Donskoi

b54red · July 1, 2010

Has anyone else had much experience with the heart variety called Donskoi? I am growing it for the first time this year and to me it is the best tasting of all the hearts I have tried; but it is rather stingy with production for me. I picked one off my second plant yesterday that wieghed in at 30.7 ounces; absolutely dwarfing every other tomato so far. The largest off my first plant, which only produced 3 fruits before fusarium got it, was 21 ounces. The tomatoes are huge and delicious but few and far between. I guess I'll keep growing it because of the flavor and the hope that one day I will have a plant that will pump out the tomatoes like Kosovo does.

**carolyn137** · July 1, 2010

My experience with Donskoi is that I've had the seeds for a couple of years but never grew it out b'c I had limited room for varieties already known and listed in the SSE YEarbook as Donskoi is, so had higher priorities in terms of new ones not known and not listed in the Yearbook.

Not what you expected but that's my experience with it.

Maybe next year, who knows.

geeboss · July 1, 2010

I grew 1 plant this year and had limited luck with it before having something hit my jungle and turned the leaves to a wilted mush in less than 24 hours. The one lone fruit was good and will try again next year.

George

b54red · July 1, 2010

Well worth trying. My second plant is much healtier than the first one so next year I will delay setting it out a little while. I am finding with this staggered planting a lot of varieties that really do much better when set out just a little latter and some that do better set out a good bit latter while many need to get in the ground as early as possible. I used to put every plant out at the same time and that was a huge mistake that I repeated for many years.

kygreg · July 1, 2010

I grew it last year, had 5 or 6 fruits in the pound range, good flavor.

Duh_Vinci · July 3, 2010

Growing it for the first time this year.

Fruit set - moderate, but the size!!! First one was over 1.5lbs, second one just over a pound. There are about 8 fruits on the lower trusses right now, some looks like close to 2lbs mark.

Meaty, juicy, few seeds, not nearly as much sweetness as many hearts, but more on the tart size and I'm almost incline to say "in your face" tomato taste. Really enjoying it! And I think they are quite beautiful in the cut (pink/red/orange streaks)

Regards,
D

b54red · July 3, 2010

Yeah, I like that stronger flavor that they have and the size is just freaky on those wispy vines.

Duh_Vinci · July 3, 2010

Yep, definitely much different from other hearts when it comes to the taste and sheer size of those fruits!

Regards,
D

bigbubbacain · July 3, 2010

Do you think the flavor compensates for the lack of production?

I have to admit that I've never considered this question before, but I'm about ready to start growing oxhearts for cooking purposes instead of paste types because I never had an oxheart suffer from blossom end rot. The very best picante I ever made was from last year. I waited until the very end of summer before making it, but I picked every last Linnie's Oxheart, Sarnowski's Polish Plum, and Monomakh's Hat. They all went straight to the freezer. The first two gave me limited production, but outstanding flavor.

I'm looking for third oxheart to add for next year. It would be well worth it if the flavor is that great.

Duh_Vinci · July 3, 2010

Bubba,

I'm hesitant to answer one way or another, because for cooking, I prefer when the plant has tendency to ripe multiple fruits at the same time (or day/two apart), so a single batch from 3-4 plants offer enough fruit to cook with (freezing as you said wouldn't make a difference I guess).

Donskoi (for me anyway) seem to give those 1Lbs+ fruits at 1-2 pieces at a week intervals. So no cooking with them for me, but when you slice 1.5Lbs fruit and 4 people at the table with a loaf of crusty bread, fresh from the bakery - this one is mighty tasty! So this one is back in the garden next year...

Regards,
D

b54red · July 4, 2010

Bubba go with Kosovo. It made a good number of fruits within days of each other and is much more prolific while tasting excellent. They also seem more disease tolerant than any of the other hearts I tried this year.
I cooked down a pot of them one day and was amazed at how little mass was lost in the cooking.

Duh_Vinci · July 15, 2010

Been away in training for work for a week, so nice to come home and walk through the garden.

Donskoi really is making me happy! All of the fruits are 16-32oz range, with the largest one topped the scale at 37oz

I'm pleased to notice that some sweetness is added into the fruit with all this heat, making the flavor more intense. Yellowish shoulders are gone with the later fruit too. Truly enjoying this variety!

Regards,
D

b54red · July 16, 2010

I definitely will be growing more plants next year. Even though it is a somewhat shy producer, if you measure production in pounds there are not that many varieties that can measure up to what this variety puts out and not too many that can top the taste.

cleo88 · July 20, 2010

So far Donskoi is my largest of my 20 varieties, with Earl's Faux coming in second. But it's also a bit more productive than average for me - I prune to 2 or 3 main stems so I am giving up production for air circulation and the ability to use 1 stake per plant. But everything being equal, Donskoi is producing more than the other plants around it.

Too early to harvest regular size tomatoes in Massachusetts, but I'll weigh in when I get a chance to eat one.

July 1, 2010	#1
b54red Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Alabama Posts: 7,068	Donskoi Has anyone else had much experience with the heart variety called Donskoi? I am growing it for the first time this year and to me it is the best tasting of all the hearts I have tried; but it is rather stingy with production for me. I picked one off my second plant yesterday that wieghed in at 30.7 ounces; absolutely dwarfing every other tomato so far. The largest off my first plant, which only produced 3 fruits before fusarium got it, was 21 ounces. The tomatoes are huge and delicious but few and far between. I guess I'll keep growing it because of the flavor and the hope that one day I will have a plant that will pump out the tomatoes like Kosovo does.

July 1, 2010	#2
carolyn137 Moderator Emeritus Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Upstate NY, zone 4b/5a Posts: 21,169	My experience with Donskoi is that I've had the seeds for a couple of years but never grew it out b'c I had limited room for varieties already known and listed in the SSE YEarbook as Donskoi is, so had higher priorities in terms of new ones not known and not listed in the Yearbook. Not what you expected but that's my experience with it. Maybe next year, who knows. __________________ Carolyn

July 1, 2010	#3
geeboss Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Fairfax, VA Z7 Posts: 524	I grew 1 plant this year and had limited luck with it before having something hit my jungle and turned the leaves to a wilted mush in less than 24 hours. The one lone fruit was good and will try again next year. George

July 1, 2010	#5
kygreg Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: kentucky Posts: 1,019	I grew it last year, had 5 or 6 fruits in the pound range, good flavor.

July 3, 2010	#6
Duh_Vinci Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Locust Grove, VA Posts: 292	Growing it for the first time this year. Fruit set - moderate, but the size!!! First one was over 1.5lbs, second one just over a pound. There are about 8 fruits on the lower trusses right now, some looks like close to 2lbs mark. Meaty, juicy, few seeds, not nearly as much sweetness as many hearts, but more on the tart size and I'm almost incline to say "in your face" tomato taste. Really enjoying it! And I think they are quite beautiful in the cut (pink/red/orange streaks) Regards, D

July 3, 2010	#9
bigbubbacain Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Zone 9 Texas, Fort Bend County Posts: 436	Do you think the flavor compensates for the lack of production? I have to admit that I've never considered this question before, but I'm about ready to start growing oxhearts for cooking purposes instead of paste types because I never had an oxheart suffer from blossom end rot. The very best picante I ever made was from last year. I waited until the very end of summer before making it, but I picked every last Linnie's Oxheart, Sarnowski's Polish Plum, and Monomakh's Hat. They all went straight to the freezer. The first two gave me limited production, but outstanding flavor. I'm looking for third oxheart to add for next year. It would be well worth it if the flavor is that great.

July 4, 2010	#11
b54red Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Alabama Posts: 7,068	Bubba go with Kosovo. It made a good number of fruits within days of each other and is much more prolific while tasting excellent. They also seem more disease tolerant than any of the other hearts I tried this year. I cooked down a pot of them one day and was amazed at how little mass was lost in the cooking.

July 15, 2010	#12
Duh_Vinci Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Locust Grove, VA Posts: 292	Been away in training for work for a week, so nice to come home and walk through the garden. Donskoi really is making me happy! All of the fruits are 16-32oz range, with the largest one topped the scale at 37oz I'm pleased to notice that some sweetness is added into the fruit with all this heat, making the flavor more intense. Yellowish shoulders are gone with the later fruit too. Truly enjoying this variety! Regards, D

July 16, 2010	#13
b54red Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Alabama Posts: 7,068	I definitely will be growing more plants next year. Even though it is a somewhat shy producer, if you measure production in pounds there are not that many varieties that can measure up to what this variety puts out and not too many that can top the taste.

July 20, 2010	#14
cleo88 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Sharon, MA Zone 6 Posts: 225	So far Donskoi is my largest of my 20 varieties, with Earl's Faux coming in second. But it's also a bit more productive than average for me - I prune to 2 or 3 main stems so I am giving up production for air circulation and the ability to use 1 stake per plant. But everything being equal, Donskoi is producing more than the other plants around it. Too early to harvest regular size tomatoes in Massachusetts, but I'll weigh in when I get a chance to eat one.