get too tall, even though it’s an indeterminate, which is very convenient with our crazy winds. Productive and patient.

According to my relatives, out of the classic tomatoes — this is the tastiest. Convenient size, mostly around 200g (7 oz), firm, juicy, meaty, with excellent texture. My shape was strictly spherical (sometimes with a hint of slight elongation). Outdoors it suffers moderately from BER, but due to the extreme heat and dryness, I spray calcium on the leaves of everything at least once every 2 weeks anyway, as BER is our main disease.