Heirloom Tomato Varieties & Reviews | Tomat-Pomidor
Honest reviews of global tomato varieties from a 15-year-old growers community.
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Grebeshok 🌍 Origin: An old family heirloom from the town of Kupino in the Novosibirsk region of Siberia. The name translates to “Cockscomb” or “Scallop”, perfectly describing its highly ribbed shape. (See the forum debate below regarding its history). 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall), reaching about 5.2 ft (1.6 m). A … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Gigantsko Srpsko Srce (Giant Serbian Heart) 🌍 Origin: Heirloom oxheart variety originally from Serbia. The native name “Gigantsko Srpsko Srce” literally translates to “Giant Serbian Heart”. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall vining). A very vigorous and highly productive plant. Growers report excellent results when growing it in a greenhouse and pruning … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Gloria 🌍 Origin: A very popular collector’s variety circulating on Russian tomato forums. Seeds were famously distributed by a beloved forum member named Galina (Esme). 🌿 Plant Habit: Generally behaves as an indeterminate (tall) variety, easily reaching 5.5-6.5 ft (1.7-2 m) in a greenhouse, though some older seed stock produced semi-determinate … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Gigante di Pavia 🌍 Origin: A fantastic large-fruited Italian heirloom originating from Pavia, an ancient city in the Lombardy region of northern Italy. Locally in Italy, it is often simply called “Tumatica Giganta” (Giant Tomato). 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall) and mid-season. The vines can reach up to 6 feet (1.8 … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Vasya-Vasilek 🌍 Origin: A commercial variety from the Russian seed company “Siberian Garden” (SibSad). The name is an affectionate double-diminutive of the name Vasily and the cornflower (Vasilek). 🌿 Plant Habit: Determinate. A sturdy, compact bush that grows to about 32 inches (80 cm) tall out in the open dirt. 🍅 … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Washington 🌿 Plant Habit: Determinate and early-ripening. It stays very compact, reaching only about 20 inches (50 cm) out in the open ground. The bush naturally looks a bit wispy and weak, producing very few leaves and suckers. Zero pruning is required. 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Small, round-to-oval red tomatoes. Average weight … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Viola-1 Cherry 🌍 Origin: A rare cherry variety circulating in Eastern Europe. In this thread, seeds were sourced from Tamara Yashchenko, a highly respected Russian tomato collector from the Altai region. 🌿 Plant Habit: Determinate (short bush). Out in the open ground, it stays very compact, reaching only about 32 inches … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Wow Cherry 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall), but somewhat manageable. When grown out in the open dirt with multi-stem pruning, it topped out around 4 feet (1.2 m). Extremely resilient and productive, even when crowded and shaded. 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Bright red, completely round cherry tomatoes. They are very small, averaging … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Vilma 🌍 Origin: A widely popular commercial micro-dwarf variety, beloved in Europe and Russia for balcony and container gardening. 🌿 Plant Habit: True micro-dwarf (determinate). The seed packet states 12-16 inches (30-40 cm), but growers often find it stays even shorter, topping out around 8 inches (20 cm) in pots. It … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Vosymerka (Number Eight) 🌍 Origin: A rare Russian collector’s variety. The name “Vosymerka” translates to “Number Eight” or “Figure Eight”. In this thread, seeds were sourced from the well-known Russian tomato collector V. Monakhova. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall) and mid-season. It showed great resilience and high productivity even when grown … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Volgogradskiy 5/95 🌍 Origin: A legendary old-school Soviet commercial variety. Note: There are two famous “Volgogradskiy” strains. “323” is the early bush variety, while “5/95” is the vigorous, late-season strain bred for the warm, long summers of southern Russia. 🌿 Plant Habit: Vigorous with a very thick, sturdy main stem. Because … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Vazhnaya Persona F1 (VIP) 🌍 Origin: A Russian commercial F1 hybrid bred by the well-known breeder L.A. Myazina. The name translates to “Important Person” or “VIP”. 🌿 Plant Habit (The Height Mystery): Determinate. There is a funny discrepancy discussed in this thread: the seed packet claims it’s a micro-dwarf staying under … Read more