Red Russian Tomato

Solanum lycopersicum

A robust Russian heirloom carrying medium-sized round fruit that ripen to a deep, uniform red throughout — no shoulders, no mottling, just clean colour from skin to core. The flavour is classic tomato: rich, well-balanced between sweet and acid, and full enough to hold its own in a sandwich or a sauce. Vigorous vines to around 1.5m, cropping heavily through the warm months. A dependable pick for gardens that want a traditional red slicing tomato without the fussiness some heirlooms bring. Indeterminate (climbing) variety — requires sturdy staking or caging.

Days to harvest Around 77 days from transplant
Fruit size Medium round fruit
Sowing depth 6mm
Germination 7–14 days at soil temperature 18–28°C
Spacing 40–60cm between plants, rows 90cm apart
Aspect Full sun; fertile, well-drained soil at pH 5.8–7.0
Frost tolerance Sensitive to frost; plant out only once frosts have finished

Growing notes

A warm, sheltered position in the garden or tunnel suits it best. Red Russian is a straightforward grower that rewards steady care through the season.

Soil preparation: Deeply worked beds with well-rotted compost and a balanced feed high in phosphorus.

Support: Vines reach around 1.5m and grow heavy with fruit — stake, cage, or train up a string trellis from planting out.

Containers: Suits a large pot of 40L or more with sturdy support; keep water and feed consistent, as pots dry out faster than beds.

Watering & feeding: Deep, consistent watering at the base. Overhead watering invites disease. Side-dress with a potassium-rich feed once flowering starts.

Harvest: Pick when fully coloured and slightly yielding to gentle pressure. Ripe fruit holds well on the vine for several days without splitting, so a slight delay only concentrates the sweetness. When transplanting seedlings, remove the seed leaves and plant deeper to the first true leaves — this increases the root run and speeds maturity.

Timing: First ripe fruit around 77 days from transplant.

Key features

  • Deep red medium-sized round fruit
  • Rich, balanced classic tomato flavour
  • Vigorous, heavy-cropping vine
  • Robust Russian heirloom — bred for cool-summer resilience
  • Dependable and straightforward — no fussy handling required
  • Even ripening from skin to core

Short season tips


Sow 6–8 weeks before your last frost. Grow on under cover until night temperatures sit reliably above 12–14°C. In Coonabarabran and similar inland zones, plant out from mid-October. A hoop tunnel or cloche buys earlier plantings. As a Russian-origin variety, Red Russian handles cool-summer nights better than most heat-loving heirlooms — a reasonable choice for shorter inland seasons.

  • Spring
  • Summer

Tender perennial — almost always grown as an annual in Australia

  • Basil, chives, parsley, marigold, carrots
  • Other nightshades (potatoes, eggplant, capsicum), brassicas, fennel, corn


A Russian heirloom slicing tomato from the deep tradition of home-garden tomatoes kept alive through the Soviet years and after — a body of varieties selected over generations for reliability in short cool summers and often preserved by small growers rather than commercial seed houses. Reached the Western heirloom trade through the seed-saver networks that opened up between Russia and the West from the 1990s onwards, and has stayed in circulation for its straightforward productivity and honest flavour.