Heirloom Tomato Varieties & Reviews | Tomat-Pomidor
Honest reviews of global tomato varieties from a 15-year-old growers community.
🍅 Quick take: Fiaschetto is a determinate, mid-season plum tomato (these seeds originally sourced from Solana Seeds). The bushes are very compact, reaching only 2 to 2.5 feet tall, and pump out heavy yields of perfect red paste tomatoes. Growers praise it for its excellent disease resistance and bold, old-fashioned tomato flavor. Full summary ↓ … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Dalmatiner is a traditional Croatian heirloom that produces tall, vigorous indeterminate vines and large, red beefsteaks that are ribbed at the shoulders. Growers rave about its rich, perfectly balanced, old-school tomato flavor and meaty texture, noting that while it has massive potential, the flavor needs decent summer heat to fully dial in. … Read more
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📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Belle du Poitou 🌍 Origin: Vintage heirloom from France. The name translates directly to “Beauty of Poitou” (a historical province in west-central France). 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall). A reliable and strong-growing vine. 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Large, perfectly round red beefsteaks. They are exceptionally uniform and smooth, frequently reaching up to … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Goat Bag 🌍 Origin: A highly sought-after heirloom circulated in Eastern European seed swaps under the translated name “Koziy Meshok” . 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall). Strong, powerful vines that easily hit 6.5 feet (2 m). It features dense foliage, very sturdy stems, and thick fruit trusses that don’t kink under … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Kuum 🌍 Origin: A highly respected Eastern European heirloom variety. While its exact history is a bit muddy, it has earned a legendary reputation among Russian seed collectors as the ultimate “reliable red” workhorse. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall), easily reaching 6.5 feet (2 m) or more in a greenhouse. It … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Zarevo (Glow) 🌍 Origin: A very rare Russian heirloom variety popularized and distributed by the well-known tomato seed collector V. Kolyakov. The name translates to “Glow” or “Blaze”. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate. A tall, powerful, and vigorous plant that performs exceptionally well in greenhouses. 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Bright red, round beefsteaks … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Belorusskoe Serdtse (Belarusian Heart) 🌍 Origin & History: A fantastic heirloom with a verified history! In 2006, a tomato grower named Andrey from Minsk (Belarus) bought a massive 900g (2 lb) tomato from an elderly woman at a local market. She had grown it for years but didn’t know the name. … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Arbuz (Watermelon) 🌍 Origin & The Name Controversy: “Arbuz” translates directly to “Watermelon”. There is a famous old heirloom called Watermelon Beefsteak which is strictly Potato Leaf (PL). However, the strain discussed in this thread (popularized by our forum member Svetikk from Lithuanian seeds) is distinctly Regular Leaf (RL). Because of … Read more
Quick Summary of Bobbie 🌍 Origin & Strains: A well-known heirloom oxheart tomato. There is an interesting discussion among growers about the color: seeds sourced from Tatiana’s TOMATObase (Canada) typically produce pure red fruits, while strains sourced from some US vendors produce pink/raspberry-pink fruits. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate, mid-season. Like many oxheart varieties, it features … Read more
Quick Summary of Yablochnyi Lipetskiy (Apple Lipetsk) 🌍 Origin: A legendary Russian heirloom from the Lipetsk region. It was saved from a single tomato given to a gardener in 1996 and popularized on Russian tomato forums years later. The name translates to “Apple of Lipetsk”. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate with moderate vigor. It grows well … Read more
Quick Summary of Shokoladnaya Amazonka (Chocolate Amazon) 🌍 Origin: A Russian heirloom variety widely circulated among prominent private seed collectors (such as Popenko and Redko). The name translates to “Chocolate Amazon”. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate, though some growers describe it as medium-tall, reaching about 1.5 m (5 ft) in greenhouses. The plant is sturdy and … Read more
Quick Summary of Sibirskie Shangi (Siberian Shangi) 🌍 Origin: A commercial variety from the famous Russian seed company “SibSad” (Siberian Garden). “Shangi” refers to traditional Siberian flat, open-faced savory tarts/pastries, which describes the shape of these tomatoes. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall), reaching over 1.5m (5 ft). Vigorous and beautiful vines. Growers report that it … Read more