SIBERIAN TOMATOES

[dice]

I bought several packets from Seeds Trust last
year and planted them this year. They did all
tend to sprout, but the results in terms of what
kind of tomato grew from them were very
inconsistent.

One that was consistent was Aurora, and the
descriptions above are accurate. Mine are
still producing tomatoes with good flavor in
a rainy summer where a lot of other varieties
have washed-out flavor.

Galina: two real PL Galina plants, one RL yellow
cherry a little smaller and sweeter, and a
mystery dark-fruited, larger tomato that is
actually quite tasty. The real Galinas taste like
real tomatoes (excellent flavor).

Red Siberian: four different kinds, none of
them matching the description. One golf-ball
sized red from the lot tastes pretty good. (I
gave two of these to relatives, because the
plants looked so healthy, I am cringing in
advance at the results.)

Market Miracle: two very early, indeterminate
PL plants that produced hard, sweet, pointy
fruit a tiny bit bigger than a golf ball, and one
indeterminate with fruit that looks like
the cultivar description, although none
of the latter have ripened yet. (Supposed to be
65-day determinate.)

Odessa: two determinates consistent with
the description and one indeterminate
producing smaller fruit.

Ispolin: seems consistent with the description,
though no ripe fruit yet (weather uncooperative).

Sasha's Altai: all plants the same, not so early
as described, ripe fruit came in after Aurora.
Warning: they get soft before they look ripe,
and the plant stays fairly small. Good flavor,
although "the best tomato in Siberia" is perhaps
an exaggeration (no offense to Sasha; Galina
and Aurora simply both taste better to me).

Gregori's Altai: consistent plants, as described
(big, early, prolific fruit set even in bad
weather; flavor sweet, a little washed out
this year).

If you expect to get exactly what was described,
this vendor is not a good choice on average.

[missionrandy]

Have to say similiar results from Seed Trust in my garden last season!

Randy

[velikipop]

Andrey or anyone else,

Can you tell me anything about Sasha's Siberian? And is it the same as sasha's Atlai?

Alex

[tomatoguy]

Gregory's Altai isn't Siberian but it's close enough. Very early and tasty. Only drawback is that you need to pick them early if a big rain is coming. They split very easily.

mater

[velikipop]

Mater,

I've grown Grerori's, not sure if it is the same as Sasha's.

Alex

[dice]

I've grown Gregori's, not sure if it is the same as Sasha's.

They are quite different, although both are indeterminates
and set ripe fruit early. Sasha's produces 3-6 oz orange-red,
somewhat seedy, juicy fruit, not particularly sweet but with
a good balanced flavor, some uneven ripening. Quite a small
plant for an indeterminate, similar to Aurora in that respect.

Gregori's Altai is a larger plant, with good production of large
pink fruit, kind of rough and gnarled looking in rainy weather.
It had mild, sweet flavor, a bit bland in cold weather to my
palate. It was the first plant with fruit 12oz and up to ripen
for me in last year's "rained half the summer" weather.

[Andrey_BY]

Originally Posted by velikipop

Andrey or anyone else,

Can you tell me anything about Sasha's Siberian? And is it the same as sasha's Atlai?

Alex

Alex,

actually nobody heard about Sasha's Altai or Gregori's Altai here in former USSR countries. They were named in USA after people who sent them to Northern America (I hope that is true) or gave the seeds to Americans when they visited Russia in the past.
Probably we know them under other vareity names or/and these are two local varieties from Altai region (Western Siberia) of Russia not well-known outside this area...
Will try Gregori's Altai this year for the first time as well

[velikipop]

Andrey,

Thanks. Gregori's produced well for me but taste was bland. I will tray Sasha's this year.

Alex

[Andrey_BY]

Always welcome, Alex.

Are you interested in a new seed trade with me? Now I'm ready for this.

Have you a room for some more varieties from Easrern Europe?