Heirloom Tomato Varieties & Reviews | Tomat-Pomidor
Honest reviews of global tomato varieties from a 15-year-old growers community.
Quick Summary of Siberian Giant (Sibirskiy Velikan) 🌍 Origin: A classic commercial Siberian variety (this is the traditional red version, not to be confused with Siberian Giant Pink). 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate, vigorous, and powerful. It grows to about 1.5 – 1.7 meters (5-5.5 ft) tall and performs well in both greenhouses and open ground. … Read more
Quick Summary of Pink Early Ripener (Skorospelka Rozovaya) 🌍 Origin & Name: A commercial Russian variety. The name translates directly to “Pink Early Ripener” or “Pink Early Bird” (Skorospelka Rozovaya). 🌿 Plant Habit: Determinate (compact bush), moderately branching, reaching a height of 50-70 cm (20-27 inches). Excellent for open ground and temporary film tunnels. 🍅 … Read more
Quick Summary of Sugar Giant (Sakharnyi Gigant) 🌍 Origin & Vendor Issues: A large-fruited Russian commercial variety. The name translates to “Sugar Giant”. However, there is massive inconsistency between the major seed vendors (Russian Garden/RO vs. Siberian Garden/SibSad). 🔍 The Shape Mystery: The packet from “Russian Garden” promises a large, barrel-like (cuboid) or blocky plum … Read more
Quick Summary of Desdemona’s Heart (Serdtse Dezdemony) 🌍 Origin & Name: An heirloom variety sourced from private collector Tamara Yashchenko. The name is a nod to Shakespeare’s famous tragedy, adding a dramatic flair to this beautiful oxheart. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate, though it behaves more like a vigorous semi-determinate in many gardens. It typically reaches … Read more
Quick Summary of Siberian Troika (Sibirskaya Troyka) 🌍 Origin & Name: A well-known commercial variety from the Russian Siberian Garden (SibSad) seed company. The name translates to “Siberian Troika” (a traditional Russian carriage drawn by a team of three horses). 🌿 Plant Habit: A sturdy, compact determinate (tree-type/semi-dwarf) bush. It typically grows to about 60-100 … Read more
Quick Summary of Saratovskie (Saratov) 🌍 Origin & Name: A Russian heirloom named after the city of Saratov on the Volga River. Ironically (and amusingly), local growers from Saratov note that this variety is completely unknown in the city itself! 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall) and extremely vigorous. In a greenhouse, it easily exceeds 2 … Read more
Quick Summary of Siberian Miracle (Sibirskoe Chudo) 🌍 Origin: A commercial Russian variety. The name translates directly to “Siberian Miracle”. 🔍 The Shape Mystery (Seed Segregation): This variety is famous on Russian forums for its extreme genetic inconsistency depending on the seed vendor. Seeds from SibSad (Siberian Garden) typically produce round/oblate fruits. However, seeds from … Read more
Quick Summary of The Very Best (Samye Luchshie) 🌍 Origin & Name: A deeply historical heirloom variety. The name translates directly to “The Very Best” (Samye Luchshie). According to historical records, seeds were given by a resident of Kattakurgan (Uzbekistan) to the famous Soviet tomato breeder I.M. Maslov in 1984. 🌿 Plant Habit: Semi-determinate to … Read more
Quick Summary of Heart of Compassion (Serdtse Dobroty) 🌍 Origin: An Eastern European heirloom. The name translates beautifully to “Heart of Compassion” (Serdtse Dobroty). Distributed by well-known private seed collectors like Valentina Redko. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall). It is a late-season variety, requiring a longer growing period to reach full maturity. 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: … Read more
Quick Summary of Supermodel 🌍 Origin: A commercial Russian variety introduced by the Siberian Garden (SibSad) seed company. 🌿 Plant Habit: Determinate (short bush), usually growing to about 70 cm (27 inches). It is highly suited for outdoor growing (open ground). 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Designed to be an elongated pinkish-red paste/icicle tomato, roughly 10-15 cm … Read more
Quick Summary of Siberian Giant Pink (Sibirskiy Velikan Rozovyi) 🌍 Origin: A classic large-fruited Russian heirloom. The name translates to “Siberian Giant Pink”. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall), robust vine reaching about 2 meters (6.5 ft) in a greenhouse environment. 🍃 Leaf Type Alert: Forum growers note that this variety can sometimes show genetic segregation … Read more
Quick Summary of Solntse Severa (Sun of the North) 🌍 Origin: Distributed by a well-known (and somewhat secretive) Russian seed collector, Kolyakov. The name translates to “Sun of the North”. 🧐 The Naming Irony: As forum growers quickly point out, the name is quite misleading! One would expect a “Northern Sun” to be a yellow … Read more