Heirloom Tomato Varieties & Reviews | Tomat-Pomidor
Honest reviews of global tomato varieties from a 15-year-old growers community.
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Purple Pear Brandywine 🌍 Origin: A fantastic dark pear/plum variation in the famous Brandywine family. Known for combining the legendary Brandywine flavor with a unique shape. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall). Very robust and vigorous, usually grown to 2 stems in the greenhouse. 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Dark raspberry/purple pear-shaped fruits. Sizes … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Bogatyr Ilyusha 🌍 Origin: A commercial Russian variety introduced by the “Aelita” seed company. The name translates to “Hero Ilyusha”, referencing a legendary strongman from Slavic folklore. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall). Can be grown successfully both in a greenhouse and outdoors in open ground. 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Large, blunt oxhearts … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Large Barred Boar 🌍 Origin: An exotic release from Brad Gates at Wild Boar Farms (California, USA). It has become highly popular among Russian and Eastern European heirloom collectors. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate, mid-season variety. Typically grows to about 5 feet (1.5 m) tall. It prefers a very sunny, well-ventilated spot … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Black Oxheart (Bych’ye Serdtse Chernoe) 🌍 Origin: A highly regarded commercial and family heirloom from Russia. Known in Russian as Bych’ye Serdtse Chernoe. Growers often debate how it compares to the American variety Brad’s Black Heart. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate. It features the classic “wispy, drooping” oxheart foliage, but the main … Read more
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📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Blazhenstvo (Bliss) 🌍 Origin: A stunning modern variety introduced by Russian breeder and collector Sofia Saakova. The name translates beautifully to “Bliss”. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall). It has proven to be quite resistant to Leaf Mold (Cladosporium), staying healthy late into the season. Note: It is a late-season variety in … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Appetitnyi (Appetizing) 🌍 Origin: A commercial variety from the Russian seed company Siberian Garden (SibSad). The name translates perfectly to “Appetizing” or “Mouthwatering”. 🌿 Plant Habit: It behaves as a semi-determinate or a compact indeterminate. Outdoors in the open garden, it usually stops around 80-100 cm (31-40″). Inside a poly greenhouse, … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Afro-Cherry 🌍 Origin: A commercial dark-fruited cocktail tomato variety developed by Russian breeders. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall). The plant grows to about 1.8-2.2 m (6-7.2 ft) in height. 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Dark mahogany/cherry-colored cocktail tomatoes weighing 40-50 g (1.4-1.8 oz). They are very glossy, thick-walled, and grow in clusters of … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Pineapple Heart (Ananasnoe Serdtse) 🌍 Origin: An unstable exotic selection created by the well-known breeder A.I. Kulik. It originated as a genetic segregation (off-type) of another variety, and growers are still actively stabilizing it. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall), mid-early to mid-late season. Because the variety is still segregating, growers report … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Arbuznyi (Watermelon) 🌍 Origin: A well-known Russian commercial commercial variety. The name “Arbuznyi” translates to “Watermelon,” referring to its mahogany-red/dark color with subtle dark green stripes near the shoulders. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate. Height varies greatly depending on whether it is grown in a greenhouse or open ground. Known for having … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Amurskiy Tigr (Amur Tiger) 🌍 Origin: A commercial Russian variety introduced by the “Aelita” seed company. ⚠️ The Seed Mystery (Important!): For several years, Aelita accidentally distributed a completely wrong seed (an off-type) under this name. Many early growers ended up with small, red-and-yellow striped cocktail tomatoes with thin skin (suspected … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Amarillo & Amarillo Armadillo 🌍 Origin: This thread covers experimental/numbered breeding lines sent to Russian growers simply as “Amarillo”, as well as the named exotic variety Amarillo Armadillo. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall), regular leaf. Very vigorous and highly productive. The Armadillo variant grows to about 1.6 m (5.2 ft) when … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Pineapple Sergeant (Ananasnyi Serzhant) 🌍 Origin: A breathtakingly beautiful modern creation by Russian tomato breeder Sofia Saakova. It is a yellow/bicolor anthocyanin descendant of the world-famous American heirloom, Sgt. Pepper’s. The line is currently around the F7 stage of stabilization. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall), mid-early to mid-season. Like many oxheart … Read more