Heirloom Tomato Varieties & Reviews | Tomat-Pomidor
Honest reviews of global tomato varieties from a 15-year-old growers community.
Quick Summary of Black Yum Yum 🌍 Origin & Name: A fantastic dark cocktail/salad variety. True to its name, it is highly prized for its incredibly sweet, dessert-like flavor. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate, early to mid-season. Reaches about 5.5 to 6 ft (1.7-1.8 m) in height. It is a very well-behaved plant that doesn’t produce … Read more
Quick Summary of Black Emperor 🌍 Origin: A beautiful and productive dark plum tomato variety. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate and tall. Generally considered a mid-season variety, though some growers in colder climates note that it begins ripening quite early for them. 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Medium-sized, plum-shaped fruits that ripen to a deep purple/brownish-black color. 👅 … Read more
Quick Summary of Bananu 🌍 Origin: A very attractive elongated yellow/orange paste tomato. Seeds are widely distributed by European and Russian seed vendors (e.g., R. Kraft, A. Kulik). 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate, mid-early (often leaning towards early). The plant is characteristically wispy, with thin stems and sparse, delicate foliage. Despite looking fragile, it is remarkably … Read more
Quick Summary of Bandol Blues 🌍 Origin: A visually stunning anthocyanin (blue/black) variety known for its incredibly dark skin. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate, early-season. The plant itself is not overly vigorous; it has a rather frail, scrawny, and wispy build. However, it is very well-behaved, easy to manage, and responds perfectly to being pruned to … Read more
Quick Summary of Atol 🌍 Origin: A commercial variety originally from Poland, also widely sold in Russia by the “Sedek” seed company. 🌿 Plant Habit: Determinate (bush). Compact, typically reaching 50-60 cm (20-24 inches) in height. Extremely rugged, cold-tolerant, and perfectly suited for open ground (outdoors) without any protection. In some regions, it can even … Read more
Quick Summary of Aces High 🌍 Origin: A rare dark cocktail tomato. In the Russian seed market, it became famous due to a hilarious translation error: the first person to import it used Google Translate, resulting in “High Aces” (as in playing cards: Tuzy Vysokie). Growers later pointed out it’s actually named after the famous … Read more
Quick Summary of Jaguar F1 🌍 Origin: A commercial F1 hybrid originally produced by the Dutch seed company Seminis (which later became part of Monsanto/Bayer). It is now largely discontinued or very hard to find in retail seed catalogs. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate. Grows to about 1.6 m (5.2 ft). It is a strongly “vegetative” … Read more
Quick Summary of Yabloki na Snegu (Apples on the Snow) 🌍 Origin: A popular early-season Russian commercial heirloom variety (frequently sold by “Russkiy Ogorod”). The poetic name translates to “Apples on the Snow”. 🌿 Plant Habit: Determinate (bush). Grows very compact, typically around 40–80 cm (16–32 inches) tall. Highly suitable for container gardening (thrives in … Read more
Quick Summary of Yablonka Rossii (Little Apple of Russia) 🌍 Origin: A highly popular commercial and heirloom variety in Russia. There is an ongoing debate among collectors that it is identical to the old East German (GDR) variety Tamina, or closely related to Matina. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (though often behaves as semi-determinate in open … Read more
Quick Summary of Yantarnaya Rossyp (Amber Placer) 🌍 Origin: A modern Russian commercial variety bred by the “Tsentr Ogorodnik” / “Poisk” seed company and officially entered into the Russian State Register in 2018. The name roughly translates to “Amber Placer” or “Scattering of Amber”. 🌿 Plant Habit: Determinate, compact, and sturdy (tree-type). It has a … Read more
Quick Summary of Yantarnyi (Amber) 🌍 Origin: A well-known Russian commercial/heirloom variety. The name translates to “Amber,” referring to its bright yellow-orange color. Note: It is sometimes sold under variations like “Yantarnyi 530”. 🌿 Plant Habit: Determinate (bush/tree-type). It is highly compact, rugose, and very sturdy. It does not strictly require pruning or suckering, making … Read more
Quick Summary of Yantarnaya Komnata (Amber Room) 🌍 Origin: An exotic Russian commercial/heirloom variety, originally distributed by breeder Valeriy Medvedev. The name translates to “Amber Room,” referring to the amber-yellow blush the green skin develops when fully ripe. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate, vigorous, and tall. In a greenhouse, it easily reaches up to 2.5 meters … Read more