Heirloom Tomato Varieties & Reviews | Tomat-Pomidor
Honest reviews of global tomato varieties from a 15-year-old growers community.
🍅 Quick take: Queen Anne is a mid-season, compact indeterminate vine bred by renowned American breeder Tom Wagner (crossing Brandy Stripes x Vintage Wine). Fruits average around 7 oz (200 g) with an oblate shape and plump shoulders. Because Wagner’s early releases often display genetic segregation, growers report two distinct color phenotypes: one shimmering, pearlescent … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Pike County Yellow is a traditional 19th-century American indeterminate heirloom beefsteak originating from the Appalachian hills of eastern Kentucky. In this northern greenhouse trial, it proved disappointing: the vine topped out at 7 ft (2.1 m), but suffered severe blossom drop, setting only a single large yellow beefsteak per cluster. Reviewers found … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Prue is a storied 19th-century indeterminate heirloom hailing from South Portland, Maine (popularized by Dr. Carolyn Male). Famous for its slender, wispy foliage, the vine produces an intriguing array of fruit shapes, ranging from elongated plums and beaked hearts to smooth globes weighing 3.5-9 oz (100-250 g). Gardeners prize it for its … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Punta Banda is a rare, rugged semi-indeterminate heirloom originating from the arid coastal peninsula of Baja California, Mexico (popularized by Native Seeds/SEARCH). Growing as a manageable 4.3 ft (1.3 m) compact vine, it yields heavy clusters of round, bright red, large cherry-to-cocktail fruits known for their rich juice and classic, well-balanced old-school … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Primary Colors is a distinctive saladette/cocktail variety bred by American heirloom breeder Tom Wagner. The indeterminate vines bear round, 2-3.5 oz (60-100 g) bright yellow fruits accented with dark purple anthocyanin shoulders. Growers highlight its heavy fruit set and solid sweet-tart profile. In southern climates, it thrives unpruned, though northern open-ground growers … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Pink Sweet is an indeterminate, mid-to-late season heirloom slicer originating from Tazewell, Tennessee (preserved via seed saver Dale Thurber). It produces beefy, raspberry-pink, flat-round fruits ranging from 5 oz to over 1 lb (150-450 g+) with almost no seeds and an intense, memorable sweetness. Growers in USDA Zones 4 through 6 praise … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Plan 9 from Outer Space is a show-stopping indeterminate heirloom bicolor beefsteak discovered and named by Remy Orlowski (The Sample Seed Shop, USA) as an accidental off-type in a packet of Brad Gates’ Solar Flare. Named after Ed Wood’s infamous 1959 cult sci-fi film, it produces oblate, golden-yellow fruits marbled with blazing … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Old German is a classic 19th-century indeterminate heirloom bicolor beefsteak preserved by Mennonite growers in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. It yields massive, oblate yellow-gold fruits marbled with ruby red that grow increasingly crimson as they dead-ripen. Northern cool-climate growers find it sweeter than Pineapple (Ananas), but caution that it is a decidedly late-season … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Oregon Spring is an early, cold-tolerant determinate bush variety bred by Dr. James Baggett at Oregon State University in 1984. Developed from a cross of Severyanin and Starshot, it possesses parthenocarpic traits, reliably setting nearly seedless slicers weighing 1.8 to 7 oz (50-200 g) in freezing spring weather. Siberian and cool-climate growers … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Ozark Sunset is an indeterminate anthocyanin variety originally bred by Mark McCaslin (Frogsleap Farm). It delivers round, striking purple-pink saladette-sized fruits up to 3.5 oz (100 g) on long clusters. Growers in challenging climates report excellent disease resistance, sweet fruity flavor, and impressive stamina, pumping out tomatoes well into October even on … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Our Own Pink is an American family heirloom featuring vigorous indeterminate vines with broad potato-leaf foliage. It yields large, thin-skinned pink beefsteaks mid-season. Grower trials show it shines far brighter when grown outdoors in full summer sun than inside a humid greenhouse, where its classic sweet-tart flavor can fall a bit flat … Read more
🍅 Quick take: One Trick Pony is an indeterminate, mid-season dark beefsteak bred by acclaimed Canadian breeder Karen Olivier (Ladysmith, BC). Bred with regular foliage as a tongue-in-cheek retort to critics who claimed she could only breed potato-leaf varieties, it bears gorgeous 7-17.5 oz (200-500 g) smoky purple-brown slicers. Northern growers report incredible melt-in-your-mouth texture, … Read more