Heirloom Tomato Varieties & Reviews | Tomat-Pomidor
Honest reviews of global tomato varieties from a 15-year-old growers community.
🍅 Quick take: Fragolone (Strawberry) is an indeterminate heirloom from Italy that produces elongated, pink, pear-shaped tomatoes. Growers report it sets a massive “waterfall” of firm, meaty 5-7 oz fruits that are packed with flavor and have very few seeds, making them excellent for both fresh eating and processing. Full summary ↓ Growers’ Notes and … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Nastenka is a highly productive, rugged determinate bush that stays compact around 2-3.2 ft (60-100 cm). Grown heavily for processing and canning, it produces dense, thick-walled pink fruits. Growers report significant shape variations depending on the seed company, ranging from oval plums to blunt hearts. It boasts excellent resistance to poor weather … Read more
🍅 Quick take: Goat’s Udder (Koz’e Vymechko) is a compact, highly resilient heirloom known for its unusually shaped crimson-pink fruits that look like plump icicles or elongated hearts. Weighing 5 to 10.5 oz (150-300 g), these meaty, nearly seedless tomatoes are incredibly versatile. The plants perform exceptionally well outdoors and easily shrug off harsh summer … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Caucasian Liana (Kaukasische Liane) 🌍 Origin: Hails from the Caucasus region of Russia, though it became widely known among collectors through German seed catalogs under the name “Kaukasische Liane”. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall). An incredibly vigorous, creeping vine (liana) that some growers say grows as thick and strong as a … Read more
📌 Quick Summary: Koreyskiy Dlinnoplodniy (Korean Long) 🌍 Origin: An heirloom variety known in Russian collector circles. The name translates to “Korean Long-Fruited” (or simply Korean Long). 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall). The plant features a delicate, wispy “weeping” foliage structure common to many elongated/oxheart types. It easily reaches 5.5 to 6 feet (1.6-1.8 m) … Read more
📌 Quick Summary: Kapiya Rozovaya (Pink Kapia) 🌍 Origin: A Russian commercial heirloom heavily circulated by companies like Gavrish and popular collectors like Valery Medvedev. The name “Kapia” usually refers to a famous elongated sweet pepper, hinting at the shape of these tomatoes! 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall). The plant itself has a classic “wispy” … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Zagadka Doliny Roz (Mystery of the Rose Valley) 🌍 Origin: A Russian heirloom whose name translates to “Mystery of the Rose Valley”. As the name implies, its genetics are a bit of a mystery, and it currently circulates in at least two distinct versions among international seed savers. 🌿 Plant Habit: … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Kalman’s Hungarian Pink 🌍 Origin: A famous family heirloom originally from Hungary, introduced to the US heirloom community by Kalman Lajvort (Edison, NJ). It is highly regarded worldwide and was famously used by Polish breeder Anna Jankowski (Kozula) to create her highly sought-after K10 cross. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall). A … Read more
Quick Summary of Slavyanka (Slavic Woman) 🌍 Origin: A highly popular Russian commercial/heirloom variety (originally distributed by GISOK seeds). The name translates beautifully to “Slavic Woman” or “Slavic Girl”. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate, tall, and highly vigorous. Growers note that it can grow massive (“like a baobab tree”) and will keep setting fruit relentlessly from … Read more
Quick Summary of Rozovaya Stella (Pink Stella) 🌍 Origin: A commercial Russian variety from the seed company “Siberian Garden” (SibSad). Note for Collectors: Some experienced growers believe that “Pink Stella”, “Petrusha Ogorodnik”, and “Supermodel” are virtually identical twin varieties. 🌿 Plant Habit: A true determinate and very compact. Officially listed at 40-50 cm (1.3-1.6 ft) … Read more