Heirloom Tomato Varieties & Reviews | Tomat-Pomidor
Honest reviews of global tomato varieties from a 15-year-old growers community.
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Beauty King 🌍 Origin: A legendary modern heirloom bred by Brad Gates at Wild Boar Farms in California. It is a cross between Big Rainbow and Green Zebra. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall). Known for being a bit wimpy and spindly in the seedling stage, but it vigorously stretches to 6-6.5 … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Izumrudnye (Emeralds) 🌍 Origin: Grown from seeds originally sourced from China. The Russian working name translates to “Emeralds”. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate. A very vigorous plant that throws a lot of suckers, but uniquely, it sets fruit very well on those unpruned suckers. It has distinctive, heavily serrated foliage. 🍅 Fruit … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Indian Zebra 🌍 Origin: An American heirloom discovered by Clyde Burson. It is considered a larger, striped cousin of the famous Indian Stripe (which itself is closely related to Cherokee Purple). 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall). Grows well outdoors, reaching around 5.5 feet (1.7 m) in open ground. Very productive. 🍅 … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Green Zebra 🌍 Origin: A legendary American variety bred by Tom Wagner (Tater Mater Seeds) in 1983. It is arguably the most famous green-when-ripe tomato in the world. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate. Can be a bit of a slow starter and sometimes grows spindly outdoors, but yields are generally reliable. It … Read more
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Quick Summary of Starburst Nebula 📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Starburst Nebula 🌍 Origin: A stunning and somewhat rare bicolor variety. Known in the Russian heirloom community as Zvezdnaya Tumannost (which literally translates back to Starburst Nebula). 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall vine). Mid-season ripening. Vigorous plants that easily reach 5 ft (1.5 m) and keep … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Yellow Striped Boar 🌍 Origin: A famous American novelty variety bred by Brad Gates at Wild Boar Farms (California, USA). It is widely grown and traded among Eastern European and Russian heirloom collectors. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall). A mid-season producer that performs very well in greenhouse environments. 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Dwarf Firebird Sweet 🌍 Origin: Developed by the all-volunteer Dwarf Tomato Project. It was selected from the “Beauty” family (a cross between Beauty King and Dwarf Wild Fred) and officially named by Craig LeHoullier in 2013. 🌿 Plant Habit: Tree-type dwarf. Reaches about 28-36 inches (70-90 cm) tall. Features the classic … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Yellow Fire 🌍 Origin: A beautiful striped novelty variety bred by the legendary American tomato breeder Tom Wagner (famous for creating the Green Zebra). 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall), though some growers note it can occasionally terminate its own growth early. A strong bush that performs very well both outdoors (reaching … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Jalpa 🌍 Origin: A beautiful striped paste tomato popular among Eastern European collectors. 🌿 Plant Habit: Determinate. Grows as a very sturdy, compact tree-type bush (shtamb), typically reaching about 24 inches (60 cm) tall outdoors. 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Elongated, red paste tomatoes with striking yellow stripes. Length is about 4-4.7 inches … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Dragon Eye (Glaz Drakona) 🌍 Origin: A highly decorative novelty variety circulated among Eastern European collectors (popularized by sellers like V.D. Popenko). 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall). A mid-season variety that performs well even when grown outdoors in open ground. 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Small, cocktail-sized tomatoes that range from oblate (flattened-round) … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Graffiti Pink 🌍 Origin: A commercial European variety. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall), but tends to be moderately sprawling and stays relatively manageable outdoors, reaching about 3.6 ft (1.1 m) in open ground. Regular leaf. 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Small, apple-sized round/oblate fruits. Visually stunning: they have a pink/rose base with distinct … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Gigantskaya Roza (Giant Rose) 🌍 Origin: A commercial variety from the Russian seed market. The name translates to “Giant Rose”. 🌿 Plant Habit: Determinate, stout “tree-type” bush. It has thick, strong main stems and grows to about 3-3.3 ft (90-100 cm) tall. Highly vigorous and disease-resistant. 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Stunningly beautiful! … Read more