Many vegetables of Siberian selection have a special character. Pink Stella is an amazing tomato, it combines several advantages, with virtually no disadvantages. The amateur vegetable grower who has planted this variety at least once appreciates the high yield and unpretentiousness. Summer residents include the Pink Stella tomato in their “top list” for annual cultivation.
Selection star
The Pink Stella tomato was bred by famous Novosibirsk breeders - T. N. Postnikova and V. N. Dederko.A creative team of like-minded scientists has created many popular modern tomato varieties, but Pink Stella has become one of the best. At first, the authors gave this tomato the name Super Pepper, and the tomato immediately earned the love of gardeners. For several years, the agricultural company Siberian Garden sold the variety under this name.
When the tomato successfully passed state tests, it was time to get a patent for it and include it in the State Seed Register. The word “super-shaped” was considered too long and awkward. I had to change the name to “Pink Stella”. In 2006, the variety received a patent as an outstanding breeding achievement, and in 2007 it was included in the State Register. By the way, there it appears as a “Pink Stela” tomato with one “l”.
In general, stele and stella are different words. Stela is a monument in the form of a high pillar, Stella is a female name, translated from Latin as “star”. Bearing in mind the elongated shape of the fruits of the tomato variety we are interested in, it is perhaps more appropriate to talk specifically about the “stele”. But, contrary to the State Register, the name “Stella” took root and became popular among the people.
Pink stella (star) is a beautiful, sonorous name, surprisingly suitable for such a magnificent variety of tomatoes.
The agricultural company "Siberian Garden" offers original seeds called "Pink Stella". Many amateur gardeners do not know about the renaming and continue to look in stores for the Super Pepper tomato variety from the Siberian Garden company, which is now produced as Pink Stella. Some seed companies sell Stella rosea tomatoes.
Varietal features
Detailed characteristics and descriptions of the variety reveal a whole range of its remarkable advantages. They appear not only on Siberian soil. This is the largest of the early tomatoes and the earliest of the large.
Bush
Plants bear fruit well in open-air garden beds. They can be planted in greenhouses as a low compactor. The variety is extremely unpretentious and can be grown in any weather. Not too picky about agricultural technology. May suffer from late blight.
The leaves are large, dark green, and sit on thick, short petioles. The powerful leaf apparatus ensures excellent photosynthesis and works excellently for the harvest.
The tomato stem grows about half a meter in height. At the beginning of the growing season it is of a standard type, thick, stocky, erect, compressed, extremely compact, then it becomes a little spreading. Thanks to its determinacy, this tomato stops growing on its own after setting several trusses. Early pinching (before the first cluster) accelerates ripening and increases yield. No further shaping is required.
Fruiting
Tomato ripening time is mid-early.
The clusters begin to form quite early - after the rapid growth of 7 - 8 leaves. Further, the ovaries are located often, through the leaf, which ensures excellent yield. Each brush successfully produces 3 – 5 or even 7 tomatoes. The ovaries quickly increase in size.
The weight of the fruits of Pink Stella averages 130 - 150 grams. In the first brush they are much larger - 250 - 350 grams each (record even 400 - 500). On the upper clusters, the tomatoes in shape and size resemble the fruits of the Fighter (Buyan red) variety with a weight of 70 - 90 grams.
The shape of tomatoes is elongated and pepper-shaped, narrowed downward, often slightly pointed. The first, largest fruits are kidney-shaped or heart-shaped, slightly flattened on the sides.
The color is uniform, without a green spot on the stalk.The color is very beautiful, appetizing - light crimson or deep pink. The skin is not too tough. The flesh is pink, has medium density - moderately fleshy, moderately juicy. There are very few seeds and they are small. The taste of tomatoes is excellent - dessert, sweetish.
The yield of the variety is stable over the years. Pink stella bears fruit well in any summer, despite natural disasters. Tomato clusters set successfully and grow quickly in a variety of weather conditions. The minimum return per square meter is 7 kilograms. It’s realistic to get one and a half times more.
Purpose
Pink Stella is the most unpretentious of the sweet salad varieties. The tomato is ideal for consumption in its natural form in fresh vegetable salads. The only drawback of the variety (inherent, however, in all delicious salad varieties) is the low shelf life of ripe fruits. Green tomatoes ripen well, but they are not stored ripe for long.
In terms of size and shape, Pink Stella tomatoes from the top clusters are quite suitable for pickling and pickling. True, due to the thin skin and delicate consistency of the pulp, the fruits often burst when heated. Canning will be the most successful tomato pieces in gelatin - this is just for meaty varieties. The thick juice is tasty and sweet: if you have a large harvest, you cannot let it spoil. You can make “horseradish” (“horloder”) or cook ketchup or tomato paste.
Details of agricultural technology
No matter how unpretentious the variety may be, the tomato fully reveals its potential only with good care. Pink Stella, being large-fruited, is very responsive to many agricultural practices.
Seedling period
In the description of the Pink Stella tomatoes, it is necessary to mention a valuable feature: the tomatoes are extremely compact in seedlings. The plants tolerate shading well and grow normally even on the northern and western windows of city apartments. Young seedlings of the varieties Boets (Buyan) red and Buyan yellow behave in a similar way. The stems are stocky, with close internodes, and wide foliage. Only Pink Stella has larger, slightly curly leaves.
The tops of the seedlings stretch out a little and become thinner only when they become very thick, so you should not be late with picking. It is carried out after the growth of one or two true leaves. Extreme heat can also trigger abnormal growth. There is no need to overfeed the seedlings; you can do without fertilizing altogether.
A common mistake made by beginning gardeners is sowing Pink Stella seeds too early. In the case of this variety, overgrown seedlings are much worse than undergrown ones. The age of plants when transferred to soil should not exceed 50 days. Thus, the seeds must be sown two months before planting. If you first place the plants under shelters, then the approximate planting date in the conditions of the Middle Zone and Siberia is mid or late May. This means that sowing takes place on March 15–20.
When planting directly in open ground (June 10 - 20), they are sown even later - in mid-April.
In the ground
Two circumstances play a decisive role in caring for the Pink Stella variety. It must be remembered that this is a determinate and large-fruited variety:
- On one square meter of beds place 4 - 5 bushes.
- Staking the plants is mandatory, otherwise the tomatoes will die or break under the weight of the heavy fruits. There is no need to tie each brush, it is quite strong.
- It is highly advisable to carry out the stepson below the first brush. This will speed up fruit filling and ripening, increase the size of the tomatoes and the overall yield. Remove excess shoots that emerge from the ground, and all lateral branches growing from the leaf axils below the first ovary.
- It is not necessary to plant steps above the first brush.
- There is no need for topping (removing the growing point) in August. The bushes themselves complete their growth.
- Feeding and watering of tomatoes is carried out as usual.
- It is important to observe crop rotation and take protective measures against late blight.
Pink Stella is not a hybrid, but a variety, so you can save the fruits from the best bushes for seeds. To do this, it is recommended to choose healthy tomatoes with typical varietal characteristics, preferably from the second bunch.
Experience of amateur vegetable growers
Good reviews from different parts of the country speak of the exceptional ecological plasticity of the Siberian variety.
Markina Olga (Myski, Kemerovo region): “For me, Pink Stella is the number one tomato. I've been planting them for several years now. I noticed only one drawback: they don’t last long. But the tomatoes are so tasty that we eat them quickly, because we have a big family.”
Vershinin Yu. P. (Vershinino village, Tomsk region): “Our place is cold, there is taiga all around. Not all tomatoes are successful. I tried many varieties and ordered them from all over the country. Only the earliest ripening varieties turned red on the vine, but I didn’t like their taste. And the Pink Stella conquered in the first year. I bought the seeds of this tomato in a store and was tempted by the description. It turned out that the truth was written on the pack, and this is very rare these days. It rained in July, but this did not interfere with the harvest.”
The Gurevich family (Chekhov, Moscow region): “We recently moved to the Moscow region from Siberia and brought with us the seeds of our favorite pink tomatoes.Pink Stella is a tomato that will probably bear fruit anywhere.”
Yulia Andreevna Goncharenko (Chelyabinsk): “At first, the neighbors grew Pink Stella. I was interested in our Ural varieties. But in the cold summer they let me down, and the neighbors’ tomatoes turned out to be great. I bought a Pink Stella tomato from them for seeds and for three years now I’ve been collecting so much that I have enough for myself and for sale.”
Many gardeners note that it is profitable to grow Pink Stella for the tomato seedling trade. Stocky, abundantly flowering bushes are being bought up very readily.
