Heirloom Tomato Varieties & Reviews | Tomat-Pomidor
Honest reviews of global tomato varieties from a 15-year-old growers community.
Welcome to one of the most unique and comprehensive tomato databases on the English-speaking web. This catalog isn’t based on generic seed packet descriptions—it is built entirely on the real, hands-on experience of everyday gardeners.
For over a decade, thousands of growers have shared their successes, failures, and harvest photos on one of the oldest and largest Russian-speaking gardening forums. We have taken this massive, multi-year knowledge base and carefully translated and summarized the very best of it for you.
What you will find in our catalog:
Whether you are looking for a bulletproof hybrid for a short season, an exotic anthocyanin variety, or the sweetest beefsteak you’ve ever tasted, the collective experience of our gardening community will help you find the perfect seed for your next harvest. Browse our subcategories below to explore!
📌 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): Bychiy Lob (Bull’s Forehead) 🌍 Origin: A commercial Siberian variety released by the Russian seed company “Siberian Garden” (SibSad). The name translates to “Bull’s Forehead” in English. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate, though some growers report that it occasionally self-tops (terminates with a flower truss) around 6.5 ft (2m) in the greenhouse. … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Babushkino (Grandma’s) 🌍 Origin: A highly popular heirloom variety widely circulated among collectors. The name translates to “Grandma’s”. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate, vigorous, and tall (easily pushing past 7 ft / 2m in a greenhouse). An absolute workhorse of a plant that pumps out heavy yields. Often grown to 2 or … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Burracker’s Favorite 🌍 Origin: A famous heirloom variety from the USA (Virginia), named after the Burracker Hollow in the Blue Ridge Mountains. It was introduced to the gardening world by Craig LeHoullier. In Russia, it’s known as “Burrakerskie Lyubimtsy”. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate. The plant is notorious for having somewhat “wimpy” … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Banana Legs (Bananovye Nogi) 🌍 Origin: Originally bred by Tom Wagner (USA) in 1984. It was introduced to the Russian forum community around 2012 by collector Yaroslavna, where it became wildly popular (and highly debated). Interestingly, a commercial Russian seed company later patented it under the translated name “Bananovye Nogi”. 🌿 … Read more
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📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Banan Oranzhevyi (Orange Banana) 🌍 Origin: A popular commercial Russian variety (widely distributed by seed companies like Gavrish and Aelita). The name translates to “Orange Banana”. 🌿 Plant Habit: Mostly indeterminate (growing over 6.5 ft / 2 m in greenhouses), though some growers report shorter determinate strains. It has a characteristic … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Babushkino Bychie Serdtse (Grandma’s Oxheart) 🌍 Origin: A Russian family heirloom that is over 80 years old. Introduced to seed collectors by Angelina Khilenko. The name translates to “Grandma’s Oxheart”. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate, vigorous, and tall. Can easily reach over 2 m (6.5 ft) in a greenhouse. Its performance is … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Bolshoy Oranzhevyi Khrebet (Big Orange Ridge) 🌍 Origin: A Russian heirloom variety. The name translates to “Big Orange Ridge”. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate. Requires pruning/training (growers typically prune to 2 or 3 stems). It can experience slow fruit set during unfavorable early-season weather but compensates heavily once conditions stabilize. Demonstrates good … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Big Zac 🌍 Origin: Bred in the USA by Minnie Zaccaria. It is famous worldwide among competitive growers for producing record-breaking giant tomatoes. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate, vigorous, and noted for producing exceptionally thick stems. It can easily exceed 2 meters (6.5 ft) in a greenhouse. 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Red, oblate … Read more
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📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Grosse de Christophe 🌍 Origin: A large European variety. The name translates from French as “Christophe’s Large”. 🌿 Plant Habit: Produces a sturdy, robust plant. 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Raspberry-pink beefsteaks. The fruits are shiny, uniform in shape, and relatively smooth with slight ribbing. They are consistently large, typically ranging from 300–500 … 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): Uriasa de Baltatesti 🌍 Origin: An old Eastern European heirloom from the Bălțătești commune in Romania. The name translates to “Giant of Bălțătești”. The seeds trace back to the collection of Vali Cucu, a well-known Romanian seed saver who researches and preserves local varieties. 🌿 Plant Habit: Produces an enormous yield. … Read more