Stupice is earlier than Rutgers. Rutgers has more flavor and is larger fruit than Stupice. Either will do fine in your area IMO.

Dave

Personally, I prefer Stupice for it's earliness, but if you are looking for more pounds of production, Rutgers should be the one.

I have grown Rutger in the past. I don't know which strain was it. I remember it was productive with good size fruits ( ~ 5 oz). I would recommend it. This year I had one Stupice. For me it was not that early and fruits were small, slightly bigger than average cherry. But when you cut it, it looks like mini beefsteak. Another thing about it was that fruit size were inconsistent.
I am not growing it again.

I never grew Rutgers, so I donâÂÂt know, but I can tell you my experience with Stupice this year. I decided to try Stupice after reading MANY favorable reviews.

They were VERY late - many mid-season and even some late-season tomatoes were earlier than Stupice and all the other 5 early tomatoes varieties that I grew.

The FIRST riped Stupice tomato I picked up on September 1. For me, itâÂÂs unacceptable. Almost double the âÂÂofficialâ DTM.

Like seysonn, I will NOT grow Stupice next year.

This post was edited by Daniel_NY on Wed, Oct 29, 14 at 15:00

Daniel and Seysonn, I have been growing Stupice here in northern Minnesota for many years, and it has always been my earliest to ripen, plants put in at the end of May will produce by mid July given decent summer weather. The tomatoes though small are way bigger than cherry size. Here is a shot taken of my Stupice and Moravsky Div, which to me were virtually the same.

Some other early for me compared;

Some variation is to be expected growing in different zones and microclimates and seasonal variations due to weather, but from what you describe as cherry sized, I suspect you need to try a different seed source.

That said, I do not suggest growing it as a main crop tomato, Rutgers would be more productive in the long run.

I have planned 9 spaces in my raised bed for tomatoes next year:
1 sungold
1 black cherry
2 Paul Robeson
2 Cherokee purple
2 black krim
And I was going to try a Brandywine, which I have never tried... but have changed my mind.
I think I will go for the Rutgers. I feel like I have a gap in the traditional round red varieties.

Thanks for the replies by the way.

I have some Stupice ripening right now.

The size is similar to a Red Cherry tomato (the red one in the picture bellow.)

This year I bought Stupice seeds from two companies. The fruits from the other company were slightly bigger than the ones in the picture bellow.

This post was edited by Daniel_NY on Wed, Oct 29, 14 at 15:20

I would be willing to bet that is not a Stupice Daniel. Not only is it one of the earliest varieties, the size, shape and dark green shoulders are all wrong IME plus Stupice is a potato leaf variety.

Dave

I have read right here (GW) that there are about 3 strains/versions of Stupice. For example mine are lobed (like ddsak showed in 1st pic).

So, bellow is a picture of my Stupice.

IMO, it looks pretty similar to the Stupice in these links:

Tatiana ( {{gwi:1394858}}, {{gwi:1394859}}, {{gwi:1394861}} )

Based on both the late ripening and the size, I'd question the validity of Daniel's seed source. Here in the PNW with an extremely challenging tomato growing climate, Stupice is consistently one of the earliest producers.......if planted out in May, the first harvest is in early July. And the size is pretty uniform at around 2" which is double to triple the size of most cherries.

Taste can be a little ordinary depending on the amount of heat we get but early harvest and decent "saladette" size is standard for this variety.

You are right, Daniel.
But mine are not quite round but slightly lobed as seen in this picture from internet (plant-world seeds dot com). Some have even more pronounced lobes.

Stupice Siberian. [ Source: Echo Bend.]

Not for nothing but just a FYI: But since reading the link below this last year and ordering Ramapo seeds from Rutgers U., they are trying to bring the original Rutgers Tomato back. I think they found seeds from the 50's after reading, but I recommend reading the link below. that I posted to Rutgers site. I am hoping they come out soon, they said could be in a few years.

Here is a link that might be useful: Search for orginal Rutgers

Daniel, your picture is not consistent with Stupice. I've grown it off and on since 1988 when I got seed from Seeds of Change. The one consistent trait of the true Stupice is a slight apple shape of about half of the fruit. The picture you posted has other minor inconsistencies in plant shape as well as the description of taking @100 days to mature. I won't suggest growing it again because IMO, there are better early varieties available, but if you choose to do so, please locate seed from a different source.

Stupice should have green shoulders, but it has a trait to turn slightly yellow on the shoulders as it matures from exposure to sunlight. This "yellow shoulder" trait does not show up in more northern areas, but is distinctive here in the deep south. Stupice tends to be a sprawling plant that lets plenty of sunshine through the leaf canopy. It tends to be very productive, typically producing 50 to 100 fruits per plant even in short season areas.

Bloody Butcher - Better overall flavor while still 55 days to maturity
Gregori's Altai - Larger fruit size and maturity in 65 days with excellent flavor.
Sasha's Altai - Larger fruit size, excellent flavor, and 65 days maturity
Sub Arctic Plenty - Larger fruit, about 60 days maturity, highly stress tolerant, highly productive, but IMO, flavor is a bit less than I like.
Krainiy Sever - Ultra compact plant at about 2.5 feet high, heavy production of 4 to 6 ounce fruit with good flavor.

I live in Chicago suburb and have grown Stupice on and off, decent variety. As Fusion says, there are better varieties IMHO as well.
Next year I will be trying 0-33 and Krainiy Sever from Tatiana tomatowebsite.
I have grown Gregori's Altai and Sasha's Altai and would grow them ahead of Stupice. But everyone's taste and garden is different. Grow one or two and see what works for you in your garden with your soil etc.
It is really different for even two neighbors gardens IMO.

Here is a link that might be useful: 0-33

another one to look if you like bit more acidic ones is Gruntowy, fruit from seed 95-100 days. Takes cold and weather changes as a champ

Here is a link that might be useful: Gruntowy

Forgot to mention Beliy Naliv, has been around and offered by several companies. I do love it. At about 65 days here is Chicago

Here is a link that might be useful: Beliy Naliv

Well, according to some of you, what I have is NOT Stupice.

ItâÂÂs HIGHLY unlikely that I made a mistake when planting.

I consider myself a VERY organized person.

But, I had in my garden purple and yellow tomatoes that I never planted.

I mean - technically - I did, but those varieties were not what I ordered.

Btw, both the purple and the yellow tomatoes were VERY tasty. I was never a fan of colored tomatoes. Now... I AM !

Now, as you can read above in a previous message, I posted a few links with pictures of Stupice from different seeds companies. The Stupice in those pictures look pretty similar to my Stupice. Please take a look.

Maybe there are different types of Stupice, I mean different shapes, different sizes, different DTMsâ¦

fusion_power and lindalana, thank you for your recommendations - very useful info.

Another strange thing that happened with my Stupice: it has grown full size and took 3 (THREE !) weeks to get red. Meantime, most of its "neibors" - medium / late season - were ripening nicely. Some (large) varieties took 3-4 DAYS (from full size green to red.)

This post was edited by Daniel_NY on Fri, Oct 31, 14 at 10:25

Daniel wrote:
Maybe there are different types of Stupice, I mean different shapes, different sizes, different DTMsâ¦

%%%%%%%%%%%%

I believe so.
Here a picture of what I got . I just picked them yesterday.
As you can see they are not round but lobed. Though you can find a round one now and then. The ones in this picture are about 1 oz. But I have harvested many smaller than half an oz.
Goodbye Stupice !

You folks sure get hung-up on something very simple. There are different subtypes of Stupice. I have grown them every year for many years. Different seed companies have different subtypes. I have never seen any yellow, green or any color "shoulders". As Stupice is the only tomato in my major garden it is unlikely I am confused. The shape seems to vary between round, oval and the lobular types several of you kind folks spoke of above. Flavor is beautiful (in my opinion) but I have done something unusual. I add Azomite or ground glacial rock dust, plus (beneficial fungi, starter fertilizer) and a season very slow release fertilizer known to my neighbors as "Mom's Chicken Soup".

Azomite claims to have 60+ micro minerals that add the flavor to the soil in my opinion. Weather coupled with the amendments makes my vegetables very popular. The garden is grown for those in need due to illness or injury. As a retired medical professional, I have read over and over as to the link between a micro minerals and disease. The latest being bladder cancer and lower values of Selenium. My organic garden is the best I can offer to these people I serve. I invite you to grow a little extra for those in need. Who really cares about size or shape? or subvariant? It is what joy it brings and the good it does for mind, body and soul. Good Gardening!

Yeah, somehow the subject got into Stupice shape and Rutgers was all forgotten. hehe

This season I am NOT growing Stupice anymore and I won't in the future.

But I am growing Rutgers. What I've got is a vigorous indet strain. It has just a few fruits and they are too late. I am going to ZAP it. I could plant a compact DET in its place and get a lot more fruits.

OH!! I have to update my ZAP list.

Sey

Good Luck my friend. I wouldn't want to get Zap...augh! No Mr. Bill....!!

Yeah. We make choices what to grow and what NOT to grow (anymore).

Talking about ZAP, today I will pull and compost a couple of them even before the end of season.

Sey

I am growing Rutgers this year and it too is late. However, I am giving it a chance because it is growing in the middle row, in between cherry tomatoes on the west side and dwarf tomatoes on the east. It is loaded with green tomatoes, so I hope that I won't have to wait too long for a ripe Rutgers.

I have grown Stupice before and been happy that it was early and tasted good. However, I stopped growing it when it succumbed to disease (bacterial wilt) early in the season on two occasions. It might not have been the fault of Stupice, but rather the soil in which it grew, but there were other varieties to try.......

Linda