Heirloom Tomato Varieties & Reviews | Tomat-Pomidor
Honest reviews of global tomato varieties from a 15-year-old growers community.
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Cream Sausage 🌍 Origin: Originally bred by the legendary American breeder Tom Wagner under the name “Banana Cream”. It was later renamed “Cream Sausage” without his permission, and this is the name it is most commonly traded under in Russia and Eastern Europe. 🌿 Plant Habit: Determinate (bush). Generally reaches about … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Zolotoy Petushok (Golden Rooster) 🌍 Origin: A Russian commercial heirloom released by the “Russian Ogorod” (RO) seed company. The name translates to “Golden Rooster” or “Golden Cockerel”. 🌿 Plant Habit: An extremely vigorous, tall indeterminate. The internodes are quite long, making the plant stretch rapidly. Easily reaches 6.5 feet (2 m) … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Zolotaya Rybka (Golden Fish) 🌍 Origin: A classic Russian commercial variety released by Gisok Agro. The name translates to “Golden Fish”. Growers note that its wispy, drooping leaves actually resemble the flowing tails of goldfish! 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall), mid-to-late season. Reaches 6-6.5 feet (1.8-2 m). It features delicate, lacy, … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Zolotaya Kanareyka (Golden Canary) 🌍 Origin: A highly popular European variety. The name translates to “Golden Canary”, which perfectly describes its bright yellow color and bird-like “beak” on the blossom end. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall) and relatively low maintenance. It can easily reach 6.5 feet (2 m) in a greenhouse. … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Zolotoy Klyk (Golden Fang) 🌍 Origin: A Russian heirloom tomato sourced and popularized by seed collector Valya Redko. The name translates to “Golden Fang”, which perfectly describes its shape and color. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall). Mid-season. It has the classic “wispy” foliage often seen on oxhearts and large paste varieties. … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Zheltye Dlinnye (Yellow Long) 🌍 Origin: A true, unnamed family heirloom from Russia. It has been passed down and saved by the thread author’s family since her great-grandmother’s time. The name “Yellow Long” is simply a working title. 🌿 Plant Habit: Semi-determinate to indeterminate. Reaches about 5.2 ft (160 cm) in … Read more
📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Banan Zholtyi (Yellow Banana) 🌍 The Controversy: This variety is sold in Russia by the “Poisk” seed company under the name “Yellow Banana.” However, Russian growers who ran side-by-side grow-outs have universally concluded that this is simply a repackaged, renamed version of the famous American heirloom Banana Legs (originally bred by … 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 Raketa Zholtaya (Yellow Rocket) 🌍 Origin: A Russian commercial heirloom variety from the seed company “Semena Altaya” (Seeds of Altai). 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate, mid-early to mid-season. Reaches about 2 meters (6.5 ft) by the end of the season. Important Note: This plant has an incredibly frail, wispy, and “weeping” structure. The … Read more
Quick Summary of Rimskaya Svecha (Roman Candle) 🌍 Origin: A strikingly beautiful yellow paste/icicle variety (originally sourced by Russian collectors from the US/Valery Popenko). 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate, tall, and highly productive. The bush has a very distinct, frail/wispy structure right from the seedling stage. As one grower poetically described it: “A flexible, graceful stem … Read more