Heirloom Tomato Varieties & Reviews | Tomat-Pomidor
Honest reviews of global tomato varieties from a 15-year-old growers community.
Quick Summary of Yuzhniy Zagar (Southern Tan) 🌍 Origin: A very famous commercial/heirloom variety from Siberian breeders (Sibirskiy Sad). The name translates to “Southern Tan”. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate, but usually remains quite compact (1-1.2m outdoors, up to 2m in a greenhouse). It features classic “wispy” (weeping) foliage — the seedlings look skinny, frail, and … Read more
Quick Summary of Elegant 🌍 Origin & Naming Confusion: “Elegant” is a name shared by several completely different tomato strains in the Russian/Ukrainian seed market. This forum thread is highly valuable because it breaks down the differences between the commercial version and the private collector versions. 🍅 Strain 1 (Commercial / SibSad variety): A mid-early … Read more
Quick Summary of Elfin 🌍 Origin: A fantastic red grape/cherry tomato variety. Well-known and distributed by major Russian seed vendors like Gusev and Happy Garden. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (vining) and highly sprawling. It produces a massive amount of suckers. However, it is remarkably low-maintenance: many growers don’t bother pruning the suckers at all and … Read more
Quick Summary of Eros 🌍 Origin: A well-known novelty paste tomato, often considered the “brother” of the famous Auria variety, but with yellow-orange fruits. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (vining). Known for having “wispy foliage” (thin, delicate-looking vines) despite its tall and vigorous growth. Easily reaches the greenhouse roof. 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Elongated, cylindrical (phallic-shaped) fruits, … Read more
Quick Summary of Ela 06 🌍 Origin: A spectacular Polish breeding line. It is a cross between Aurija (a famous elongated paste tomato) and Megagroniasty (a legendary Polish cherry tomato known for its massive multiflora trusses). 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate, extremely vigorous, and disease-resistant. Growers describe it as growing “like a tree” with very thick, … Read more
Quick Summary of Sherkhan (Shere Khan) 🌍 Origin: A Russian commercial variety. Named “Sherkhan” (after the tiger Shere Khan from The Jungle Book) due to its distinctive striped skin. 🌿 Plant Habit: Determinate (bush). The seed packet states a compact height of 60 cm (24 inches). However, greenhouse growers report it can act very vigorously, … Read more
Quick Summary of Matt’s Hornet 🌍 Origin: A beautiful artisan-style novelty tomato. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate. It is a very manageable plant, reaching about 1.3 meters (4.3 ft) when grown in a greenhouse. Pro Tip: Growers recommend letting it branch out freely—after the first flower truss appears, you can completely stop pruning (suckering) the plant. … Read more
Quick Summary of Shchedraya Slivka Tarasenko (Tarasenko’s Generous Plum) 🌍 Origin: Developed by the legendary Soviet/Ukrainian tomato breeder Feodosiy Tarasenko. The name translates to “Tarasenko’s Generous Plum”. It is considered one of his rarer varieties that didn’t become as widespread commercially as his other famous creations. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate, mid-season. The bush is exceptionally … Read more
Quick Summary of Shokoladniy Zaychik (Chocolate Bunny) 🌍 Origin: A highly popular commercial and collector variety from Russia. The name translates to “Chocolate Bunny”. 🌿 Plant Habit: Generally an indeterminate (tall) and extremely vigorous plant. However, growers note it is very sensitive to soil moisture and fertility; in dry, sandy soils, it may act like … Read more
Quick Summary of Cherri Uralskoe (Ural Cherry) 🌍 Origin: A private, exclusive Russian variety developed over 6 years by breeder Nikolay Alexandrov. It is not sold in commercial stores. 🌿 Plant Habit: An incredibly vigorous, massive indeterminate plant. If left unpruned, its aggressive suckers will grow sideways for meters and even try to root into … Read more
Quick Summary of Chudo Sveta (Wonder of the World) 🌍 Origin: A very popular, beautiful Russian commercial variety. The name translates to “Wonder of the World”, though it is sometimes visually compared to a small lemon. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall), vigorous, and strongly growing plant (reaching over 2 meters / 6.5 ft in greenhouses). … Read more
Quick Summary of Cherry Ira F1 🌍 Origin: A very popular commercial F1 hybrid from the Russian seed company “Semko”. Often sold at a premium price compared to standard seeds. 🌿 Plant Habit: An extremely vigorous, wildly growing indeterminate. It can easily surpass 3 meters (10 ft) in height. It produces a massive amount of … Read more