Heirloom Tomato Varieties & Reviews | Tomat-Pomidor
Honest reviews of global tomato varieties from a 15-year-old growers community.
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Bychok (Little Bull) 🌍 Origin: Introduced to North America and popularized by the famous tomato collector Tatiana Kouchnareva (Tatiana’s TOMATObase). The name “Bychok” literally translates to “Little Bull” (a play on the famous “Bull’s Heart” oxheart tomatoes). 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate. It exhibits the classic “wimpy” oxheart growth habit with thin, … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Bull’s Heart of Minusinsk 🌍 Origin: A famous local heirloom from Minusinsk, Siberia (the tomato capital of Russia, known for its giant tomato festivals). Also known as Bychye Serdtse Minusinskoe. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall), but generally tidy, growing up to 1.7m (5.5 ft) in the greenhouse. Like most true oxheart … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Bulgarska Hala 🌍 Origin: A magnificent heirloom from Bulgaria, highly prized by seed collectors. The name translates to “Bulgarian Hala” (in Balkan folklore, a Hala is a mythical dragon—a fitting name for such a monstrously large tomato!). 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate, but widely praised for having a very tidy and manageable … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): The “Big Boy” Mystery 🧬 Hybrid vs. Heirloom Controversy: In the US, “Burpee’s Big Boy” is a famous commercial F1 hybrid introduced in 1949. However, in Eastern Europe and Russia, seed collectors have been trading saved seeds of a variety called “Big Boy” for years. It is highly debated whether this … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Big Rainbow (Bolshaya Raduga) 🌍 Origin: A famous American heirloom originally from Minnesota. In Russia, it is widely grown and traded among collectors under the translated name “Bolshaya Raduga” (Большая радуга). 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall). Usually grows between 1.8 – 2 meters (6-6.5 ft) in a greenhouse, but can be … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Banan Rozovyi (Pink Banana) 🌍 Origin: A commercial Russian variety available from several seed companies, including Aelita and Siberian Garden (SibSad). 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate. Like many elongated paste tomatoes, it has a distinct “weeping” or wispy foliage. As a young seedling, the tops can twist and vine aggressively, which is … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Bychiy Lob (Bull’s Forehead) 🌍 Origin: A commercial Siberian variety released by the Russian seed company “Siberian Garden” (SibSad). The name translates to “Bull’s Forehead” in English. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate, though some growers report that it occasionally self-tops (terminates with a flower truss) around 6.5 ft (2m) in the greenhouse. … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Babushkino (Grandma’s) 🌍 Origin: A highly popular heirloom variety widely circulated among collectors. The name translates to “Grandma’s”. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate, vigorous, and tall (easily pushing past 7 ft / 2m in a greenhouse). An absolute workhorse of a plant that pumps out heavy yields. Often grown to 2 or … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Burracker’s Favorite 🌍 Origin: A famous heirloom variety from the USA (Virginia), named after the Burracker Hollow in the Blue Ridge Mountains. It was introduced to the gardening world by Craig LeHoullier. In Russia, it’s known as “Burrakerskie Lyubimtsy”. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate. The plant is notorious for having somewhat “wimpy” … Read more
.jpg.1628c0db430b75f484dfa7861f4e3bbe.jpg)
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Banan Oranzhevyi (Orange Banana) 🌍 Origin: A popular commercial Russian variety (widely distributed by seed companies like Gavrish and Aelita). The name translates to “Orange Banana”. 🌿 Plant Habit: Mostly indeterminate (growing over 6.5 ft / 2 m in greenhouses), though some growers report shorter determinate strains. It has a characteristic … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Uriasa de Baltatesti 🌍 Origin: An old Eastern European heirloom from the Bălțătești commune in Romania. The name translates to “Giant of Bălțătești”. The seeds trace back to the collection of Vali Cucu, a well-known Romanian seed saver who researches and preserves local varieties. 🌿 Plant Habit: Produces an enormous yield. … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Gramma Climen Hagen 🌍 Origin: An heirloom from the McIntee family, grown for many years by their grandmother, Bertha Jean (Anderson) Climenhaga (born in 1910). Introduced to seed collectors by Dale Thurber. Note: The variety is often circulated under the spelling “Gramma Climen Hagen”. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall). A heavy-yielding … Read more