Heirloom Tomato Varieties & Reviews | Tomat-Pomidor
Honest reviews of global tomato varieties from a 15-year-old growers community.
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📌 Quick Summary: Tante Gretels Magische Hüte – Aunt Gretel’s Magic Hats 🌍 Origin: A stunning heirloom variety with a German name, translating to “Aunt Gretel’s Magic Hats.” 🌱 Plant Habit: A tall, indeterminate vine that requires staking. It is a very reliable producer with a long fruiting window. It sets fruit exceptionally well, even … Read more
📌 Quick Summary: Buttermilk Falls 🌱 Plant Habit: A vigorous, tall-growing indeterminate vine that can easily reach 6.5 ft (2.0 meters) in height. 🍅 Fruit & Yield: Produces massive beefsteak tomatoes weighing 10 to 18 oz (300 – 500g), which uniquely grow in large clusters. Highly productive. 🎨 Color & Flavor: Starts as a pale … Read more
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📌 Quick Summary: Creamsicle Grape 🌍 Origin: A relatively new US release, bred by Brad Gates at Wild Boar Farms. 🌱 Plant Habit: A vigorous, tall-growing indeterminate vine that can easily reach over 6.5 ft (2.0 m) in height. Highly productive and known for excellent fruit set. 🍅 Fruit & Yield: Produces elongated “grape” or … Read more
📌 Quick Summary: Cheerful or Jolly Gnome (Veselyi Gnom) 🌍 Origin: Bred by the well-known Russian tomato breeder L.A. Myazina. 🌱 Plant Habit: A compact, tree-type determinate (about 16-28 inches / 40-70 cm tall). It has thick, sturdy stems and broad rugose leaves. It does not require pruning (suckering) and is highly recommended for container/patio … Read more
📌 Quick Summary: Verkiny (Vera’s) 🌍 Origin: An unidentified Russian “family heirloom” passed down from a gardener named Vera, hence the placeholder name Verkiny (Vera’s). 🌱 Plant Habit: A tall indeterminate. Like many oxheart-type tomatoes, it has classic “wispy” or frail-looking foliage, though the plant itself is very productive and resilient. 🍅 Fruit & Yield: … Read more
📌 Quick Summary: Volgograd Early 323 🌍 Origin: A classic, historic commercial variety released in 1973 by the Volgograd Experimental Station of the VIR (Vavilov Institute). It is a cross between a local Russian variety and the American Bush Beefsteak. 🌱 Plant Habit: An extremely compact determinate (almost micro-dwarf in scale). The bushy, heavily branched … Read more
📌 Quick Summary: The Best Hacks for Cleaning Tomato Hands Every grower knows the struggle: you go out to pinch a few suckers, and suddenly your hands are covered in that sticky, green/black “tomato tar” that regular soap refuses to wash off. Here is how our forum members get their hands clean when they forget … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Chitting Seed Potatoes for Early Yields 🥔 Waking them up: If your seed potatoes have no eyes yet, put them in a warm, dark place for 7–10 days. The darkness forces the eyes to pop uniformly. ☀️ Greening (Vernalization): Once eyes appear, immediately move them into the light. This stops the … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Getting Early Greenhouse Cucumbers 🌍 The Challenge: Growing early cucumbers in short-season or cold climates (like USDA Zones 3-5) is notoriously difficult because cucumber roots will rot or stunt in cold soil. 🌡️ Checking Soil Temp: Never plant by the calendar. Bury a thermometer 6–8 inches (15-20 cm) deep. Do not … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Rooting Tomato Tops ✂️ The “Chop & Prop” Method: If your tomato seedlings become severely overgrown and leggy indoors, you can cut the tops off and root them in water to create a shorter, sturdier plant. 🕒 Timing is Everything: If you are forced to do this, aim to chop the … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Brown, Crispy Seedling Leaves 🍂 The Problem: The leaves on your tomato seedlings are turning thin, brown, and crispy (like parchment paper) before eventually falling off. 🔎 Common Misdiagnoses: Growers often mistake this symptom for bad potting soil, overwatering, or a Potassium (K) deficiency (since the plant pulls mobile nutrients from … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Dealing with Tomato Seedling Edema 🌍 The Problem: Leaves wilting, dropping off, or developing crystal-like blister bumps on the undersides. This is often caused by Edema (Oedema)—a physiological water-retention disorder, not a disease. 🌿 The Cause: Edema happens when the roots take up water faster than the leaves can transpire (sweat) … Read more