Heirloom Tomato Varieties & Reviews | Tomat-Pomidor
Honest reviews of global tomato varieties from a 15-year-old growers community.
🍅 Quick take: Nicky Crain is an indeterminate, mid-season American heirloom tomato from Kentucky, famous for its wispy foliage and plump, medium-to-large pink oxheart fruits. All three growers here praise its reliable heavy yields, thin skin, and dense, meaty flesh that is almost completely seedless. Full summary ↓ Growers’ Notes and Photos (USDA Zones 4-6 … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Napa Giant is an American heirloom originating from California’s Napa Valley. An indeterminate, mid-season beefsteak, it is renowned for throwing giant, broad, oblate pink fruits capable of topping 2.2 lbs (1 kg). While capable of stellar size and rich old-fashioned flavor when pruned, outdoor trials show it can drop blossoms in extreme … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Mule Team is an American heirloom introduced by New Jersey seed collector Joe Bratka, famous for cranking out heavy, dependable crops like a team of work mules. It grows as an indeterminate, mid-season vine bearing large, flattened 10.5-17.5 oz (300-500 g) red beefsteaks. Northern growers find it sets fruit earlier than most … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Marlowe Charleston is an American heirloom indeterminate vine historically linked to West Virginia and popularized by tomato preservationist Chuck Wyatt. Sporting lush potato-leaf foliage, it yields large, meaty pink beefsteaks mid-season with a straightforward, classic old-school tomato flavor. Tested outdoors in a cool Zone 4 climate, it delivered steady, average yields. Full … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Mennonite is an indeterminate, mid-season leaning late heirloom beefsteak tracing back to historic North American Mennonite communities. It yields large, smooth, peach-orange fruits packed with dense, solid meat and exceptionally few seeds. In northern greenhouse trials, it produced pleasant though mild, low-sweetness fruit with yields running on the lighter side. Full summary … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Mortgage Lifter Bicolor is an indeterminate, mid-to-late season heirloom beefsteak derived from the famous 1930s West Virginia line bred by M.C. “Radiator Charlie” Byles. It bears massive, oblate fruits weighing 14-21 oz (400-600 g) with golden-orange skins blushed with a crimson crown and sweet, low-acid, marbled flesh. Northern growers find it productive … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Maiden’s Kiss is an open-pollinated variety originally hailing from Nebraska, USA (introduced around 2007). It is a vigorous, indeterminate, mid-season paste tomato producing meaty, red plum-shaped fruits weighing 6-7.8 oz (170-220 g) and larger. In northern trial conditions, it proved to be a heavy yielder with a balanced sweet-tart profile and excellent … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Marizol Magic is an indeterminate, mid-season fuzzy peach-type tomato (associated with New Jersey breeder Joe Bratka’s Marizol line) that produces 1.5-3.5 oz (40-100 g) yellow-orange fruits with a pink blush. Growers love its uncanny resemblance to real apricots, heavy yields, and sweet, fruity dessert flavor when ripened on the vine, though fruits … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Matt’s Black (Chernyy Metta) is an indeterminate, mid-season dark cocktail cherry originating from the United States (USA). The vigorous vines easily climb to 6.5 ft (2 m), setting generous trusses of round, ~1 oz (25-35 g) large cherries that ripen into a deep, glossy burgundy-brown. Growers highlight its exceptional table quality: thin-skinned, … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Make My Day is a mid-season, semi-determinate bicolor bred by celebrated American plant breeder Tom Wagner (USA). Vines top out around 4.6 ft (1.4 m) and produce high yields of 8-14 oz (225-400 g) oblate beefsteaks and blunt hearts swirled in orange, yellow, and soft pink. While visual appeal and seedlessness are … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Margareto is an indeterminate, mid-season heirloom oxheart sourced out of New York (USA). The vine is exceptionally slender and delicate, sporting textbook wispy foliage and producing very few suckers. It bears 8-16 oz (225-450 g) meaty, dense hearts that ripen into a deep reddish-pink. Growers note that the canopy should never be … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Marz Green is an indeterminate, mid-to-late season heirloom beefsteak hailing from the United States (USA). The vines produce 7-12 oz (200-350 g) oblate green-when-ripe (GWR) fruits that blush with warm amber-gold tones upon full maturity, opening to reveal vivid emerald-green, juicy-meaty flesh. Growers note that while it can be finicky in variable … Read more