🍅 Quick take: Lago Maggiore is a tall, indeterminate, mid-season variety that produces heavy yields of ribbed, pear-shaped and plum-shaped tomatoes ranging from 3.5 oz to over 1 lb. It’s highly crack-resistant in wet conditions. Flavor is universally praised, though growers report varying results regarding its shelf life and firmness. Full summary ↓
Growers’ Notes and Photos (USDA Zones 4-5 Experience)
LAGO MAGGIORE.Loved this variety. Checked every single box. One of my top yielders this season. Taste is really good. Flesh is pretty dense and juicy. Fruits store well too.
Shapes vary a lot. Ribbed pears, plums. Sizes range from 3.5 oz (100 g) up to massive 1.1 lb (500 g) giants. Skin is thick, didn’t crack even with high soil moisture.
Ripens gradually. Doesn’t drop blossoms, sets almost every truss. Best pruned to two stems.
Tall, strong plant.
Extended harvest, mid-season variety.
Thanks, super informative review!
Grew this one the year before last. Yeah, it’s productive and tasty. But the flesh wasn’t dense for me. Gets soft really fast.
Full Summary: Plant, Yield, Taste and Storage
- 🌿 Plant: Indeterminate, mid-season. Tall, vigorous vines with an extended harvest period. Valeriy recommends pruning/training them to two stems.
- 📈 Yield: Exceptionally high. Sets practically every truss and doesn’t suffer from blossom drop. Thick skin makes it highly crack-resistant even in overly saturated soils.
- 🍅 Fruit Size & Shape: Highly variable. Mostly heavily ribbed pears and plums, weighing anywhere from 3.5 oz to over 1.1 lbs (100 to 500 g).
- 👅 Taste & Storage: Great flavor with a juicy profile. However, growers have conflicting experiences with firmness: Valeriy notes it’s dense and stores well, while Olga reports that it goes soft on the counter very quickly.
- 🌎 Who Reviewed It: Three growers, all based in short-season USDA Zones 4 and 5 (Vologda, St. Petersburg, and the Tula region).
🍅 Grown Lago Maggiore? Share your zone and how it did for you in the comments below, and add your photos!
👨🌾 Editor’s Note: Italian Heirloom Traits & Shelf Life
Lago Maggiore takes its name from the famous lake on the south side of the Alps, shared by Italy and Switzerland. Like many Italian heirloom strains of this type (such as Costoluto or various Albenga types), you’ll often see distinct heavy ribbing and a pyriform (pear) shape. The discrepancy in shelf life and firmness reported by Valeriy and Olga is actually quite common with large, juicy heirlooms. Variations in watering schedules, potassium levels in the soil, and ambient temperature during ripening can drastically alter how quickly a tomato softens up indoors after picking.
Lago Maggiore takes its name from the famous lake on the south side of the Alps, shared by Italy and Switzerland. Like many Italian heirloom strains of this type (such as Costoluto or various Albenga types), you’ll often see distinct heavy ribbing and a pyriform (pear) shape. The discrepancy in shelf life and firmness reported by Valeriy and Olga is actually quite common with large, juicy heirlooms. Variations in watering schedules, potassium levels in the soil, and ambient temperature during ripening can drastically alter how quickly a tomato softens up indoors after picking.
