Heirloom Tomato Varieties & Reviews | Tomat-Pomidor
Honest reviews of global tomato varieties from a 15-year-old growers community.
🍅 Quick take: Stripes of Yore is an eye-popping indeterminate saladette bred by Brad Gates (Wild Boar Farms), featuring creamy yellow fruit splashed with deep anthocyanin purple-black shoulders, averaging 3.5-5 oz (100-150 g). Gardeners in Zones 3 through 7 praise its stunning ornamental look and solid greenhouse vigor. Flavor reviews are polarized: some find it … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Sunrise Bumble Bee is an acclaimed indeterminate artisan cherry bred by Fred Hempel. It produces glowing, golden-yellow round-oval fruits marbled with vibrant pink stripes, weighing 0.75-1 oz (20-25 g). Renowned for its tender skin, exceptional sweetness, and cold resilience, it thrives in both greenhouses and open garden beds, continuing to bear heavy … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Spike is an eye-catching, semi-determinate novelty tomato bred by Tom Wagner. It features distinctive, feathery carrot-like foliage on a compact 4 ft (1.2 m) frame. Producing heavy crops of round, 2 oz (60 g) dark-red fruits streaked with bronze and metallic gold, it requires zero suckering and yields continuously until frost. Full … Read more
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🍅 Quick take: Rebel Starfighter Kayleigh Anne Pink is a vigorous indeterminate saladette bred by American breeder Russ Crowe (crossing Snow White Cherry x Rebel Starfighter Prime). Trained to two stems in the greenhouse, it proves exceptionally productive with an extended harvest window. Fruits are round, weighing up to 3.5 oz (100 g), glowing pink … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Quedlinburger Frühe Liebe (Early Love of Quedlinburg) is an ultra-early, compact indeterminate German heirloom featuring distinctive potato leaf (PL) foliage. Producing uniform 1.4-1.8 oz (40-50 g) red saladette fruits with light fluting, this variety excels in close high-density spacing trained to a single leader. Elena’s northern trial proved it is remarkably shade-tolerant, … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Purple Smudge is a vintage indeterminate heirloom and one of the early pioneers of anthocyanin genetics. Vines climb vigorously to the rafters, bearing 3-4.5 oz (80-130 g) round red saladette fruits. Prized as an unfussy “workhorse” that sets fruit through both heatwaves and cold snaps, growers emphasize that its signature purple shoulder … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Pale Perfect Purple is an early-season potato-leaf (PL) indeterminate bred by New Jersey breeder Tad Smith from a deliberate cross of Ozark Pink × Purple Price. Vines produce compact, manageable canopies bearing remarkably uniform, crack-free, dusky pink-purple fruits (3-6 oz / 85-170 g). Praised for its clean blemish-free skins, dependable early harvests, … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Purple Dragon is an indeterminate anthocyanin saladette tomato bred by American breeder Mark McCaslin (Frogsleap Farm). The 1.5-2.5 oz (40-70 g) pointed plums transition from jet inky-black when unripe to a glossy orange-red with purple splashes. Growers praise its candy-like, fruity-spicy sweetness and continuous blossom setting, though gardeners note stubborn calyx attachment … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Primary Colors is a distinctive saladette/cocktail variety bred by American heirloom breeder Tom Wagner. The indeterminate vines bear round, 2-3.5 oz (60-100 g) bright yellow fruits accented with dark purple anthocyanin shoulders. Growers highlight its heavy fruit set and solid sweet-tart profile. In southern climates, it thrives unpruned, though northern open-ground growers … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Piedmont Pear (often listed simply as Piedmont) is an indeterminate, heavy-setting cocktail tomato producing 2-4 oz (50-120 g) pear-shaped bicolors with a yellow-orange body and vivid pink blush. Gardeners praise its sweet flavor and meaty texture, making it legendary for whole-fruit canning in tomato juice. However, thin skins make it prone to … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Orange Mandarin (Oranzhevyi Mandarin) is a Russian indeterminate, mid-season variety prized for heavy outdoor productivity. It sets uniform clusters of vibrant orange, saladette-sized globes resembling small tangerines. Growers in cold regions (USDA Zone 4) highlight its fuss-free nature in open garden beds, showing excellent fruit set without flower drop, complete crack resistance, … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Oregon Spring is an early, cold-tolerant determinate bush variety bred by Dr. James Baggett at Oregon State University in 1984. Developed from a cross of Severyanin and Starshot, it possesses parthenocarpic traits, reliably setting nearly seedless slicers weighing 1.8 to 7 oz (50-200 g) in freezing spring weather. Siberian and cool-climate growers … Read more