Heirloom Tomato Varieties & Reviews | Tomat-Pomidor
Honest reviews of global tomato varieties from a 15-year-old growers community.
🍅 Quick take: Maglia Rosa is a celebrated semi-determinate artisan cherry tomato bred by Fred Hempel of Artisan Seeds in California. Plants form tidy, well-behaved bushes ranging from 2 to 4 ft (0.6 to 1.2 m) that require minimal to no suckering. It yields prolific trusses of elongated, pink-and-yellow marbled “bullets” weighing up to 0.9 … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Marina’s Praise is an exquisite indeterminate, potato-leaf novelty tomato bred by American grower Jason Haynes from a cross of Orange Russian 117 and Potato Leaf Variegated. Seedlings showcase stunning white-and-green variegated foliage that transitions into manageable 5.5-6 ft (1.7-1.8 m) vines. It pumps out clusters of dense, elongated bicolor hearts averaging 3.5 … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Dwarf Loxton Lad is an early to mid-season dwarf variety developed by the international Dwarf Tomato Project. Featuring sturdy, stout stems with dark rugose foliage, it stays around 2.5 ft (0.8 m) outdoors but can reach up to 4.5 ft (1.4 m) under protected greenhouse glass. It yields heavy crops of smooth, … Read more
🍅 Quick take: K 25-56 is a highly productive, compact determinate bush variety. The plant stays very short, around 16 inches (40 cm), making it great for tight spaces or containers. The fruits are small, dark burgundy-purple tomatoes weighing about 2.5-3.2 oz (70-90 g). Growers report excellent, rich flavor and a very long shelf life, … Read more
🍅 Quick take: This thread is a fascinating two-for-one. It starts with the authentic Goldene Königin, a historic 19th-century German heirloom that produces small, highly aromatic, mild yellow fruits on indeterminate vines. However, half the growers here actually grew a modern Russian commercial namesake called Zolotaya Koroleva (Golden Queen), which is a completely different variety … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Dwarf Golden Heart is a 2015 release from the Dwarf Tomato Project, created by crossing ‘Anna Banana Russian’ and ‘Roza Vetrov‘. It is a stout, regular rugose-leaf semi-determinate plant that produces juicy, sweet, pale-yellow blunt hearts. Growers love its rugged, low-maintenance, no-prune habit and report that the compact plants get absolutely loaded … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Gold Nugget is an early, determinate yellow cherry tomato developed by Dr. James Baggett at Oregon State University. It produces wispy, thin-stemmed plants that max out around 3-5 feet (1-1.5 m) depending on whether grown outdoors or in a high tunnel. Growers love its heavy yields, very early ripening, and perfectly balanced, … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Fuzzy Wuzzy is a highly ornamental, determinate compact bush variety famous for its striking silvery-blue, heavily pubescent (fuzzy) foliage and fuzzy, striped little fruits. It is an excellent candidate for container growing. The red and gold striped tomatoes max out around 1 oz (30 g). While growers universally praise its unique beauty, … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Ei von Phuket (Egg from Phuket) is a super rare indeterminate cherry tomato that produces beautiful pastel-pink, egg-shaped fruits. The tomatoes transition from green to white to pale pink, making the vines look visually stunning as they ripen. Growers here love its massive yields, firm texture, and great shelf life, which makes … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Emalia is an eye-catching, elongated cherry tomato born from a cross between Lucky Tiger and Orange Walk. It produces 1 oz (30 g) caramel-green fruits with a distinct curved beak. Plant height is highly variable: it can stay as a compact 2.5 ft (0.8 m) bush outdoors or shoot up to 6 … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Evil Olive is an intriguing, highly productive cocktail/cherry tomato with a unique color profile. These indeterminate vines produce large, complex trusses of round fruits that ripen to a greenish-ochre outside with a dark red interior—literally resembling olives. Averaging 0.7-1.2 oz (20-35 g), the tomatoes have a memorable sweet-tart punch, a crunchy texture, … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Dwarf Caitydid is a beautiful Dwarf Tomato Project release bred by Craig LeHoullier (named after his daughter Caitlin). This sturdy, super-compact dwarf stays under 2.5 feet but pumps out impressively large, 10.5 oz bicolor beefsteaks. Growers praise it for its dense foliage and intensely sweet, refreshing flavor, often ranking it as the … Read more