Heirloom Tomato Varieties & Reviews | Tomat-Pomidor
Honest reviews of global tomato varieties from a 15-year-old growers community.
🍅 Quick take: Golden Tiger is a mid-season indeterminate anthocyanin variety that produces stunning, small yellow cocktail tomatoes with fine purple stripes. Growers praise its juicy, sweet flavor and excellent shelf life. A major standout feature is its rugged disease resistance; it has proven capable of completely shrugging off severe outbreaks of late blight and … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Earl of Edgecombe is an indeterminate, mid-season historic heirloom variety producing firm, bright orange and yellow fruits. Tomatoes usually run 3.5-10.5 oz (100-300 g) and have a distinctive barrel or globe shape. Growers praise its incredibly sturdy vines, strong trusses that don’t kink, and excellent storage life. The flavor reviews are slightly … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Diplom is an early-season determinate (bush) variety. Commercial seeds are sold as an F1 hybrid known for reliable, continuous yields of uniform 3.2 oz (90 g) fruits that keep very well in storage. However, growers saving seeds from this variety have ended up with a dehybridized strain that exhibits different traits, such … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Djena Lee’s Golden Girl is an indeterminate, mid-early heirloom dating back to the 1920s, originally bred by Djena Lee (and famously winning first prize at the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair). It produces medium-sized, bright orange fruits. The grower here highlights its excellent taste and impressive shelf life, noting it produces average yields. … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Dary Volkhvov (Gifts of the Magi) 🌍 Origin: A Russian heirloom variety. The name beautifully translates to “Gifts of the Magi” (referencing the Biblical Wise Men). 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate. Grows to about 5 feet (1.5 m) tall. Performs well in greenhouses. 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Red, elongated oval (plum/paste) tomatoes. They … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Jade Pink Round 🌍 Origin: A very rare heirloom variety. It is extremely hard to find information or grower reviews about it online. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate. A great choice for growers looking for a reliable, tall plant that produces uniformly sized salad tomatoes. 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Perfectly round, pink tomatoes … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Catwell 🌍 Origin: A highly regarded heirloom beefsteak prized by collectors for its vibrant color and excellent storage capabilities. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall), but tends to be quite manageable in height (around 1.7m / 5.5 ft in a greenhouse). It features good foliage cover, which helps protect the fruits. Early … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Charbonneuse du Berry 🌍 Origin: A rare and very unusual heirloom from France. The proper French spelling is Charbonneuse du Berry (which roughly translates to “Coal-colored from Berry”), referencing its dark, charcoal-like hues and the historical French province of Berry. 🌿 Plant Habit: A relatively short indeterminate (sometimes acting as a … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Coeur Fondant 🌍 Origin: A fantastic heirloom variety originating from France. The name translates beautifully to “Fondant Heart” or “Melting Heart”. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall). An extremely vigorous vine that can easily shoot up to 2–2.5 meters (6.5–8 ft). Grower Note: It may display physiological leaf roll early in the … 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 Blue Keyes 🌍 Origin & Type: A striking novelty anthocyanin cherry/pear tomato. It is part of a series (along with Amber Keyes, Black Keyes, etc.). 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate. The bush tends to be tall, thin, and rather lanky/leggy with regular foliage. Several growers report that it is quite sensitive to extreme … Read more
Quick Summary of Russkiy Kazak (Russian Cossack) 🌍 Origin: Originally a US-bred variety (likely by Tom Wagner) that became highly popular among Russian seed collectors (like V. Redko and V. Popenko) under the translated name “Russkiy Kazak”. 🌿 Plant Habit: Semi-determinate to indeterminate. Generally stays relatively compact, with most growers reporting a medium height of … Read more