Heirloom Tomato Varieties & Reviews | Tomat-Pomidor
Honest reviews of global tomato varieties from a 15-year-old growers community.
Admin 
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Iskry Plameni (Sparks of Flame) 🌍 Origin: An Eastern European heirloom variety. The name translates beautifully to “Sparks of Flame”, which perfectly describes its striking red and yellow striped appearance. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall), but generally has a compact footprint with slender vines. Grows to about 5 feet (1.5 m) … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Inzhirnye (Fig) 🌍 Origin: A popular Russian heirloom variety. The name “Inzhirnye” translates to “Fig” or “Fig-shaped”. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall). Sturdy vines that typically reach about 4.5 feet (1.4 m). Highly productive and sets fruit reliably even in less-than-ideal weather. 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Stunning pink, deeply ribbed (pleated) beefsteaks. … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Iyunskiy (June) 🌍 Origin: A legendary ultra-early Russian community heirloom. Note: There is a commercial variety sold by Sedek with the same name, but this thread specifically documents the famous “Forum Iyunskiy” circulated by the grower Sweet from St. Petersburg. 🌿 Plant Habit: Ultra-early dwarf (determinate). A stout, sturdy, compact little … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Indische Fleisch 🌍 Origin: An old heirloom variety. The name translates from German as “Indian Meat”. Despite the German name, its deeper origins trace back to India. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indet. Can be kept relatively compact or grown out to 6.5 feet (2 m) depending on conditions. Highly productive. Can be … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Izumrudnoe Yabloko (Emerald Apple) 🌍 Origin: A classic commercial green-when-ripe (GWR) variety dating back to the Soviet era. Released by multiple Russian seed companies over the years. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indet. Mid-height. Highly adaptable, performs well in both greenhouses and outdoors in the dirt. It is known for pushing megablooms and … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Inzhir Rozoviy (Pink Fig) 🌍 Origin: A commercial Russian variety released by the seed company Gavrish. It is part of their popular “Fig” series, which also includes Inzhir Krasniy (Red Fig) and Inzhir Zheltyy (Yellow Fig). The red version is widely considered to be a renaming of the Italian heirloom Abruzzo. … Read more
📌 Quick Diary Summary: Greenhouse Melons 🍈 The Center Bed Success: Planting melons on the wide center bed of a greenhouse is a fantastic strategy. It gives the massive root systems room to spread, and it’s the warmest spot in the greenhouse. Using black plastic mulch over the soil helps heat the roots even more. … Read more
Will Unripe Fallen Melons Ripen Off the Vine and How to Save Them 📌 Quick Summary: Dropped Unripe Melons 🍈 The Ripening Rule: Gardeners in cold climates (like Zone 4 or Siberia) often deal with heavy green melons snapping off the vine before the end of the short season. But unlike green tomatoes, melons … Read more
📌 Quick Summary: Thinning Pumpkins 🎃 Natural Fruit Abortion: You rarely need to thin (pick off) baby pumpkins. Winter squash vines are incredibly smart. If the plant lacks the water, nutrients, or time to support a new baby pumpkin, it will naturally turn yellow, shrivel up, and fall off on its own. ✂️ Pinch the … Read more
📌 Quick Diary Summary: The Leaf Mold Mystery 🍄 The Cladosporium Puzzle: Leaf Mold (Cladosporium) often infects tomatoes early in the spring when seedlings are trapped under plastic covers with high humidity. But sometimes, it mysteriously skips a season. 💨 Elevation and Condensation: A major factor in avoiding fungal diseases is the location of the … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): L’Espagnol Lefebvres (Lefebvre’s Spanish) 🌍 Origin: Originally an heirloom from Spain, likely introduced to the broader seed saver community through France or Quebec given the French name. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indet. Mid-season. A tall but slender plant that sets fruit very reliably even in cold, wet summers. Needs adequate potassium to … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Ildi 🌍 Origin: A widely known European commercial heirloom. It is famous for carrying the multiflora gene, which causes it to produce massive, complex flower clusters instead of standard tomato trusses. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indet. Seedlings can be deceptive, as they grow very slowly and look like compact dwarfs early on. … Read more