Heirloom Tomato Varieties & Reviews | Tomat-Pomidor
Honest reviews of global tomato varieties from a 15-year-old growers community.
🍅 Quick take: K 565-08 (and its long alphanumeric string) is a working title for a mid-late, compact tree-type (rugose) breeding line by Ukrainian breeder Maxim Gurin. Growing to only 1.5 ft (45 cm) tall, it produces beautiful, bright red tomatoes with a smudgy purple anthocyanin blush weighing up to 7 oz (200 g). Growers … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Kozula 126 Czarny Lagodny is a mid-late Polish dark tomato from Anna Kozula’s breeding lines. The plants stay relatively short, around 3 ft (1 m). The original strain produces heavy trusses of very firm, meaty, and sweet dark fruits weighing up to 8.8 oz (250 g). Growers note that it produces very … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Elser Farm’s Brown Derby is an indeterminate beefsteak with a unique greenish-ochre to brownish-orange skin and vibrant tricolor flesh. Growers consistently praise its sweet, rich, and slightly tangy flavor, often comparing it to a ripe mango or the famous Dwarf Uluru Ochre. While it’s an indeterminate vine, most growers note it stays … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Dr. Wyche’s Yellow is an indeterminate, mid-late season heirloom introduced by circus owner Dr. John Wyche. It produces large, meaty, bright orange-yellow beefsteaks. Growers praise its incredibly sweet, well-balanced flavor and long harvest window. While it thrives in greenhouses, it also sets fruit reliably outdoors and is noted for being a heavy, … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Medovo-Sakharnyi (Honey Sugar) is a yellow/orange determinate tomato known for its exceptionally sweet, sugary flavor. Results are highly mixed: some growers found it to be their sweetest, absolute favorite variety of the season, while others struggled with wimpy vines, dismal yields, and extreme susceptibility to sunscald and BER. Fruit sizes also varied … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Missouri is a mid-late season determinate paste tomato highly praised for its firm, thick-walled fruits that don’t get rubbery or “rock-hard” like some commercial canning types. The bushes grow up to 3-4 ft (1-1.2 m) tall and produce heavy yields of mildly sweet, low-acid red tomatoes perfect for processing, juicing, or eating … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Reckless Driver Vils is a mid-late season pink tomato of American origin. Plants seem to stay relatively compact at around 3.3 feet (1 m) tall but are best grown pruned to two stems. It produces 7-9 oz (200-250 g) meaty, juicy fruits with a sweet flavor that has a unique kick to … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Beauty Queen Heart 🌍 Origin: A gorgeous bicolor oxheart variety. In this thread, growers trace their seed lines back to Russian collector V. Redko and Marianna’s Heirloom Seeds in the US. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall), reaching up to 6.5 feet (2 m). A very vigorous grower with regular foliage that … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Ispanskaya Roza (Spanish Rose) 🌍 Origin: A Russian collector’s variety (noted to be circulated by N. Berezhnova). The name translates to “Spanish Rose” and is considered an unofficial or “working” name in the heirloom community. 🌿 Plant Habit: Semi-determinate. Mid-to-late season. It grows to around 3 to 4 feet (1-1.2 m) … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Gigant Kovaleva (Kovalev’s Giant) 🌍 Origin: A Russian heirloom popularized by private seed collectors and breeders (like Logunov). 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate. Breeders claim it is a tall, cold-hardy, and highly disease-resistant plant. However, some greenhouse growers report it stays medium-tall and is still susceptible to fungal issues like Leaf Mold. … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Verblyudy (Camels) 🌍 Origin: A unique Russian collector’s variety. The name “Verblyudy” translates to “Camels”. Why? Because it produces absolutely massive Potato Leaves (PL) that, according to growers, literally look like camel faces drooping down from the vine! 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate and highly vigorous. It has very thick, strong main … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Bergamot 🌍 Origin: A Russian/CIS variety circulated by heirloom seed collectors like Tamara Yashchenko and Lidia Ganzen. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate, but relatively manageable in height (around 1.2–1.5m / 4–5 ft in open ground). It features sparse/wispy foliage. The first fruit truss sets quite high (usually after the 11th leaf). 🍅 … Read more