Heirloom Tomato Varieties & Reviews | Tomat-Pomidor
Honest reviews of global tomato varieties from a 15-year-old growers community.
Quick Summary of Yuzhnaya Korona (Southern Crown) 🌍 Origin: A commercial/heirloom variety traded among Eastern European collectors. The name translates to “Southern Crown”. 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Visually stunning. They produce large, round, red fruits that are slightly corrugated (ribbed/ruffled) at the shoulders. ⏳ Yield: Exceptionally high. Growers note that the fruiting is “super abundant,” making … Read more
Quick Summary of Yubileyniy Tarasenko (Tarasenko’s Jubilee) 🌍 Origin & Breeder Lore: A legendary variety bred by the famous Soviet amateur breeder Feodosiy Tarasenko. The name translates to “Tarasenko’s Jubilee”. 🌿 Plant Habit: A tall, vigorous indeterminate that easily reaches 2 meters (6.5 ft). The defining feature of the Tarasenko lines is their Multiflora (Mega-Truss) … Read more
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Quick Summary of Yustina (Justyna) 🌍 Origin: A highly regarded cocktail-sized heirloom variety popular in Eastern European collections. The name is Justyna (often transliterated as Yustina). 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (vining) with medium vigor and regular foliage. It responds exceptionally well to minimal pruning (growers recommend pruning suckers only up to the first truss, then … Read more
Quick Summary of Elegant 🌍 Origin & Naming Confusion: “Elegant” is a name shared by several completely different tomato strains in the Russian/Ukrainian seed market. This forum thread is highly valuable because it breaks down the differences between the commercial version and the private collector versions. 🍅 Strain 1 (Commercial / SibSad variety): A mid-early … Read more
Quick Summary of Ekzotika (Exotica) 🌍 Origin: A reliable commercial/heirloom variety. The name translates to “Exotica” in English. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (vining), mid-to-late season. The plant is vigorous, sprawling, and grows to about 1.7 meters (5.6 ft) tall when planted outdoors. 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Bright red, perfectly round fruits growing in clusters of 7 … Read more
Quick Summary of Efemer 🌍 Origin: A very popular, reliable, and trouble-free commercial/heirloom variety from Eastern Europe (Ukraine/Russia/Moldova). 🌿 Plant Habit: Determinate (bush) type. Typically grows to about 60-70 cm (24-28 inches) outdoors, but can reach 1 m (3.2 ft) in a greenhouse. Requires minimal pruning. 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Perfectly round, smooth red fruits weighing … Read more
Quick Summary of Elberta Peach (Elberta Persikovaya) 🌍 Origin: A beautiful novelty variety known for its fuzzy, silvery-blue “angora” foliage and peach-like fuzzy fruits. Often goes by the name Elberta Girl in some Western collections. 🌿 Plant Habit: Determinate/Semi-determinate bush type, usually reaching 1 to 1.5 meters (3.2 – 4.9 ft) in height. The foliage … Read more
Quick Summary of Eros 🌍 Origin: A well-known novelty paste tomato, often considered the “brother” of the famous Auria variety, but with yellow-orange fruits. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (vining). Known for having “wispy foliage” (thin, delicate-looking vines) despite its tall and vigorous growth. Easily reaches the greenhouse roof. 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Elongated, cylindrical (phallic-shaped) fruits, … Read more
Quick Summary of EM-Chempion (EM-Champion) 🌍 Origin: A famous Russian commercial variety released by Sibirskiy Sad (Siberian Garden). The name translates to “EM-Champion”. 🌿 Plant Habit: Determinate (bush), reaching about 60–70 cm (24–28 inches) outdoors. It has very sparse, thin, downward-hanging leaves (often described as “wispy” or “weeping willow” type). Because of this, it can … Read more
Quick Summary of Ela 06 🌍 Origin: A spectacular Polish breeding line. It is a cross between Aurija (a famous elongated paste tomato) and Megagroniasty (a legendary Polish cherry tomato known for its massive multiflora trusses). 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate, extremely vigorous, and disease-resistant. Growers describe it as growing “like a tree” with very thick, … Read more
Quick Summary of Sherkhan (Shere Khan) 🌍 Origin: A Russian commercial variety. Named “Sherkhan” (after the tiger Shere Khan from The Jungle Book) due to its distinctive striped skin. 🌿 Plant Habit: Determinate (bush). The seed packet states a compact height of 60 cm (24 inches). However, greenhouse growers report it can act very vigorously, … Read more
Quick Summary of Shokoladka F1 (Little Chocolate F1) 🌍 Origin: A commercial F1 hybrid originally released by the Russian seed company “SeDek” (also distributed by Ukrainian private collectors). The name translates to “Chocolate Bar”. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate, medium-tall. Outdoors it reaches about 1.7 m (5.5 ft). The foliage is somewhat thin and sparse (wispy), … Read more