Heirloom Tomato Varieties & Reviews | Tomat-Pomidor
Honest reviews of global tomato varieties from a 15-year-old growers community.
Quick Summary of Ukrainskie Domashnie Serdtsa (Ukrainian Home Hearts) 🌍 Origin: A treasured family heirloom variety from Ukraine. The name translates to “Ukrainian Home Hearts” (or “Ukrainian Family Hearts”). 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall), growing up to 2 meters (6.5 ft) in height. Requires sturdy staking or trellising to support the heavy fruit load. 🍅 … Read more
Quick Summary of Carbon (Uglerod) 🌍 Origin: A world-famous heirloom variety, widely known and grown by Russian tomato collectors under the translated name “Uglerod” (Carbon). 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall), but growers note it behaves very adaptably. Outdoors in open ground, it often acts semi-determinate, stopping around 1 m (3.3 ft). In greenhouses, it easily … Read more
Quick Summary of Ulybka Sandry (Sandra’s Smile) 🌍 Origin: A mysterious variety with a fascinating history. Originally acquired by a Latvian collector at a seed swap in Germany under the name “Cassandra”. Since the real Cassandra tomato is a completely different red variety, the name was rejected during local registration. It was officially renamed “Ulybka … Read more
Quick Summary of Utenok (Duckling) 🌍 Origin: A highly popular Russian commercial and collectible variety. The name translates to “Duckling”, likely due to its bright orange color and the characteristic “beak” on the end of the fruits. 🌿 Plant Habit: Determinate, dwarf (tree-type / rugose foliage) bush. Very compact, usually growing 35-50 cm (14-20 inches) … Read more
Quick Summary of Tamara 🌍 Origin: A Russian commercial heirloom variety. It is well-documented in North America via Tatiana Kouchnareva’s TOMATObase. 🌿 Plant Habit (The Det vs. Indet Debate): There is some conflicting information regarding its growth habit. Commercial Russian vendors (like Redko) list it as a determinate, and some growers report it stopping around … Read more
Quick Summary of Timofeich (Тимофеич) 🌍 Origin: A highly productive Russian commercial variety, originally distributed by the GISOK seed company. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall) and extremely vigorous. The bush is described as very powerful, easily growing over 2 meters (6.5 ft) in a greenhouse setting. 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Large, slightly oblate (flattened) beefsteaks. Growers … Read more
Quick Summary of Tie Feen (Tiffan) 🌍 Origin & The Name Mystery: Known in Russian collections as Tie Feen (Ти Феен), forum members suspect this is actually a localized mispronunciation of the American heirloom “Tiffan”. Tatiana Kouchnareva’s database lists Tiffan as a potato-leaf pink beefsteak from Dorothy Beiswenger (MN). 🌿 Plant Habit & Genetics: Indeterminate, … Read more
Quick Summary of Topol (Топол) 🌍 Origin: A massive Russian heirloom variety (originally popularized by seed vendor V. Redko). The name translates to “Poplar tree”, fitting for its towering height. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall), regular leaf, and extremely vigorous. In a greenhouse, it easily reaches over 220 cm (7.2 ft). Growers note that it … Read more
Quick Summary of Turban Bayran 🌍 Origin & The Name Mystery: This variety is famous on Russian forums not just for its taste, but for its highly debated, mysterious name. “Turban Bayran” is widely believed to be a mangled translation. 🔍 The Etymology Detective Work: Forum members speculate that the original name might have been … Read more
Quick Summary of Tomatoberry 🌍 Origin & Genetics: Originally released as an F1 commercial hybrid. However, a major point of excitement among forum members is that this variety successfully de-hybridizes! Growers planting F3 and F4 generation seeds saved from previous years report that it repeats its parent characteristics with 100% accuracy. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate … Read more
Quick Summary of Taiko (Тайко) 🌍 Origin: A highly regarded commercial variety (originally distributed by seed companies like Elkom in Russia). 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall), reaching up to 2 meters (6.5 ft) in a greenhouse. A notable feature is its Potato Leaf (PL) foliage. 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Bright yellow, smooth plum/icicle-shaped tomatoes. They are … Read more
Quick Summary of Siegel’s Dark Stripes 🌍 Origin: A beautiful dark striped heirloom variety. Known in Russian collections as Temnye Polosy Sigelya. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall). Performs very well in a greenhouse environment and responds nicely to being pruned to 2 stems. 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Oblate (flattened) fruits with a striking red-brown/mahogany base covered … Read more