Heirloom Tomato Varieties & Reviews | Tomat-Pomidor
Honest reviews of global tomato varieties from a 15-year-old growers community.
Quick Summary of Elberta Peach (Elberta Persikovaya) 🌍 Origin: A beautiful novelty variety known for its fuzzy, silvery-blue “angora” foliage and peach-like fuzzy fruits. Often goes by the name Elberta Girl in some Western collections. 🌿 Plant Habit: Determinate/Semi-determinate bush type, usually reaching 1 to 1.5 meters (3.2 – 4.9 ft) in height. The foliage … Read more
Quick Summary of Feyerverk (Firework) 🌍 Origin: A well-known Russian commercial heirloom. The name translates to “Firework” (or Fireworks), referencing its striking visual appearance. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate, typically growing around 1.8m (6 ft) tall. Growers note that the foliage is usually Regular Leaf (RL). It requires good support but can be somewhat sensitive to … Read more
Quick Summary of Tunido (Тунидо) 🌍 Origin & The American Connection: An interesting “lost” variety. A Russian grower notes that her old, hand-packed seeds stated the variety originated in the USA. Given its appearance, it is highly likely that “Tunido” is a localized Russian name for an American striped paste tomato (such as Striped Roman … Read more
Quick Summary of Tolstyi Botsman (Fat Boatswain) 🌍 Origin: A commercial Russian variety introduced by the “Semena Altaya” (Seeds of Altai) company. The rather unique name translates to “Fat Boatswain”. 🌿 Plant Habit: Determinate (bush). Intended for growing outdoors in open ground. 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Striped bicolor tomatoes (red with golden/yellowish streaks). The largest fruits … Read more
Quick Summary of Superekzotik (Super Exotic) 🌍 Origin: A highly popular Eastern European/Russian commercial heirloom. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall). It is a very vigorous vine, with growers reporting heights anywhere from 1.7 m to almost 2.5 m (5.5 to 8 ft) in a greenhouse. The foliage is relatively sparse/airy, allowing good light penetration. 🍅 … Read more
Quick Summary of Sibirskiy Malakhit (Siberian Malachite) 🌍 Origin: A well-known commercial variety from Siberian Garden (SibSad). 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate. In open ground, it usually reaches 1.2-1.4 meters (4-4.5 ft), and slightly taller in greenhouses. The bush is regular, not overly spreading. Growers note it exhibits excellent disease resistance (particularly against leaf mold / … Read more
Quick Summary of Sweet Cream 🌍 Origin: An artisan elongated cherry/plum variety, closely related in genetics and appearance to famous varieties like Blush and Candy Sweet Icicle. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate. In a greenhouse, it typically reaches 1.5 to 2 meters (5 to 6.5 ft) and can be pruned to multiple stems. The plant has … Read more
Quick Summary of Solar Flare (Solnechnaya Vspyshka) 🌍 Origin: Known in Russia as “Solnechnaya Vspyshka,” this is the famous Solar Flare variety originally bred by Brad Gates at Wild Boar Farms (USA). However, this thread reveals a fascinating mystery: many seeds circulating among Russian vendors turned out to be heavily crossed or genetically unstable! 🌿 … Read more
Quick Summary of Solnechnoe Zatmenie (Solar Eclipse) 🌍 Origin: An original breeder’s variety created by Nikolai Zhigalin. It is a stunning cross between Sart Roloise and Dirty Curty Striped. The Russian name translates to “Solar Eclipse”. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate, but relatively compact. In a greenhouse, it typically grows up to 1.5 meters (~5 ft). … Read more
Quick Summary of Magia Serbia (Serbian Magic) 🌍 Origin: A very rare and visually stunning variety. Despite its name (which translates to Serbian Magic), it was reportedly sourced from Romania. Information about it online is very scarce. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate, but on the shorter side, usually growing up to 1.5 – 1.6m (5 ft). … Read more
Quick Summary of Sladkiy Kesidi (Sweet Casady) 🌍 Origin: A very popular elongated striped variety. Known globally as “Sweet Casady” (originally bred by Tom Wagner), it is widely grown and traded among Russian and Eastern European collectors under the translated name “Sladkiy Kesidi”. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate and extremely vigorous! Growers describe the foliage as … Read more
Quick Summary of Russkiy Kazak (Russian Cossack) 🌍 Origin: Originally a US-bred variety (likely by Tom Wagner) that became highly popular among Russian seed collectors (like V. Redko and V. Popenko) under the translated name “Russkiy Kazak”. 🌿 Plant Habit: Semi-determinate to indeterminate. Generally stays relatively compact, with most growers reporting a medium height of … Read more