Is Katja RL or PL

[kygreg]

Has anyone grown this variety? if so what is your opinion? I have looked at info at SASE and Distributive Seeds. Does not say if its PL or RL.

[DanishGardener]

Is it the one from Søren Holt in Denmark?
He got it from his aunt in Sludjanka (Siberia).
I am pretty sure it's RL, but I have his e-mail and i can ask him I you want

[kygreg]

Thanks that would be a help. I thinks its RL also but I had one come up PL; maybe just an errant seed but I may grow it anyway to see what come out.

[carolyn137]

The one person who lists it in the 2010 SSE YEarbook says, det, 65 days, RL, small to med red fruits.

http://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/Katja

... and Tania at her data base gives the history and if you click on the Katja facts at the bottom it's RL.

Tania says pink fruited and the SSE lister says red, so just see what you get. But since Tania has those Siberian connections I think I'd opt for pink. And note she says it could well be a commercial variety.

[DanishGardener]

Kygreg: I have just e-mailed Søren, so hopefully i can give you an answer soon.

Here is Søren's own description of it (translated from danish):

"Rosa beefsteak. Determinante growth. It is a variety that I have been sent from my family in Siberia. It comes from aunt Katja, who has a Datcha (summerhouse) in Sludjanka on the shores of Lake Baikal. It's origin is unknown, but it is probably a Soviet commercial variety she has maintained, it can also be her own spontaneous-variety from a mutation or crossover. In that part of Siberia, they experience that the tomatoes crosses quite a bit.
They plant them out in the open, and stake them to a approx. 80 cm. stick.
It thrives well outside the greenhouse, and ripen just as early as in the greenhouse. However, the taste is far better when it grows in a greenhouse. They are sweet and juicy. The only drawback is that it can be finished before the season is over, so it must be supplemented by later varieties. It is a tomato I can strongly recommend.
If I had to grow only one variety, it would be this one."

[fortyonenorth]

Bump...

Kygreg - any feedback on Katja from last year? I just picked my first two fruit (80 days). 12.5 and 13 oz. pink beauties. The DTM and size are making me second guess whether I got the "right" Katja.

[kygreg]

Originally Posted by fortyonenorth

Bump...

Kygreg - any feedback on Katja from last year? I just picked my first two fruit (80 days). 12.5 and 13 oz. pink beauties. The DTM and size are making me second guess whether I got the "right" Katja.

The size sounds right. My frist ones were about 65 days; some flattened beefsteak. some irregular shaped. The flavor was ok but not wow. An if I remember correctly they soften quickly, but some of that may be weather related. It was not prolific at all and did not bear fruit thru August.

[fortyonenorth]

Good to know. I'll report back later. Slim pickens right now, so any beefsteak is welcome. We have a storm moving through tonight, so I picked at breaker stage and will need to wait a few days for them to ripen.