Quick Summary of Raketa Zholtaya (Yellow Rocket)
- 🌍 Origin: A Russian commercial heirloom variety from the seed company “Semena Altaya” (Seeds of Altai).
- 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate, mid-early to mid-season. Reaches about 2 meters (6.5 ft) by the end of the season. Important Note: This plant has an incredibly frail, wispy, and “weeping” structure. The internodes are long, the leaves droop heavily, and the growing tips often look completely wilted or turn purple from stress. Growers joke that it acts like a “drama queen,” but this frail appearance is just its natural genetic trait! Because the trusses are spaced far apart, it is highly recommended to prune it to 2 or 3 stems rather than just one.
- 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Large, elongated, dense plum/icicle shaped tomatoes. They can grow surprisingly heavy, up to 300g (10.5 oz), hanging on very thin stems. The color is a stunning and unusual yellow-peach. The fruits contain very few seeds.
- 👅 Flavor & Culinary Use: Taste reviews are mixed, ranging from “mediocre” to “very, very good.” While some find them too soft to be pickled/canned whole, others say they look magnificent in jars. They are absolutely highly rated for making bright yellow tomato juice and sauces.
- ⚠️ Growing Warning: Can be moderately susceptible to Blossom End Rot (BER) towards the end of the growing season.
I grew it from “Semena Altaya” seeds.
It’s one of my favorites; besides 2012, I also grew it in 2010. Indeterminate, the bush is skinny and frail, the internodes are large, the leaves are droopy, the growing tips always look wilted and often turn purple… basically acting like a total drama queen—everything is always wrong with it. But the fruits are very good, both in appearance and in taste.
Mid-season, decent yield. In the first photo, there is a fused (double) fruit (I’ve never had those before), but it’s very even.
I confirm 🙂. I also had 2 plants of Yellow Rocket in my greenhouse in 2012. Seeds were from Galochka.
Very, very good taste. The yield, however, is a bit weak because it has somehow few trusses. It is unwise to prune it to just 1 stem.
The fruits are not small at all, of an unusual yellow-peach color. I haven’t seen this exact color in any other yellow variety.
And how is it for canning/preserves?
Natasha, I’m afraid it’s a bit too soft for pickling/canning whole, but the juice from it will turn out wonderful. Consequently, sauces will be good too.
The variety is mid-early. Very droopy, long leaves. The whole bush looks saggy. Quite frail. Towards the end of the season it reached 200cm (6.5 ft). Yield is average. The fruits are very dense. The taste is mediocre. But they look magnificent in a jar.
They are moderately affected by Blossom End Rot (BER) towards the end of the season. There are very few seeds in the fruits. The trusses are abundant and branched. The stems are thin, it’s a mystery how they manage to hold up quite large fruits (up to 300g / 10.5 oz). I am dropping this variety from my grow list.
I didn’t have any Blossom End Rot (BER), I like the taste and they are large and meaty, I’ve planted them 3 years in a row.
