Heirloom Tomato Varieties & Reviews | Tomat-Pomidor
Honest reviews of global tomato varieties from a 15-year-old growers community.
🍅 Quick take: Fred’s Tie Dye is a mid-early dwarf variety released by the Dwarf Tomato Project (created by Vince Lavallo as a cross between Wild Fred and Berkeley Tie Dye Pink). It grows as a stocky, tree-type bush that stays compact but can reach up to 4 feet in a greenhouse. It sets heavy … 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 take: Loving Heart (Lyubyaschee Serdtse) is a semi-determinate oxheart variety that produces highly uniform, blunt-tipped pink and red hearts weighing between 7 and 17.5 oz (200-500 g). Growers praise it for its vigorous growth, heavy yields, and classic sugary heirloom flesh. It performs exceptionally well outdoors and boasts a long, extended harvest window. … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Izumrudnaya Parcha (Emerald Brocade) 🌍 Origin: A modern, highly sought-after collectible variety bred by the Russian breeder Sofia Saakova. The name translates to “Emerald Brocade.” 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall) and mid-early season. It displays classic oxheart genetics: the vines are very skinny, frail-looking, and have sparse, weeping foliage. Don’t panic, … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Vanskiy Rozovyi (Vani Pink) 🌍 Origin: Heirloom tomato originating from the Vani district in the country of Georgia (Caucasus region). It was heavily popularized among collectors by seed vendor Dmitry Gusev. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall). The plant is described as sturdy and robust, but not overly aggressive or leafy. It … 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 of Serdtse Telenka (Calf’s Heart) 🌍 Origin: A Russian heirloom circulated by well-known seed collectors (the seeds in this thread originate from V. Redko). The name translates directly to “Calf’s Heart”. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall). Like many classic oxhearts, it possesses “wispy foliage” (a frail-looking, drooping, sparsely leafed structure). It can be … Read more