Heirloom Tomato Varieties & Reviews | Tomat-Pomidor
Honest reviews of global tomato varieties from a 15-year-old growers community.
🍅 Quick take: Krasa Dlinnaya Kosa (which translates to “Beauty With a Long Braid”) is an extremely vigorous, indeterminate red cherry tomato sold by the Russian seed company Biotekhnika. It is famous for its massive, double fan-shaped blossom clusters that produce a heavy yield of sweet, good-sized cherry tomatoes. It thrives outdoors and handles growing … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Dragotsennaya Zhemchuzhina (Precious Pearl) 🌍 Origin: A Russian commercial/heirloom variety. The name translates beautifully to “Precious Pearl”. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate, but stays relatively compact. Exhibits medium vigor and maxes out around 4 feet (1.2 m) tall by the end of the season. Mid-early maturity. 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Small, bright red, … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Detskaya Radost F1 (Children’s Joy F1) 🌍 Origin: A commercial Russian F1 Hybrid variety. The name translates beautifully to “Children’s Joy”, hinting at its target audience. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate. An insanely vigorous, aggressive climber that shoots up like bamboo. Even outdoors, it can easily surpass 8 feet (2.5 m) in … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Detskiy Sladkiy “Slivka” (Children’s Sweet Plum) 🌍 Origin: Сommercial variety exclusively released by the “Aelita” seed company. The name translates to “Children’s Sweet ‘Plum’”. 🌿 Plant Habit: Super-determinate, low-growing bush. Officially listed at 20 inches (50 cm), but can grow slightly taller and wider in a greenhouse. Requires zero pruning/suckering! 🍅 … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Desert (Dessert) 🌍 Origin: A commercial variety famously released by the “Manul” agricultural company. “Desert” translates directly to “Dessert”, hinting at its sweet flavor. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall). An early-season, well-behaved plant that doesn’t aggressively take over the greenhouse. Highly productive. 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Officially described as “very small,” but … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Dyuiymovochka (Thumbelina) 🌍 Origin: A Russian commercial variety famously released by the “Poisk” seed company. The name translates to “Thumbelina” (the tiny fairy tale character). ⚠️ The Great Mix-Up: If you buy or trade seeds for this variety, be aware that there are two completely different strains circulating under this name … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Barbaris F1 (Barberry) 🌍 Origin: A commercial Russian cherry hybrid. The name translates to “Barberry”. Warning: There seem to be multiple, highly inconsistent versions of this seed sold by different companies (like Sib-Sad). Some packets produce red, round, tiny 0.4 oz (12 g) cherries, while others produce elongated, pink 1.4 oz … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Bozhya Korovka (Ladybug) 🌍 Origin: A commercial Russian variety introduced by the “Aelita” seed company. The name translates to “Ladybug”. 🌿 Plant Habit: Highly debated! The seed packet claims it is a compact determinate (12-20 inches / 30-50 cm). However, almost all forum growers report it growing huge—up to 5-6.5 feet … Read more
Quick Summary of Principe Borghese 🌍 Origin: A classic and legendary Italian heirloom variety, famous worldwide as the ultimate tomato for sun-drying. 🌿 Plant Habit: Vigorous indeterminate (though some Russian commercial strains behave as bushy determinates). If left unpruned in a greenhouse, it can easily reach 3.5 meters (11.5 ft). Growers often let it grow … Read more
Quick Summary of Geranium Kiss 🌍 Origin & Breeder: Bred by Dylana Kapuler of Peace Seeds (Oregon, USA). It is famous for producing massive floral “hypertresses” with dozens of blossoms. ⚠️ The “Two Versions” Mystery: In Russian and Eastern European seed markets, two distinct versions circulate. The True Original is a compact dwarf/bush (about 60-100cm … Read more