Heirloom Tomato Varieties & Reviews | Tomat-Pomidor
Honest reviews of global tomato varieties from a 15-year-old growers community.
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Early Planting & Disease Risks 🥶 The Cold Soil Trap: Growers share real-life experiments of transplanting tomatoes into unheated greenhouses too early (mid-April in Zone 4). The result? Stunted growth, delayed fruit set, and tomatoes ripening weeks later than plants set out in warmer soil. 🌱 The Seedling Stress Connection: A … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Onions & Late Fall Flowers 🧅 Fall-Planted Onion Sets: A detailed guide on planting winter onions (like the Radar variety). Key tips: plant 3 weeks before hard frosts, mulch heavily, and choose a spot where winter snow lingers to insulate the bulbs. 🌱 Starting Onion Seeds (Advanced Trick): A fantastic method … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Fighting Tomato Leaf Mold 🌍 The Problem: Leaf Mold (Cladosporium fulvum / Passalora fulva) is a massive issue for greenhouse and hoophouse growers. In this thread, veteran growers discuss why some greenhouses get devastated while others stay clean. 🧪 Organic & Biological Controls: Several growers had great success using Trichoderma (a … Read more
Quick Summary of the Discussion 🚨 The Problem: A grower faces a common late-summer disaster: a massive harvest of heirloom tomatoes that are all splitting and cracking on the vine, forcing immediate processing into juice and sauces. 🍅 The Heirloom Dilemma: While heirloom varieties are beloved for their rich, juicy flavors, their thin skins make … Read more
Quick Summary of the Garlic Debate 🌍 The Core Question: Does planting the largest garlic cloves guarantee the largest harvested bulbs? Growers debate whether genetics and clove size matter more than the physical structure of the soil. 🌱 Soil Structure is Key: A grower noticed that “volunteer” (self-seeded) garlic growing in ultra-fluffy strawberry beds grew … Read more
B Borisovna ⭐ Pro Grower 📍 Karaganda (USDA Zone 4) How I Save Tomato Seeds 📌 Quick Summary: Tomato Seed Saving Process Select the Best: Choose a fruit that perfectly matches the variety’s traits. Avoid fruits from megablooms or those with Blossom End Rot. Mark It: Write the variety name directly on the ripening fruit … Read more
Discussion from the Seed Savers Forum | Autumn Seed Collection 📌 Quick Summary: Why Do Saved Tomato Seeds Turn Brown? If you are saving heirloom tomato seeds and notice they turn light brown or dark after drying, don’t panic! While black necrotic spots can indicate disease, a general brown tint to the seed coat is … Read more
Discussion from the Greenhouse Growers Forum | Moscow Region USDA Zone 4 📌 Quick Summary: The “One-Plant” No-Prune Method In the West, greenhouse (high tunnel) cucumbers are usually planted densely and aggressively pruned to a single vine (the Lower and Lean method). This Russian grower’s method flips that logic completely upside down. The core principles … Read more
Quick Summary: Exotic Cucumbers & Bean Growing Tips In this thread, our community dives into the fascinating world of exotic curcubits and garden beans. Here are the key takeaways: 🥒 The “Eight-Angled” Cucumber: Often sold under exotic names, these are usually ribbed varieties of Carosello (an Italian melon eaten green as a cucumber) or Armenian … Read more
Quick Summary: The “Hot Bed” Seedling Method 🌍 The Concept: A traditional Siberian method for growing tomato seedlings entirely outdoors, even in harsh, extreme climates (like Tyumen in Western Siberia, USDA Zone 3). This eliminates the need for expensive indoor grow lights and prevents transplant shock completely.. 🔥 How it Works: A raised bed is … Read more
Quick Summary: Amending Heavy Clay Soil 🌍 The Challenge: Heavy, compacted clay soil is a universal nightmare for gardeners. Buying truckloads of topsoil to cover a large plot is incredibly expensive and often impractical. 🌿 The “Warm Bed” Solution: A traditional Eastern European technique (very similar to trench Hugelkultur). It involves digging a trench, filling … Read more
Author: Pomidoroved | Originally published: May 3, 2013 📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR) Choosing Sets: Bigger is NOT better. Buy small onion sets (about 1 cm / 3/8 inch). Large sets are prone to bolting (going to seed) instead of forming a bulb. Storage: Store your sets in a dry, warm place (like a shoebox on … Read more