Heirloom Tomato Varieties & Reviews | Tomat-Pomidor
Honest reviews of global tomato varieties from a 15-year-old growers community.
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR) 🌍 Origin: An interesting and somewhat unstable heirloom paste tomato. Its lineage is linked to crosses involving Amish Paste and Amish Red. 🌿 Plant Habit: Mid-season, indeterminate. The plant has thin, wispy foliage (typical for many paste/oxheart types) but is surprisingly sturdy and not flimsy. Highly productive. 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Elongated, … Read more
Quick Summary of Bananu 🌍 Origin: A very attractive elongated yellow/orange paste tomato. Seeds are widely distributed by European and Russian seed vendors (e.g., R. Kraft, A. Kulik). 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate, mid-early (often leaning towards early). The plant is characteristically wispy, with thin stems and sparse, delicate foliage. Despite looking fragile, it is remarkably … Read more
Quick Summary of Blue Keyes 🌍 Origin & Type: A striking novelty anthocyanin cherry/pear tomato. It is part of a series (along with Amber Keyes, Black Keyes, etc.). 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate. The bush tends to be tall, thin, and rather lanky/leggy with regular foliage. Several growers report that it is quite sensitive to extreme … Read more
Quick Summary of Bandol Blues 🌍 Origin: A visually stunning anthocyanin (blue/black) variety known for its incredibly dark skin. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate, early-season. The plant itself is not overly vigorous; it has a rather frail, scrawny, and wispy build. However, it is very well-behaved, easy to manage, and responds perfectly to being pruned to … Read more
Quick Summary of Bobbie 🌍 Origin & Strains: A well-known heirloom oxheart tomato. There is an interesting discussion among growers about the color: seeds sourced from Tatiana’s TOMATObase (Canada) typically produce pure red fruits, while strains sourced from some US vendors produce pink/raspberry-pink fruits. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate, mid-season. Like many oxheart varieties, it features … Read more
Quick Summary of Brad’s Atomic Grape 🌍 Origin: A highly popular, exotic, and multi-colored variety created by Brad Gates (Wild Boar Farms, USA). 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall). The seedlings are notoriously wimpy, scrawny, and slow-growing. Adult plants are very productive but have extremely brittle stems that can snap easily under the weight of the … Read more
Quick Summary of Big Dolly Red 🌍 Origin: An old heirloom from Kentucky, USA. Developed over 40 years ago by Milo Eason, it is a cross between an unknown red heart-shaped tomato and ‘Big Red Stafford’. Fun fact: In Russia, this variety is often affectionately translated and sold under the name “Большая красная кукла” (Big … Read more
Quick Summary of Blush (Artisan Blush Tiger) 🌿 Plant Habit: INDETERMINATE (Tall/Vining). The bush features delicate, thin, and wispy “weeping” foliage that often looks wilted or fragile, even when perfectly healthy. Despite its delicate appearance, it is highly vigorous and can reach over 2 m (6.5 ft). It produces a massive amount of suckers and … Read more
Quick Summary of Bella 🌿 Plant Habit: INDETERMINATE (Tall/Vining). The plant is slender and relatively compact for an indeterminate, typically reaching around 1.5 m (5 ft) in a greenhouse. The foliage is sparse and wispy, not overly dense. 🌍 Origin: A stunning striped heirloom variety, popular among Russian collectors for its striking appearance. 🍅 Fruit … Read more
Quick Summary of Anna Russian 🌍 Origin: A legendary heirloom variety with Russian roots that became highly popular in the USA. It is famous for its classic oxheart shape and exceptional taste. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall) with classic wispy, drooping foliage typical of heart-shaped varieties. It adapts surprisingly well to container growing! 🍅 Fruit … Read more
Quick Summary of African Queen 🌍 Origin: A well-known Canadian heirloom variety, highly popular among Russian growers under the translated name “Afrikanskaya Koroleva” (Африканская королева). 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall) with potato leaf foliage. The vines can be slightly spindly or wispy, but they are still highly productive. Growers often prune it to a single … Read more
Quick Summary of African Vining 🌍 Origin: A renowned heirloom variety highly valued by our community for its exceptional eating qualities. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate, mid-season, growing up to 2 meters (6.5 ft) tall. It features classic “wispy” or weeping foliage. Because the plant is slender, growers recommend planting it in the sunniest spots of … Read more