Heirloom Tomato Varieties & Reviews | Tomat-Pomidor
Honest reviews of global tomato varieties from a 15-year-old growers community.
Quick Summary of Faworyt 17/1 (Favorite 17/1) 🌍 Origin: A new Polish breeding line resulting from a cross between Malinowa Sakiewka and Bordo. The name translates to “Favorite 17/1”. 🌿 Plant Habit: Growers note that the line might still be slightly segregating. It can present with either Regular Leaf (RL) or Potato Leaf (PL) foliage. … Read more
Quick Summary of Williams Striped 🌍 Origin: A well-known heirloom variety originating from the USA. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall). There is often conflicting information from commercial seed vendors who describe it as a compact bush (up to 1 m / 3.3 ft). However, real growers consistently report it reaching 1.6 m (5.2 ft) and … Read more
Quick Summary of Tomawak (Tamawak) 🌍 Origin & History: A fascinating “supermarket rescue” variety! It originally started as a commercial ribbed tomato imported from Spain (or Holland) under the name Tomawak (likely a play on “Tomahawk” due to its ribbed shape). Forum members saved seeds from the store-bought fruit, and it successfully de-hybridized over several … Read more
Quick Summary of Tomande F1 🌍 Origin & Genetics: This is a commercial F1 Hybrid with French roots, bred to resemble the famous traditional “Marmande” heirloom types. Note for seed savers: Because it is an F1 hybrid, seeds saved from these fruits will likely not grow true-to-type the following year. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall). … Read more
Quick Summary of Tlacolula 🌍 Origin: An old North American heirloom. The variety gets its name from the city of Tlacolula de Matamoros in Oaxaca, Mexico, where the first seeds supposedly originated. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall) and powerful, yet it features distinctive upright, silvery, and somewhat wispy/carved foliage. This allows for good airflow and … Read more
Quick Summary of Tolstyi Jack (Fat Jack) 🌍 Origin: A well-known commercial Siberian variety originally introduced by “Sibsad” (Siberian Garden). The name translates to “Fat Jack”. 🌿 The “Red vs. Black” Mystery: This forum thread highlights a fascinating seed mix-up! While the original Tolstyi Jack is a short, red determinate, a rogue “Black” (brown/purple) version … Read more
Quick Summary of Tasmanian Chocolate 🌍 Origin: A highly popular release from the international Dwarf Tomato Project. Russian growers affectionately refer to varieties from this project as “Gnomes.” 🌿 Plant Habit: Determinate, tree-type dwarf. It has a stout, thick central stalk and typically grows 1.5–2.5 ft (50-80 cm) tall outdoors, though it can reach over … Read more
Quick Summary of Tryufel Krasno-Rozovyi (Red-Pink Truffle) 🌍 Origin: A legendary “folk” heirloom circulated widely among Russian seed savers. It was originally distributed by a grower named Galya-64 around the year 2000. Because it had no official name, it spread across the internet under various names: Galya’s Truffle, Raspberry Truffle, or Folk Truffle (Narodnyi). 🌿 … Read more
Quick Summary of Salatnye (Salad) 🌍 Origin: A Russian heirloom variety circulated among seed collectors. Interestingly, experienced growers suspect it might be a “twin” (the exact same genetics) of another variety known as Podarok Moey Zhene (My Wife’s Gift). 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall), reaching about 2 meters (6.5 ft) in height. 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: … Read more
Quick Summary of Sugar Giant (Sakharnyi Gigant) 🌍 Origin & Vendor Issues: A large-fruited Russian commercial variety. The name translates to “Sugar Giant”. However, there is massive inconsistency between the major seed vendors (Russian Garden/RO vs. Siberian Garden/SibSad). 🔍 The Shape Mystery: The packet from “Russian Garden” promises a large, barrel-like (cuboid) or blocky plum … Read more
Quick Summary of The Very Best (Samye Luchshie) 🌍 Origin & Name: A deeply historical heirloom variety. The name translates directly to “The Very Best” (Samye Luchshie). According to historical records, seeds were given by a resident of Kattakurgan (Uzbekistan) to the famous Soviet tomato breeder I.M. Maslov in 1984. 🌿 Plant Habit: Semi-determinate to … Read more
Quick Summary of Family Variety from Zurab Kukhianidze 🌍 Origin & History: An authentic old Georgian family heirloom. The 15-year-old seeds were originally saved by the father of a forum member’s husband (Zurab Kukhianidze) in Georgia. The Russian tomato community successfully germinated these old seeds, saved the strain from extinction, and affectionately nicknamed it “Zurabchik”. … Read more