Heirloom Tomato Varieties & Reviews | Tomat-Pomidor
Honest reviews of global tomato varieties from a 15-year-old growers community.
Quick Summary of Sprint-Timer 🌍 Origin: A legendary Russian giant heirloom. It gained massive fame when a grower won the 2016 “Minusinsk Tomato Day” (Russia’s famous giant tomato competition) with a Sprint-Timer fruit weighing a whopping 1.878 kg (4.14 lbs)! 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate with thick, robust stems. Typically grows up to 1.5 meters (5 … Read more
Quick Summary of Slastena (Sweet Tooth) 🌍 Origin & The Name Mix-Up: The name “Slastena” translates to “Sweet Tooth”. In Russia, there are actually two different varieties circulating under this name. The one highly prized by heirloom collectors is an old, large-fruited indeterminate variety. However, commercial seed companies registered a completely different, small-fruited determinate (bush) … Read more
Quick Summary of Sto Pudov (A Hundred Poods) 🌍 Origin: A very famous Russian commercial variety (originally released by the seed company Aelita). The name “Sto Pudov” translates to “A Hundred Poods” (a ‘pood’ is an old Russian unit of weight equal to 16.38 kg), hinting at the massive, heavy yields this variety produces. 🌿 … Read more
Quick Summary of Serzhant Marli 2020 (Sergeant Marley 2020) 🌍 Origin: A highly sought-after, highly productive anthocyanin variety, extremely popular among Russian and Eastern European collectors. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall), mostly grown in greenhouses. It is a “heavy feeder” but puts its energy directly into fruit production rather than suffering from excessive vegetative growth … Read more
Quick Summary of Raiskoe Naslazhdenie (Heavenly Delight) 🌍 Origin: A highly regarded Russian commercial variety, officially included in the Russian State Register in 1999. The name translates to “Heavenly Delight” or “Paradise Delight”. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (vining). While original seed packets claim a height of 1.2 m (4 ft), almost all growers report that … Read more
Quick Summary of Russkaya Dusha (Russian Soul) 🌍 Origin: A commercial Russian variety from the famous “Siberian Garden” (SibSad) seed company. Designed specifically to perform well in harsh, cold climates. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate, but usually remains relatively compact outdoors in open ground, reaching about 1 – 1.2m (3.3 – 4 ft) in height. Some … Read more
Quick Summary of Rome (Rim) 🌍 Origin: A very popular, colossal red heirloom variety named after the city of Rome (in Russian: Рим / Rim). Widely circulated among Russian and Ukrainian collectors (originally sourced from A. Kulik). 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate, late-season, and extremely vigorous. The bushes easily exceed 2 meters (6.5 ft) in a … Read more
Quick Summary of Pantano (Pantano Romanesco) 🌍 Origin: A classic traditional Italian heirloom variety. It is widely known internationally as Pantano Romanesco, though some seed swappers circulate it simply as Pantano. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall), but praised for being very sturdy and not prone to getting leggy or stretching. It performs decently outdoors in … Read more
Quick Summary of Podarok Muzha (Husband’s Gift) 🌍 Origin: An old, highly productive collectible heirloom variety from Siberia. The name translates to “Husband’s Gift”. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall) and very vigorous. It produces such heavy loads of fruit that it requires extra-strong staking and support, even when grown outdoors in partial shade. 🍅 Fruit … Read more