Heirloom Tomato Varieties & Reviews | Tomat-Pomidor
Honest reviews of global tomato varieties from a 15-year-old growers community.
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Brazilskiy Velikan (Brazilian Giant) 🌍 Origin: A massive beefsteak variety circulating among Russian heirloom collectors. The name translates to “Brazilian Giant”. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall) and needs serious support. Growers often prune it to two leaders. Like a lot of giant beefsteaks, it can be finicky in extreme heat and … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): McClintock’s Big Pink 🌍 Origin: A North American heirloom variety heavily circulated among Eastern European and Russian seed collectors (like V. Redko). 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate, vigorous vines. It features classic Potato Leaf (PL) foliage. Known for being highly disease resistant (“bulletproof”) and performing well even in damp, cool conditions. 🍅 … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): White Zebra 🌍 Origin: A novelty striped variety (originally developed by Tom Wagner in the US, widely circulated in Eastern Europe). 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate. Highly reliable. Growers report excellent fruit set even in bad weather years when other varieties drop their blossoms. 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Small-to-medium round salad/cocktail tomatoes. When … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Pink Brandywine 🌍 Origin: The undisputed king of American heirlooms. Legendary Amish origins, with the Sudduth’s Strain being widely considered the original, purest, and best-tasting lineage. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate, vigorous vines. It has classic, robust Potato Leaf (PL) foliage. Typically performs much better and more reliably in greenhouses/hoophouses in cooler … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Brandywine Black 🌍 Origin: A famous American heirloom originally introduced by William Woys Weaver (said to be from a 1920s Pennsylvania Quaker family collection). 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate, vigorous vine. True to the Brandywine family, it features Potato Leaf (PL) foliage. Some growers report it is highly susceptible to Leaf Mold … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Yellow Brandywine (Platfoot Strain) 🌍 Origin: A legendary American heirloom from Ohio, popularized by Gary Platfoot. It is fascinating to see how highly prized and widely grown this specific US strain is among Russian and Siberian greenhouse growers! 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate. True to the Brandywine family, it has Potato Leaf … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Bonner Beste 🌍 Origin: A historic commercial heirloom originally from Germany (the name translates to “Bonn’s Best”). It has been widely adapted and heavily grown by Russian and Eastern European gardeners for its extreme reliability. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall), vigorous vine. Produces heavy trusses (clusters) of fruit. It is highly … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Bakinskie (From Baku) 🌍 Origin: This is a fascinating collector’s variety. Originally, it was a “numbered test line” sent directly from a breeder in Baku, Azerbaijan, to members of the Russian ForumHouse for trial grow-outs. Because it never received an official name, growers simply started calling it “Bakinskie” (From Baku). Note: … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Big Yellow Zebra 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall), but the vines aren’t overly aggressive or huge (usually around 1.6m / 5.2 ft). Known for being quite early, especially in difficult or short summer seasons. 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Oblate (flat-round) bright yellow beefsteaks with very subtle, faint light-yellow stripes (which can sometimes … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Big Rainbow (Bolshaya Raduga) 🌍 Origin: A famous American heirloom originally from Minnesota. In Russia, it is widely grown and traded among collectors under the translated name “Bolshaya Raduga” (Большая радуга). 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall). Usually grows between 1.8 – 2 meters (6-6.5 ft) in a greenhouse, but can be … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Beduin / Grusha Chernaya (Black Pear) 🌍 Origin & Naming: A highly popular Russian heirloom known alternatively as “Beduin” (Bedouin) or “Grusha Chernaya” (Black Pear). Note: Seed companies sometimes sell them under slightly different names, and it is often compared to the famous Japanese Black Trifele. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (though … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Bunte Pflaume 🌍 Origin: A German heirloom variety whose name translates to “Colorful Plum” or “Variegated Plum”. Widely circulated among Russian collectors (such as V. Popenko). 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate. Height varies depending on growing conditions: reaches about 180 cm (6 ft) in a greenhouse, but stays a more compact 1 … Read more