Heirloom Tomato Varieties & Reviews | Tomat-Pomidor
Honest reviews of global tomato varieties from a 15-year-old growers community.
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Costoluto Fiorentino sel. Canestrino di Lucca 🌍 Origin & The Great Seed Mix-Up: A fascinating piece of seed history! Commercial Italian vendors sometimes sold seeds under this long, combined name. However, as Russian growers quickly discovered in this thread, these are actually two different Italian varieties. 1) Costoluto Fiorentino: A small, … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Costoluto Colli Euganei 🌍 Origin: A magnificent family heirloom from the Veneto region in Northern Italy. The name translates to “Ribbed of the Euganean Hills”. The Euganean Hills are a national nature reserve known for their incredibly fertile volcanic soil, mild climate, ancient oak and chestnut forests, olive groves, and endless … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Cosentino sel Claudia 🌍 Origin: A wonderful, highly productive family heirloom from Italy. (“Sel Claudia” likely denotes a specific selection by a grower named Claudia). 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall), mid-season. Known for being extremely reliable and heat-tolerant, displaying zero blossom drop even when grown in the sunniest spots of the … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Cuore Antico di Aqui Terme 🌍 Origin: An outstanding family heirloom from Italy. The name translates to “Ancient Heart of Acqui Terme”. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall), mid-late season. The plants are vigorous with sturdy, thick main stems. Grower Warning: Avoid overfeeding with nitrogen early on, or the plant will prioritize … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR) 🌍 Origin: A specific heirloom strain known as Big Orange (from Amuz). 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate, early season. The plant has a thin, “wispy” foliage structure, which is completely normal for this variety (don’t worry if the seedlings look a bit frail). It is very low-maintenance and unpretentious. 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR) 🌍 Origin: A dark heirloom variety known as Black Early. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate, mid-season. Interestingly, the plant habit is described as quite compact for an indeterminate variety, making it manageable. 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Dark purplish-pink/black fruits. They have an excellent texture that manages to be both juicy and reasonably meaty … Read more
Quick Summary of Best Bestos 🌍 Origin & Type: A gorgeous, deeply ribbed (pleated/ruffled) red tomato. Some fruits take on a pear-like or wide piriform shape. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate, mid-season. Reaches up to 6.5 ft (2 meters) in height. Highly prized for its stress tolerance—it performs exceptionally well in both extremely hot regions and … Read more
Quick Summary of Banyan Rumi 🌍 Origin & Trivia: A rare, highly resilient heirloom variety collected from Afghanistan. Fun Fact: “Banjan Rumi” literally translates to “Roman Eggplant” in Dari (Afghan Persian), which is simply the local word for “tomato”. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate and incredibly vigorous, growing up to 6.5 ft (2 meters) tall. It … Read more
Quick Summary of Black Mountain Pink 🌍 Origin: A massive old heirloom tomato originating from Kentucky, USA. Highly prized by Russian collectors who often translate the name to “Chernogorskiy” or “Pink from Black Mountain”. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate, vigorous, and tall. Growers note that it can be a bit slow to start in the spring … Read more
Quick Summary of Bigly 🌍 Origin: A stunning striped orange variety closely associated with the lines bred by Fred Hempel (Artisan Seeds), sharing many characteristics with Orange Jazz. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate, tall, and mid-season. Known to be highly productive. 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Massive orange beefsteaks with plump shoulders and light yellow stripes. Fruits are … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR) Origin: Italy. Plant Type: Indeterminate, Mid-season. Very vigorous vines reaching over 2 meters (6.5+ feet) in greenhouses. Fruit Size & Appearance: Produces massive beefsteaks or slight hearts (some strains are sold as ‘Oxheart Belmonte’). Weights frequently hit 500-600g (1.1-1.3 lbs), with record fruits up to 1 kg (2.2 lbs). Color: Mostly … Read more
Quick Summary of Aunt Lou’s Underground Railroad 🌍 Origin: A deeply historical US heirloom. Seeds were reportedly passed down from an unnamed Black man escaping via the Underground Railroad through Ripley, Ohio, to a woman known as Aunt Lou. The variety was preserved and eventually introduced to the modern heirloom community by the late, legendary … Read more