📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Dwarf Firebird Sweet
- 🌍 Origin: Developed by the all-volunteer Dwarf Tomato Project. It was selected from the “Beauty” family (a cross between Beauty King and Dwarf Wild Fred) and officially named by Craig LeHoullier in 2013.
- 🌿 Plant Habit: Tree-type dwarf. Reaches about 28-36 inches (70-90 cm) tall. Features the classic thick, crinkly (rugose) foliage. Do not prune the suckers!
- 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Stunning oblate pink beefsteaks adorned with golden-yellow stripes. Average weight is around 5-7 oz (150-200 g), but they can get larger under optimal conditions.
- 👅 Flavor: Lives up to the “Sweet” in its name. Very rich, sweet, and balanced flavor with dense, meaty flesh.
🍅 Grown this variety? Click here to add your own photos and review below!
Dwarf Firebird Sweet. A variety from the Dwarf Tomato Project. Grew it in the greenhouse, didn’t prune the suckers at all. It grew into a sturdy little bush about 28 inches (70 cm) tall. The leaves are typical for dwarfs – broad and rugose (crinkly). Very productive, the fruits are beautiful and delicious – pink oblate tomatoes with golden stripes, weighing up to 5 oz (150 g).
I got really large fruits and a ton of them, even though it grew outdoors in the open ground under a green shade cloth. Extremely happy with both the flavor and the yield!
👨🌾 Editor’s Notes:
- No-Prune Rule for Dwarfs: Sveta mentions she didn’t prune her plant at all. This is the golden rule for growing varieties from the Dwarf Tomato Project! Unlike tall indeterminate vines, dwarf tomatoes are genetically programmed to stay short and bushy. If you snap off their suckers, you are throwing away your harvest. Just let them bush out naturally and support the heavy branches with stakes.
- Rugose Foliage: The “broad, crinkly” leaves Sveta describes are known as rugose foliage. This is a signature genetic marker of the Dwarf Tomato Project lines. These leaves are much thicker, darker, and more heavily textured than regular tomato leaves, which makes the seedlings look like cute, sturdy little broccoli plants!
- Using Shade Cloth: Svetlana from Pyatigorsk (a hot, sunny southern region in Russia) grew hers under a “green shade cloth.” In hot climates (like Florida, Texas, or Southern Europe), draping a 30% to 40% UV shade cloth over your tomatoes during the peak of summer prevents sunscald on the fruits and stops the blossoms from dropping due to extreme heat stress.
