Heirloom Tomato Varieties & Reviews | Tomat-Pomidor
Honest reviews of global tomato varieties from a 15-year-old growers community.
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Armyanskie (Armenian) 🌍 Origin: A magnificent heirloom bicolor tomato. The name simply translates to “Armenian”. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall), but generally has a somewhat frail, wispy, or “weeping” bush structure. Despite the delicate foliage, it has incredibly strong fruit stems (pedicels), meaning the heavy trusses rarely need extra support. Throws … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Vela Scarlatta 🌍 Origin: A magnificent heirloom variety (the name translates from Italian as “Scarlet Sails”). It is highly prized by collectors of giant oxheart tomatoes. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall). An incredibly vigorous and powerful plant that exhibits intensive, fast growth and produces a massive yield. 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Giant … Read more
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📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Blushing Pineapple Sergeant (Ananasnyi Serzhant Rumyanyi) 🌍 Origin: A specific sister-line bred by Sofia Saakova (Russia). It comes from a complex cross involving Schlumbach’s Strawberry, Pineapple Heart, and Sgt. Pepper’s. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall), growing to about 1.8 m (6 ft) in a greenhouse. Mid-season maturity. 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: This … Read more
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📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Apelsinovoe Mango (Orange Mango) 🌍 Origin: Another stunning creation by Russian breeder Sofia Saakova. It is a cross between Blue Orange (Siniy Apelsin) and the classic Heart of Ashgabat (Serdtse Ashkhabada). 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall), early to mid-season. It features a slender, “wispy” foliage structure typical of many oxhearts. Despite … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Pineapple Sergeant (Ananasnyi Serzhant) 🌍 Origin: A breathtakingly beautiful modern creation by Russian tomato breeder Sofia Saakova. It is a yellow/bicolor anthocyanin descendant of the world-famous American heirloom, Sgt. Pepper’s. The line is currently around the F7 stage of stabilization. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall), mid-early to mid-season. Like many oxheart … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Cherokee Purple 🌍 Origin: A legendary pre-1890 heirloom from Tennessee, USA. According to lore, the seeds were originally given by the Cherokee Native American tribe. It was popularized in the tomato world by Craig LeHoullier, who received the seeds from J.D. Green in 1990. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate, though in some … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Cul de Singe 🌍 Origin: A wonderful heirloom oxheart variety from France. The name literally translates to “Monkey’s Ass” (a playful traditional name in French horticulture!). 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall). A very productive and heavy-yielding plant. 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Gorgeous, plump red hearts. Fruits can reach 300-400 grams (10.5-14 oz), … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Costoluto Colli Euganei 🌍 Origin: A magnificent family heirloom from the Veneto region in Northern Italy. The name translates to “Ribbed of the Euganean Hills”. The Euganean Hills are a national nature reserve known for their incredibly fertile volcanic soil, mild climate, ancient oak and chestnut forests, olive groves, and endless … Read more
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📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Coeur de Boeuf Jerusalem 🌍 Origin: A rare and highly prized heirloom oxheart variety. While it carries a French name (translating to “Jerusalem Oxheart”), this specific heavy-yielding strain has been heavily preserved, circulated, and perfected by Eastern European and Russian tomato collectors. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall). The bush is slender … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR) 🌍 Origin: A very reliable and tasty pink heirloom variety. 🌿 Plant Habit: Determinate or Semi-determinate, mid-season. It is much more manageable than sprawling indeterminates, reaching a modest height of about 1.3 – 1.4 meters (4.2 – 4.6 ft) when grown in a greenhouse. 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Medium-sized pink tomatoes. The … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR) 🌍 Origin: A highly regarded specific strain of the famous Brandywine heirloom family. Documented in Tatiana’s TOMATObase. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate, mid-season. Features the classic Potato Leaf (PL) foliage typical of Brandywines. Notably, it performs very well even when grown outdoors (open ground) in cooler northern climates. 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Large, … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR) 🌍 Origin: A well-known heirloom variety. It is documented in Tatiana’s TOMATObase. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate, mid-season. It features Potato Leaf (PL) foliage. Growers note that the seedlings are sturdy and don’t get leggy. It produces a manageable amount of suckers and shows good disease resistance. 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Beautiful, shimmering … Read more