Zhigalo (Gigolo) Tomato Review

Tomato ZHIGALO from Biotechnica – a 2015 new release.

Description from Biotechnica: A mid-season variety (100-105 days from sprouting to fruiting). A tomato with a unique shape – resembling a sausage (well, that’s the polite way to put it, right?? though what does a sausage have to do with the name 😂). An incredibly heavy yielder – the plant is just hung with fruit. Very tasty, meaty, practically seedless. Very healthy plants, not affected by diseases. Tree-type dwarf, plant height 16-18 inches (40-45 cm). The bush is very compact and dense. Simple trusses consisting of 5-6 unusual fruits. The fruit shape is highly elongated-cylindrical – length 6-6.5 inches (15-16 cm), diameter 1.2-1.5 inches (3-4 cm), red color, weighing 4.5-5 oz (130-140 g). Fruits on the truss ripen simultaneously. Perfect for whole canning. The variety is excellent for growing outdoors.

It’s basically like a dwarf analogue of Auria* based on fruit shape, just a version meant for open ground because it’s shorter.

I didn’t get the promised “mega-yield,” although it really didn’t catch any diseases, that part is true. It grew slightly taller than advertised – about 24-32 inches (60-80 cm). The size and weight of the tomatoes were much smaller than stated.

For me, this variety was actually one of my heaviest yielders. Outdoors, the fruits were drier and smaller. In the greenhouse, they were larger and juicier, and the bush grew taller.

The seedlings have a surprisingly beautiful shape – like a slender little Christmas tree with densely packed leaves. Great for canning, and I think the drier outdoor fruits will be absolutely perfect for dehydrating (sun-dried tomatoes).

I will definitely grow it again!

It’s become a favorite of mine over the last two years. A beautiful tree-type bush plus absolutely crazy yields. Taste is about a 4 out of 5, slightly dry, but still very meaty, and the flesh is an intense, deep red. Because of late blight, I had to pick most of the fruits green, but they ripened perfectly off the vine, which didn’t affect the taste or appearance at all.

It looks very similar to Jolly Gnome (Veselyi Gnom). Maybe it’s a synonym? How do you prune it? Or does it just grow naturally as a little tree?

Happy Gnome (Veselyi Gnom) – from Myazina seeds
Gigolo (Zhigalo) – from Biotechnica seeds
Firewood (Drova) – from Aelita seeds

We have all of them in our forum catalog, visually the fruits look identical, but how they actually perform side-by-side can only be told by someone who has grown them together in the same season.

I didn’t prune it at all, but you absolutely have to stake it, otherwise it just flops over and falls apart under the weight of the fruits.

I have seeds for Happy Gnome from Myazina, I’ll try planting them both and compare.

An excellent variety! 👍 Grown outdoors..

I’m in shock! I bought these seeds from Biotechnica. Out of 12 items in the packet, only about 7 could actually be called seeds! The rest was just unformed seed coats about 1-2 mm in size, flat and empty. I am extremely disappointed in this seed company! And who knows if those 7 will even germinate!? 😢

Gigolo (Zhigolo) is a well-known term. Spelled with an ‘O’. It means a paid dancer, a male companion for hire. That is exactly why Biotechnica named the variety this way.

Agnija wrote:
Gigolo (Zhigolo) is a well-known term. Spelled with an ‘O’. It means a paid dancer, a male companion for hire. That is exactly why Biotechnica named the variety this way.

Biotechnica themselves can’t seem to decide how to spell it properly.

Rodebielesumer wrote:
Happy Gnome – from Myazina
Gigolo – from Biotechnica
Firewood – from Aelita
All of them look identical on the outside, but how they are in reality, only someone who has grown them together can say.

In 2016 I grew Firewood (in the greenhouse) and Gigolo (outdoors under a low tunnel). Any differences in fruit size and texture were entirely due to the growing conditions, and the difference in taste was so insignificant – and I was really looking hard for it – that when I saved the seeds, I just dumped them all into the same packet together.

I saw this variety about five years ago at a produce market in Moscow. The politically correct vendors from the Caucasus were calling it “Ladies’ Fingers” (I know the real Ladies’ Fingers variety well, and I remember being surprised because it looked suspiciously NOT like fingers, plus they were using the singular form of the word 😂).

The tomatoes are indeed a bit dry, but with a pleasant taste. I used the ones I bought in a salad and I deeply regret not saving the seeds. This year I bought a commercial seed packet – 90 rubles for 12 seeds (I was in shock!). I’ll plant them all and save as many seeds as I possibly can.

For those who have grown it – are there significant differences from Auria? I can’t find Auria for sale in stores anywhere. And are Casanova and Auria the same thing or not?

Overall, Gigolo suits me better anyway, I love determinate tree-type bushes due to my own laziness.

I’m disappointed with this Gigolo. I fell for the description and reviews. The packet was full of crossed seeds (not true to type). Total waste of money.

Elizara wrote:
I’m disappointed with this Gigolo.

It’s probably not the variety’s fault, but rather a dishonest seed producer. It’s much more reliable to buy seeds from private collectors, plus regular forum members are always happy to share their proven and tested seeds.

I got exactly one true Gigolo plant out of it, and so far I’m not really impressed. But if it produces anything interesting, I’ll save seeds from it.

As for buying seeds, next year I’m planting seeds from Angelina. I ordered a lot of varieties. And from there on, I will just work with my own saved seed stock. I did buy a few packets from Siberian Garden (SibSad) recently, but I strictly bought heirloom varieties. Even if they turn out true to type, I still won’t buy from them again because I’ll just save my own seeds. Maybe only if some exotic new variety catches my eye, but again, I’ll go to collectors or here on the forum. Reading reviews about these commercial companies… it’s just one big scam. People praise “Semko”, but damn, their prices are through the roof.

I planted all three varieties (Gigolo, Happy Gnome, Firewood) – they are absolutely, 100% the exact same variety.

Auria, on the other hand, is an indeterminate, and its fruits are larger. This year I planted Ladies’ Man (Damskiy Ugodnik). Mine didn’t turn out like Auria. The fruits are pointy icicles. It looks more like Jersey Devil.

Auria is identical to the variety Zabava.

I planted 1 bush of Gigolo in 2019 outdoors. The beginning was very promising, but then it got hit hard by late blight :(. I didn’t even get to taste a single tomato from it. I probably won’t plant it again. I’ll give that garden space to other varieties.

My Gigolo got wiped out by late blight too. I had 2 bushes outdoors covered from the rain – that’s all that germinated out of 10 seeds from Biotechnica (I had the exact same germination issue with their Mazarin tomato and their pumpkin seeds).

Gigolo from Biotechnica. It was the ONLY one out of 9 varieties I planted that suffered from Blossom End Rot (I had to throw away about 40 percent of the crop). It’s useless for salads, the taste is bland. For canning, it’s just okay. Won’t plant again.

I also came across “Desyatochka” (Number Ten) from the Poisk seed company. I didn’t risk testing it, but visually it looks somewhat similar to Gigolo. Although the description lists it as an indet..

It looks like it was added to the State Register in 2018.