Quick Summary of Pantano (Pantano Romanesco)
- 🌍 Origin: A classic traditional Italian heirloom variety. It is widely known internationally as Pantano Romanesco, though some seed swappers circulate it simply as Pantano.
- 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall), but praised for being very sturdy and not prone to getting leggy or stretching. It performs decently outdoors in open ground, even in cooler Russian climates.
- 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Shiny red, slightly ribbed/pleated beefsteaks. Weight is generally around 200–250g (7–8.8 oz), though some commercial packet versions turn out much smaller in short-season climates. They are dense and meaty.
- 👅 Flavor & Texture: Highly debated! While some growers praise its perfectly balanced classic tomato flavor (a good mix of sweet and sour), others who grew it from imported commercial packets found the taste mediocre (“a C+”) and completely unimpressive. It seems that acclimatized, locally adapted seeds produce far better results than direct imports.
- ⏳ Maturity: Listed as mid-early, though in some seasons it tends to “stall” and behave more like a mid-late variety.
A mid-early indeterminate variety. The fruits are shiny red, slightly ribbed, meaty, weighing from 200 to 250g (7 to 8.8 oz). It has a classic rich tomato flavor—just the right amount of sweetness and acidity. It grew outdoors in open ground, set fruit on every single truss, and the yield was very good.
Continuation of photos:
I grew Pantano Romanesco in 2013 from this commercial packet:
Honestly, having read so much about it on another forum earlier, I expected more. But it turned out to be just an ordinary indeterminate tomato, and even smaller than advertised (though that’s probably my fault, not the plant’s). The taste is normal, tomato-y, not bad, but it didn’t hook me or impress me in any way. Maybe I’ll try planting it one more time, but right now I don’t really want to.
Got a bit confused trying to insert the photos.
Galya, mine was just “Pantano” (without Romanesco), but I grew it from seeds swapped on the forum, not from a commercial packet. Also, what I really liked is that this indeterminate doesn’t get leggy; it’s a very sturdy bush. I liked this variety for open ground because of its yield, low maintenance, and fairly good taste.
This particular tomato weighed 245 grams (8.6 oz):
I’ll share my experience as well 🙈 I grew Pantano in 2011. I was intrigued by this variety because of the colorful picture on the seed packet 😲, and because the seeds were Italian. It’s supposedly highly esteemed in Italy itself, so overall, I was impressed)))
My hopes were high, and I planted it in the most honorable spot in the garden. And since there were just so many seeds in the packet, I gave them out to anyone who wanted some. At first, this “pomodoro” seemed to justify the expectations: it was planted outdoors in open ground early, in early April, the bushes were tall and sturdy. I pruned the suckers. It flowered early, but then it started behaving like a mid-late variety (it sort of stalled and froze). The weather didn’t let us down, there were no frosts, no excessive rain either.
And then, the taste turned out to be extremely mediocre… a C+ at best 🤦♀️. My friends who managed to score some seeds from me weren’t thrilled with this variety either. It didn’t show itself in all its glory for anyone: it lacked that 10/10 taste and size. Maybe it’s only super-duper in Italy?
