Growers’ Notes and Photos (USDA Zones 3-8 Experience)
Indeterminate, mid-season bicolor.
The fruits are gorgeous, flat-round beefsteaks, yellow-orange with a bright red crown on top that bleeds down into streaks. Massive tomatoes, my biggest one tipped the scales at 14 oz (400 g), and zero cracking.
Crazy productive. Grew it outdoors in the open garden where the vine topped out around 4 ft (1.2 m). Flavor was very, very good, though it fell just a hair short of top-tier sweetness for my personal taste. Loved this variety!
Seeds came from Aleksey Kulik.
Edited June 23, 2015 by Drosera
A few more shots.
Fantastically beautiful variety! How did it yield for you? Are all the fruits in that top photo taken off a single plant?
Yes, Angela, that was all off one single plant. I pretty much ran just one plant per variety that season.
Super productive and such an absolute stunner, it almost broke my heart having to pick these beauties off the vine!
Lena, huge thanks for the seeds! 💐
Hands down one of the absolute best bicolors I have ever grown when it comes to the total package of flavor and heavy yield. 👍
Indeterminate, regular foliage. Ran it in the greenhouse trained to two stems, and it set no fewer than 14 big fruits on that one vine. Gorgeous and packed with flavor! 😋 The heavyweight in the bunch was right around 19.4 oz (550 g).
Compared to other bicolors, this one really stands out for its high yield and remarkably dense, firm flesh. Sweet, striking tomatoes.
The main production window lasted a solid two months. Got our seeds from Tomatinka.
Old Flame, indeterminate bicolor, trained it to two stems.
Heavy producer, every single tomato was huge, averaging right around 16 oz (450 g) for me. And what a stunner! Rich, delicious flavor too. Natasha-Yaroslavna, props to you for the seeds! 🙏
This one turned out super sweet and flavorful, showing that gorgeous bicolor core blush inside when cut.
Vines hit roughly 6.5 ft (2 m) tall in my greenhouse. Solid production overall, with individual heavyweight fruits easily pushing past 21 oz (600 g).
Old Flame from the 2018 season.
Full Summary: Plant, Sizing, Flesh Density and Yield
- 🌿 Plant & Habit: Indeterminate vine with regular foliage. Remains relatively compact outdoors at around 4 ft (1.2 m), while stretching to 6.5 ft (2 m) inside greenhouse structures. Growers consistently recommend pruning to two main stems.
- 📈 Yield & Fruit Size: Outstanding production for a large heirloom slicer. Sets heavy clusters of oblate beefsteaks ranging from 14 oz (400 g) to well over 21 oz (600 g). Svetlana documented at least 14 massive beefsteaks ripened on a single greenhouse plant.
- 👅 Taste & Texture: Sweet and rich with a marbled two-tone interior. Significantly, multiple growers point out that Old Flame does not get overly soft or watery like many traditional heirloom bicolors; it maintains firm, meaty flesh and exceptional crack resistance.
- ⏱️ Productive Window: Demonstrates great stamina, maintaining active harvesting for over two months.
- 🌎 Who Reviewed It: Six growers spanning USDA Zones 3 through 8, from the extreme short-season Urals to Western Europe and southern Russia.
