Heirloom Tomato Varieties & Reviews | Tomat-Pomidor
Honest reviews of global tomato varieties from a 15-year-old growers community.
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Viking 🌍 Origin & Confusion: This thread discusses a large, red heirloom variety originally sourced from Sweden. Important Note: There is an officially registered Russian commercial variety also named “Viking,” but that one produces small yellow tomatoes. The Swedish “Viking” discussed here is completely different. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall), reaching … Read more
📌 Quick Summary: Tante Gretels Magische Hüte – Aunt Gretel’s Magic Hats 🌍 Origin: A stunning heirloom variety with a German name, translating to “Aunt Gretel’s Magic Hats.” 🌱 Plant Habit: A tall, indeterminate vine that requires staking. It is a very reliable producer with a long fruiting window. It sets fruit exceptionally well, even … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Bugay Rozovyi (Bugay Pink) 🌍 Origin: A commercial Russian variety from the Siberian Garden (Sib-Sad) seed company. “Bugay” is Russian slang for a large, muscular, towering man. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate, mid-season. Reaches 5–6 ft (1.5–1.8 m) in height. It is an absolute workhorse variety with fantastic heat tolerance—it will continue … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Babushkin Potseluy (Grandma’s Kiss) 🌍 Origin: A commercial Russian variety from the “Semena Altaya” (Seeds of Altai) company, part of their Siberian Collection. The name translates to “Grandma’s Kiss”. 🌿 Plant Habit: Potato Leaf (PL) foliage. There seems to be significant genetic variability regarding its height. It is officially listed as … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Banzai 🌍 Origin: A Russian variety sold commercially by companies like Gavrish, though some growers have been saving their own family strains of this tomato since the 1990s. 🌿 Plant Habit: The commercial packet lists it as a 5 ft (1.5 m) plant, but growers consistently report it behaves as a … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Belyi Velikan (White Giant) 🌍 Origin: A Russian heirloom variety. The name translates to “White Giant”. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate and highly productive. It reliably sets heavy clusters, typically pushing out 5 to 6 large fruits per truss. 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Large, ivory-white to pale yellow beefsteaks. The shape is noticeably … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Blyudo Rozovoe (Pink Dish) 🌍 Origin: The name translates to “Pink Dish” or “Pink Platter”, which perfectly describes its size and primary use as a top-tier slicing tomato. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall) and mid-season. This variety is incredibly resilient! Growers report it performing admirably outdoors even under severe weather stress … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Bychye Serdtse Beloye (White Oxheart) 🌍 Origin: A Russian/Eastern European strain of the classic White Oxheart. Note: Like almost all “white” tomatoes, it is not pure paper-white; it ripens to a pale lemon-yellow or ivory, sometimes developing a slight pinkish blush or orange marbling at the blossom end when fully ripe. … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Brikadel Rozovaya (Pink Brikadel) 🌍 Origin: Vintage Russian heirloom tomato. The name translates directly to “Pink Brikadel.” 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall) and highly vigorous. Expect the vines to easily reach 2 meters (6.5 ft) or more when staked in a greenhouse or open garden. Mid-season maturity. 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Large, … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Bakinskie (From Baku) 🌍 Origin: This is a fascinating collector’s variety. Originally, it was a “numbered test line” sent directly from a breeder in Baku, Azerbaijan, to members of the Russian ForumHouse for trial grow-outs. Because it never received an official name, growers simply started calling it “Bakinskie” (From Baku). Note: … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Bychok (Little Bull) 🌍 Origin: Introduced to North America and popularized by the famous tomato collector Tatiana Kouchnareva (Tatiana’s TOMATObase). The name “Bychok” literally translates to “Little Bull” (a play on the famous “Bull’s Heart” oxheart tomatoes). 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate. It exhibits the classic “wimpy” oxheart growth habit with thin, … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Bull’s Heart of Minusinsk 🌍 Origin: A famous local heirloom from Minusinsk, Siberia (the tomato capital of Russia, known for its giant tomato festivals). Also known as Bychye Serdtse Minusinskoe. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall), but generally tidy, growing up to 1.7m (5.5 ft) in the greenhouse. Like most true oxheart … Read more