There is an opinion that the most delicious tomatoes are heart-shaped. Once upon a time there was only one such variety - Bull's Heart, but now there are a great many heart-shaped varieties, and one of them is the Danko tomato. The variety is so popular that its seeds are packaged and sold by various agricultural companies throughout Russia and the neighboring countries. In stores you can buy Danko from Aelita, Agros, Siberian Garden, Seeds of Altai. Under the name “Heart-shaped” (Danko) it is offered by the company “Elite-garden”, “Heart of Danko” is produced by “Golden Sotka of Altai”.
Name from legend
For those who still remember the Soviet school curriculum for literature, the words “Danko” and “heart” are in the same row, closely welded together. The legendary hero of Maxim Gorky named Danko with a flaming heart in his hands comes to mind. It was in his honor that Siberian breeders named their variety. In 2000, the Danko tomato received a state patent and was registered in the State Register of Breeding Achievements.
Tomatoes of this variety really have a classic heart-shaped shape. The fruits are round at the top, then taper down to a cone. The surface can be smooth or slightly ribbed. Similar tomatoes of different sizes form many modern varieties, but the Danko tomato is special. The variety stands out among others due to its compactness of the bush, ability to adapt to different climates and all types of weather. Productivity is high every year in any region of the country.
Heart-shaped fruits
The Danko tomato is not a hybrid. You can easily get your own seeds by saving typical tomatoes from the most generous bushes.
Bright color
When fully ripe, the fruits acquire a rich blood-red color. Unripe tomatoes of the Danko variety have a dark green spot near the stalk, which completely disappears when ripe.
In the conditions of the Middle Zone, in Siberia, in the Urals, in the open air, from a third to half of the crop turns red on the vine. The rest of the tomatoes ripen well in storage. Greenhouse conditions allow you to remove all the fruits that are red or brown.
Salad pulp
The most important quality of Danko tomatoes is the excellent taste of the fleshy fruit. Under the thin skin lies a sugary pulp with a small amount of seeds. The consistency is moderately juicy, but not liquid.Tasting score: 10 points out of 10 possible.
Solid size
The description of the variety as large-fruited is fully justified: the weight of one tomato in the first bunch can reach 0.5 kg. Even the ovaries in the uppermost racemes do not grow less than one hundred grams. On average, tomatoes are stretched by 170 - 300 g. Each bush is capable of carrying 2 – 3 dozen full-sized “hearts”.
Significant return
The minimum yield of the variety is 4 kg per square meter. This number is only valid for open ground in the northern regions. The potential is much higher: it all depends on the growing conditions. You can remove 4–5 kg from a bush, and this is not the limit either. Greenhouse conditions and competent agricultural technology make it possible to obtain 6–7 kg of fruit from one plant.
The Danko variety tomato has one amazing property - a clear contrast between the crop load and the size of the plant. The bushes look delicate, even frail, the foliage is rather weak, and against this background there is a record weight of fruits.
Features of growth and development
Characterizing a variety as determinate means that the height of the bush is not too high. In open ground conditions, the plant grows only half a meter, sometimes a little higher - 70 - 80 centimeters.
After this, the bush stops growing on its own, forming a flower cluster at the top instead of a growth point. This makes the vegetable grower’s work easier: there is no need to top up in August.
In greenhouses, the Danko tomato behaves as a semi-determinate plant. The bush is capable of growing to a height of 150 – 180 cm. Such dimensions are achieved using a special technique. When the main stem forms a flower cluster instead of a growth point (tops), it is replaced by an upper stepson, which continues to grow upward.
The Danko variety belongs to the mid-season category. The fruits begin to ripen 110–120 days after the appearance of mass shoots. The yield of the crop is long-lasting, especially in closed ground. But even in street beds, tomatoes bear fruit for quite a long time: the hardened “Siberian character” shows itself. It is noteworthy that the variety exhibits good resistance to fungal infections, especially in open ground.
Plants are extremely unpretentious. It is no coincidence that Danko successfully bears fruit in different regions of the country, in any type of soil.
Tomatoes stubbornly continue to set even in bad weather conditions. The returns are stable from year to year. Danko is considered one of the most reliable varieties.
Subtleties of agricultural technology
The Danko tomato is one of those varieties that any gardener will like. A lazy or too busy summer resident will get vegetables with a minimum of effort. An experienced and diligent vegetable grower will reveal the potential inherent in the variety and will be satisfied with the maximum output.
Peculiarities:
- Young seedlings grow frail and tend to stretch. During the seedling period, they need increased care and attention: moderate heat, good lighting, dosed feeding.
- The optimal age of seedlings when transferred to a greenhouse or soil is 55 days (plus or minus a week). Planting overgrown or undergrown seedlings leads to a significant crop shortage.
- You can place bushes in open ground quite densely, 6–8 pieces per square meter. Plants are not prone to thickening and have little foliage. In a greenhouse it is enough to plant 4 pieces per square meter.
- Pinching is the most important operation when growing Danko tomatoes. Side shoots grow very quickly and actively, so plants have to be pruned often.The bushes grow strictly into one or two stems. Thickening leads to a serious shortage of yield and underweight of fruits.
- Another important technique when working specifically with the Danko variety is normalization of the ovaries. The tassels sometimes grow excessively long, and some flowers are ugly or weak. It is recommended to leave four neat flowers in each brush, mercilessly plucking out the double and small ones. The work will not take much time, but will improve the quality of the fruit.
- The keeping quality of tomatoes is not too high. Delicious fruits need to be put to use quickly - for fresh salads and winter preparations.
Danko tomatoes are not very suitable for whole-fruit pickling - they are too large, but for pickling in barrels according to old recipes they are ideal. They also make the most delicious ketchups and juices.
A favorite variety of many gardeners
Reviews from amateur vegetable growers about the Danko variety come from different regions of the country. Everywhere the Siberian variety was welcomed.
Irina Merzlyakova, Omsk: “I’ve been planting Danko’s Heart tomatoes for more than ten years, producing my seeds from the best tomatoes. This variety has never let me down. I don't have a greenhouse. I put up arcs and cover the seedlings first. Then I remove the covering material, and the bushes stand in the open air all summer. I change the place every year, and I’ve never seen late blight.”
Vera Alekseenko, Ryazan: “This year I planted a Danko tomato for the first time. I regret that I didn’t know about this variety earlier. I have never had so much harvest. But the most important thing is the taste. The whole family ate fresh salads every day.”
Danko variety tomatoes are grown not only in Russia - they are valued in Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, and Northern Kazakhstan. Such “hearts” will appeal to all lovers of this wonderful vegetable.
