Quick Summary of Tomawak (Tamawak)
- 🌍 Origin & History: A fascinating “supermarket rescue” variety! It originally started as a commercial ribbed tomato imported from Spain (or Holland) under the name Tomawak (likely a play on “Tomahawk” due to its ribbed shape). Forum members saved seeds from the store-bought fruit, and it successfully de-hybridized over several years, becoming a stable variety in Russian collections.
- 🔍 The Name Confusion: The original supermarket packaging had a spelling error, listing it as “Tamawak” (Тамавак). However, it is widely known and cataloged online as “Tomawak” (Томавак).
- 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall), mid-season variety.
- 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Highly ribbed, red, pear-shaped or deeply fluted bell-shaped tomatoes. They generally weigh between 100g and 300g (3.5 – 10.5 oz). Visually, it is very similar to the Italian Abruzzo tomato but has much deeper ribs.
- 👅 Flavor & Texture: Known for having good taste. Note on texture: Depending on the weather and season, the interior flesh can vary. In some years, they are incredibly dense and meaty; in other years (especially towards the end of the season), they can develop small hollow voids inside, making them ideal for stuffing.
Seeds were extracted from store-bought tomatoes and sent to me by forum members. The variety is tall (indeterminate), mid-season. The fruits are ribbed and pear-shaped, weighing from 100 to 300g (3.5 – 10.5 oz). It looks similar to Abruzzo, but has much deeper ribs. The yield and taste are good.
In Holland, Tomawak is officially listed as a hybrid. Is this the beginning of its de-hybridization?
Nadya, I don’t know. I was sent seeds extracted from a store-bought fruit. That would make it an F2 generation, I suppose.
Tomatanya wrote:
Nadya, I don’t know. I was sent seeds extracted from a store-bought fruit…
Tatiana, the seeds for the “TAmawak” tomato—not TOmawak (that’s how the variety name was written on the packaging)—came to you from me. I think it is no longer a hybrid, because it has been grown from saved seeds for three years now. I’m glad you liked the variety.
Larisa, when I search the internet, I only find “Tomawak”. So I really don’t know what the correct spelling is. Maybe there was a typo on the packaging? And whose seeds were they originally, what company?
Tatiana, I didn’t buy a packet of seeds. I bought a plastic container of fresh tomatoes, which had a label on it indicating the variety name as “Tamawak”. And the tomatoes, I believe, were imported from Spain. But I don’t remember for sure anymore 😳.
By the way, was the flesh firm this year, or did it have hollow voids inside? In mid-April, my cats completely swept all my seedlings off the windowsill while running away from my French Bulldog 😲! Because of that disaster, I didn’t get to taste any of my own tomatoes this year.
It had slight hollow voids. In the photo in my first post, I showed the tomato cut in half; you can see it there.
Last year they also had slight voids, but the year before that they were incredibly meaty, with very dense and delicious flesh. This year, my friend grew it; the first fruits were very meaty, but towards the end of the season, the hollow voids started to appear.
