Heirloom Tomato Varieties & Reviews | Tomat-Pomidor
Honest reviews of global tomato varieties from a 15-year-old growers community.
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Vifleemskiy Ogon (Bethlehem’s Fire) 🌍 Origin: A stunning heirloom variety highly popular among Russian and Ukrainian collectors. The name translates to “Bethlehem’s Fire” (often circulated globally under this exact translation). 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall). An incredibly vigorous plant that performs exceptionally well in greenhouses, though it can also be grown … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Bulgarian Wine Giant 🌍 Origin: A highly prized heirloom variety with roots in Bulgaria, popularized among Russian seed collectors (like V. Redko). The original name is Vinnyi Bolgarskiy Velikan. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall). Very vigorous vines that can easily reach 10 ft (3 m) in a greenhouse, often draped over … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Vinson (Vinson Watts) 🌍 Origin & Name Confusion: This variety circulates in Eastern Europe simply as “Vinson”. However, based on the description (large pink beefsteaks with Potato Leaf foliage), it is almost certainly the legendary American heirloom Vinson Watts, brought over and shortened in translation. Vinson Watts is a famous heirloom … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Volovyi Ushi (Ox Ears) 🌍 Origin: A Russian commercial and heirloom variety. The name translates to “Ox Ears” (sometimes sold as Volovye Ushko or “Little Ox Ear”). Note: Multiple seed companies (like Altai Seeds and Myazina) sell lines under this name, resulting in wild variations in fruit shape and size. 🌿 … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Viking 🌍 Origin & Confusion: This thread discusses a large, red heirloom variety originally sourced from Sweden. Important Note: There is an officially registered Russian commercial variety also named “Viking,” but that one produces small yellow tomatoes. The Swedish “Viking” discussed here is completely different. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall), reaching … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Vanka (Little Ivan) 🌍 Origin & Name: A private Russian heirloom variety that gained popularity through seed collector Anzhelika Manusha. The name “Vanka” is an affectionate, colloquial diminutive of the name Ivan (essentially meaning “Little Ivan” or “Johnny”). 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall), but highly praised for not being an overly … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Vedro s Kusta (A Bucket per Bush) 🌍 Origin: A fantastic family heirloom originating from Barnaul (Siberia, Russia). The name translates literally to “A Bucket from a Bush” or “A Bucket per Bush”, which perfectly describes its massive yield potential. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall), reaching about 6.5 ft (2 m). … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Vjerino 🌍 Origin: A treasured family heirloom originating from Bosnia. This variety holds a special place in the heirloom community because the seeds were passed down from a Bosnian woman’s stepdaughter directly to the late Dr. Carolyn Male, a legendary American tomato grower and author. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall). A … Read more
📌 Quick Summary: Granddaughter’s Joy 🌱 Plant Habit: A powerful, tall-growing indeterminate vine with thick stems and dense foliage. Requires sturdy staking or caging to support the massive fruit weight. 🍅 Fruit & Yield: Produces giant, flat-round (oblate) pink beefsteak tomatoes. Average fruits easily weigh 14–25 oz (400-700g), with some giants reaching up to 2.2 … 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): 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): 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