Heirloom Tomato Varieties & Reviews | Tomat-Pomidor
Honest reviews of global tomato varieties from a 15-year-old growers community.
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Benedict Heirlooms Pink 🌍 Origin: A fantastic pink heirloom variety that has gained traction for its outstanding reliability and culinary versatility. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate. A very vigorous plant that reaches around 5 ft (1.5 m) when grown outdoors in open ground. Mid-season maturity. 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Dark pink/raspberry colored fruits … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Baloven Sudby (Fortune’s Favorite) 🌍 Origin: A commercial variety from the Russian seed company Siberian Garden (Sib-Sad). The name translates to “Fortune’s Favorite” or “Darling of Fate”. 🌿 Plant Habit: The seed packet lists it as an early determinate growing to 28–31 inches (70–80 cm). However, growers note it behaves more … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Blyudo Rozovoe (Pink Dish) 🌍 Origin: The name translates to “Pink Dish” or “Pink Platter”, which perfectly describes its size and primary use as a top-tier slicing tomato. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall) and mid-season. This variety is incredibly resilient! Growers report it performing admirably outdoors even under severe weather stress … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Bezrazmernyi (Limitless) 🌍 Origin: A highly controversial commercial variety from the Siberian Garden (Sibsad) seed company. The name translates to “Limitless” or “Boundless”. 🍅 Fruit Characteristics & Controversy: The seed packet famously claims fruits “the size of a 3-liter jar” (cylindrical/elongated). However, almost no one ever gets this shape! Most growers … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): White Zebra 🌍 Origin: A novelty striped variety (originally developed by Tom Wagner in the US, widely circulated in Eastern Europe). 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate. Highly reliable. Growers report excellent fruit set even in bad weather years when other varieties drop their blossoms. 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Small-to-medium round salad/cocktail tomatoes. When … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Bordo Shokoladnoye (Chocolate Bordeaux) 🌍 Origin: A Russian/Eastern European heirloom circulated by collectors. Crucial Note: After much debate, growers have realized that the “true” strain of this tomato is virtually identical to the Spanish heirloom Morado Chocolate. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate, but its height varies wildly depending on conditions. Outdoors, it … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Biyskaya Roza & Biysky Rozan (Biysk Rose) 🌍 Origin: Siberian commercial heirlooms distributed by the “Semena Altaya” (Seeds of Altai) company. Named after the city of Biysk in Siberia. Growers generally agree that “Roza” and “Rozan” are practically identical strains of the same variety. 🌿 Plant Habit: Officially sold as a … 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
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Bagration 🌍 Origin: A commercial variety from the Ukrainian seed company “Nasko”. Named in honor of Pyotr Bagration, a famous general of the Russian Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. 🌿 Plant Habit: Semi-determinate to short indeterminate, reaching about 1.3–1.5 m (4–5 ft). It responds well to staking and suckering, but can … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Babushkino Lukoshko (Grandma’s Basket) 🌍 Origin: A Russian commercial open-pollinated variety introduced by the “Gavrish” seed company. The charming name translates to “Grandma’s Basket”. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall), reaching 1.5–2.0 meters (5–6.5 ft). It is known for being incredibly rugged, handling poor lighting and cramped greenhouse conditions without losing productivity. … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Bobcat F1 🧬 Origin: A highly popular commercial F1 hybrid bred by Syngenta. Known worldwide for its ruggedness and adaptability. 🌿 Plant Habit: Determinate (bush). Generally reaches 60-80 cm (24-32 inches). It is highly vigorous with very dense, dark green foliage that provides excellent canopy cover, completely protecting the fruit from … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Bakinskie (From Baku) 🌍 Origin: This is a fascinating collector’s variety. Originally, it was a “numbered test line” sent directly from a breeder in Baku, Azerbaijan, to members of the Russian ForumHouse for trial grow-outs. Because it never received an official name, growers simply started calling it “Bakinskie” (From Baku). Note: … Read more