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 (TL;DR): Fighting Thrips on Stored & Green Onions 🌍 The Problem: Onion thrips (tiny, elongated black bugs) can survive the winter dormant in your stored onions. When you bring them out into the warmth or try to force them for fresh green onions (scallions), the thrips wake up and multiply. 🌿 Symptoms … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Blauwerk 🌍 Origin: A beautiful, compact variety circulating among Eastern European collectors. The name “Blauwerk” suggests German origins. 🌿 Plant Habit: Determinate (bush). It is a very short, compact plant that only reaches about 20–24 inches (50–60 cm) in height. It is an early-season variety that requires almost zero pruning, making … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Barbaris F1 (Barberry) 🌍 Origin: A commercial Russian cherry hybrid. The name translates to “Barberry”. Warning: There seem to be multiple, highly inconsistent versions of this seed sold by different companies (like Sib-Sad). Some packets produce red, round, tiny 0.4 oz (12 g) cherries, while others produce elongated, pink 1.4 oz … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Budenovka Zelenaya (Green Budenovka) 🌍 Origin: A rare Ukrainian winter-keeper variety. “Budenovka” refers to the iconic pointed Soviet cavalry hat, which matches the shape of the fruit. 🌿 Plant Habit: Determinate, late-season maturity. It is a sturdy, compact plant with dense foliage cover. In a greenhouse, it tops out at around … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Betalux 🌍 Origin: A very popular ultra-early Polish commercial variety. 🌿 Plant Habit: Note that there are two versions of “Betalux” circulating in the seed trade: a standard determinate, and a tree-type super-determinate (micro-dwarf). The super-determinate version is an absolute dwarf, growing very compact but producing slightly smaller fruits. It requires … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): White Wonder 🌍 Origin: A classic, well-known American heirloom variety prized for its unique pale color. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate. Produces an average yield. 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Large, oblate (flattened and round) beefsteaks weighing around 10.5–17.5 oz (300–500 g). They are a creamy white color, developing a faint pink blush on … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Bugay Rozovyi (Bugay Pink) 🌍 Origin: A commercial Russian variety from the Siberian Garden (Sib-Sad) seed company. “Bugay” is Russian slang for a large, muscular, towering man. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate, mid-season. Reaches 5–6 ft (1.5–1.8 m) in height. It is an absolute workhorse variety with fantastic heat tolerance—it will continue … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Bolshoy Rozovyi Vernisazh (Large Pink Vernisage) 🌍 Origin: Part of the famous “Vernisage” series created by Ukrainian breeder Ruslan Dukhov. The name translates to “Large Pink Vernisage”. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate, mid-early maturity. It is a sprawling, sturdy, and highly vigorous plant. It is very forgiving—you can prune it to 2 … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Barmaley 🌍 Origin: Variety from the Siberian Garden (Sib-Sad) seed company. It is named after “Barmaley”, a famous pirate villain from classic Russian children’s fairy tales. 🌿 Plant Habit: A reliable mid-season variety that performs well both in greenhouses and outdoors in open ground. 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Beautiful pinkish-raspberry slicers. Major … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Barkhatnye (Velvet) 🌍 Origin: A Russian heirloom variety known for its distinctive Angora genetics. The name “Barkhatnye” simply means “Velvet”. Note that this is often confused with other fuzzy varieties like Blue Spruce or Peach, or with non-fuzzy varieties like Barkhatniy Sezon (Velvet Season). 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate and late-season. Both … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Babushkin Potseluy (Grandma’s Kiss) 🌍 Origin: A commercial Russian variety from the “Semena Altaya” (Seeds of Altai) company, part of their Siberian Collection. The name translates to “Grandma’s Kiss”. 🌿 Plant Habit: Potato Leaf (PL) foliage. There seems to be significant genetic variability regarding its height. It is officially listed as … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Banzai 🌍 Origin: A Russian variety sold commercially by companies like Gavrish, though some growers have been saving their own family strains of this tomato since the 1990s. 🌿 Plant Habit: The commercial packet lists it as a 5 ft (1.5 m) plant, but growers consistently report it behaves as a … Read more