Heirloom Tomato Varieties & Reviews | Tomat-Pomidor
Honest reviews of global tomato varieties from a 15-year-old growers community.
🍅 Quick take: Kozula 179 (Zebra Zolta / Volta) is a striking indeterminate mid-season beefsteak from Polish breeder Anna Jankowski. It produces large, ribbed yellow-orange fruits with bold green stripes and green seed gel. While yield and aesthetics are universally praised, growers report huge variations in juiciness and flavor—ranging from dry and dense (ideal for … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Königin der Nacht (Queen of the Night) is an incredibly beautiful, anthocyanin-rich cocktail tomato originating from Germany. It grows as a compact semi-determinate plant that produces heavy yields of striped, dark-shouldered 2-3 oz fruits. While it is mostly grown for its jaw-dropping aesthetics, the flavor is generally sweet and pleasant. Full summary … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Julia Child is an early-to-mid season, potato-leaf indeterminate vine that produces gorgeous, thin-skinned pink beefsteaks. It is a reliable, above-average yielder that delivers a classic, well-balanced tomato flavor. Full summary ↓ Growers’ Notes and Photos E ElenaN (Elena) ⭐ Pro Grower (28,513 posts) 📍 Kostroma, Russia (USDA Zone 3/4) This one is … Read more
🍅 Quick take: JD’s Special C Tex is a mid-season, compact indeterminate vine that produces gorgeous, mahogany-red beefsteaks (around 7 oz). It’s a low-maintenance, highly productive variety with a long harvest window and an incredibly rich, sweet, well-balanced flavor profile. Full summary ↓ Growers’ Notes and Photos E ElenaN (Elena) ⭐ Pro Grower (28,513 posts) … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Jaune Flammee (Yellow Flame) is a classic French heirloom. It’s a mid-season, indeterminate vine that produces heavy trusses of small, bright orange cocktail tomatoes (around 1-2 oz). Growers praise its outstanding disease resistance and thick skin, which makes it an absolute workhorse for canning and pickling. Full summary ↓ Growers’ Notes and … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Jumbo Jim Orange is a robust, indeterminate mid-season variety originating from the US that pumps out large, ribbed orange beefsteaks averaging around 1 lb. Growers love its high yield, perfectly balanced sweet flavor, and surprisingly good shelf life for an heirloom. Full summary ↓ Growers’ Notes and Photos T Tiffany (Julia) ⭐ … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Pink Jazz is a massively tall, indeterminate regular-leaf variety that produces giant pink beefsteaks with pearlescent yellow/beige stripes. While growers note that yields can be on the lower side, the plant compensates by pumping out huge fruits (often exceeding 1 lb) with incredibly sweet, fruity, watermelon-like flesh. Full summary ↓ Growers’ Notes … Read more
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🍅 Quick take: Jaune du lac de Bret is an indeterminate golden-yellow oxheart originally bred by a farmer near Lake Bret in Switzerland. It produces densely ribbed, conical hearts weighing 5.3-7 oz (150-200 g) and up. Growers rave about its structural beauty, sweet flavor, and lack of seeds. It’s also noted for having a remarkably … Read more
🍅 Quick take: IPK LYC 859 El Salvador is an indeterminate, mid-season, multi-purpose red plum tomato with a distinctive pointed tip. While the flavor is described as mild or slightly bland (making it better suited for processing or canning rather than fresh eating), its main standout feature is its massive yield. Growers report that this … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Indigo Rose is a famous anthocyanin-rich, indeterminate/semi-determinate cocktail tomato bred by Dr. Jim Myers at Oregon State University. It produces stunning dark purple-to-black fruits that weigh 1.2-2.5 oz (35-70 g). In this massive thread, growers debate its merits. While everyone agrees the plants are gorgeous and highly resistant to late blight, opinions … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Ivory Tears is an indeterminate, wispy regular-leaf cherry tomato bred in Belgium by Philippe Vermeulen and Gerd Freyman. It produces stunning translucent ivory-white, teardrop-shaped fruits with an incredibly sweet, fruity flavor. Growers highlight its heavy yields right up until frost, total resistance to BER, and amazing taste that makes them disappear straight … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Homer’s German Oxheart is an indeterminate, late-season red oxheart. It produces large, slightly ribbed hearts with very few seeds and dense, buttery flesh. Growers note that while it isn’t an extremely heavy producer (averaging around 8 fruits per plant), the sheer size—most weighing around 14 oz (400 g)—and excellent, aromatic flavor make … Read more