Heirloom Tomato Varieties & Reviews | Tomat-Pomidor
Honest reviews of global tomato varieties from a 15-year-old growers community.
Love dark tomatoes? You’re in the right place. We are gathering a worldwide collection of black, purple, and deep mahogany varieties, complete with real photos and honest reviews from actual growers.
If you’re growing dark heirlooms, you’ll quickly notice they fall into two main camps. The classic “black” tomatoes (like the famous Russian darks) aren’t actually black. They just retain green chlorophyll as they ripen, which mixes with red lycopene to give them a beautiful brick, mahogany, or muddy-brown color.
Then there are the modern purple/indigo varieties. These get their crazy dark colors from anthocyanins (the same stuff found in blueberries). The rule for these is simple: wherever direct sunlight hits the skin, it turns deep purple or jet black, while the shaded parts usually stay red or pink.
Most growers agree that dark tomatoes have a very specific taste profile. They are usually described as earthy, sweet, and sometimes slightly salty. Because they generally have lower acidity than classic red tomatoes, they are fantastic for fresh eating and slicing for sandwiches.
Scroll down to browse the varieties our community has tested. We document real yields, plant heights, and whether the seeds are actually worth saving for next year!
📌 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): Bizon Chernyi (Black Bison) 🌍 Origin: A Russian commercial variety, distributed primarily by the “Poisk” seed company as part of their “Vkusnoteka” (Tasty Library) series. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate. A tall, very vigorous and powerful plant. Growers note it has a tendency to go vegetative (focusing on leaf growth rather than … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Black John (Blek Dzhon) 🌍 Origin: A dark Russian variety circulated by domestic seed vendors (like Brizhan and L. Myazina). Note: Some growers report older seed lines segregating, producing a mix of Potato Leaf (PL) and Regular Leaf (RL) plants. The original, stable strain should be PL. 🌿 Plant Habit: Tall … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Bychok Chernyi (Black Steer) 🌍 Origin: Sourced and popularized by a well-known collector (Vitaly / “Señor”) from Almaty, Kazakhstan. The name translates to “Black Steer” or “Black Bull-Calf”. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate, PL (Potato Leaf). This plant is an absolute monster! It grows incredibly vigorous and tall (up to 14 ft … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Chernyi Oxheart Large 🌍 Origin: Sourced from the collection of American seed saver Dale Thurber. The name is a linguistic mix (“Chernyi” means “Black” in Russian). It likely circulated in the US as “Chernyi Oxheart Large” before being translated back into Russian by local growers as “Large Black Oxheart”. 🌿 Plant … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Dwarf BSP 🌍 Origin: An independent dwarf variety bred in the USA. Seeds in this thread trace back to a well-known grower named Dale, who has been developing a whole family of experimental tree-type dwarfs (including OPO, PPI, ZSO, etc.). 🌿 Plant Habit: Tree-type dwarf with regular leaf (RL) foliage. Despite … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Bolshoy Cherniy Volonter (Big Black Volunteer) 🌍 Origin: A dark heirloom variety circulating among seed collectors. The name translates exactly to “Big Black Volunteer”. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate. Height can vary; some growers report it staying relatively compact in a greenhouse, reaching about 1.6 m (5.2 ft). 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Oval … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Purple Pear Brandywine 🌍 Origin: A fantastic dark pear/plum variation in the famous Brandywine family. Known for combining the legendary Brandywine flavor with a unique shape. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall). Very robust and vigorous, usually grown to 2 stems in the greenhouse. 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Dark raspberry/purple pear-shaped fruits. Sizes … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Large Barred Boar 🌍 Origin: An exotic release from Brad Gates at Wild Boar Farms (California, USA). It has become highly popular among Russian and Eastern European heirloom collectors. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate, mid-season variety. Typically grows to about 5 feet (1.5 m) tall. It prefers a very sunny, well-ventilated spot … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Black Oxheart (Bych’ye Serdtse Chernoe) 🌍 Origin: A highly regarded commercial and family heirloom from Russia. Known in Russian as Bych’ye Serdtse Chernoe. Growers often debate how it compares to the American variety Brad’s Black Heart. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate. It features the classic “wispy, drooping” oxheart foliage, but the main … Read more
2.jpg.796b135949e2da58552aa8058bdb18b6.jpg)
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Blazhenstvo (Bliss) 🌍 Origin: A stunning modern variety introduced by Russian breeder and collector Sofia Saakova. The name translates beautifully to “Bliss”. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall). It has proven to be quite resistant to Leaf Mold (Cladosporium), staying healthy late into the season. Note: It is a late-season variety in … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Appetitnyi (Appetizing) 🌍 Origin: A commercial variety from the Russian seed company Siberian Garden (SibSad). The name translates perfectly to “Appetizing” or “Mouthwatering”. 🌿 Plant Habit: It behaves as a semi-determinate or a compact indeterminate. Outdoors in the open garden, it usually stops around 80-100 cm (31-40″). Inside a poly greenhouse, … Read more