Every year, gardeners go to purchase seeds of new varieties of tomatoes. This does not mean at all that wonderful old varieties of tomatoes have been forgotten, but everyone wants to believe that a new variety or hybrid will be better, more productive, and more stable. The peak demand for tomato seeds occurs in February-March and this is no coincidence. Tomatoes for seedlings are planted around mid-March, which means before this time you need to learn as much as possible about new products, exchange opinions and re-read reviews from summer residents about the tested varieties.
It would be easier if there were few new varieties of tomatoes, but today breeders have developed so many varieties that it is easy to “get lost” in them. How can you choose the best variety of tomatoes from the variety of seeds presented, bright pictures on the bags and many reviews?
Let's try to figure out which tomato varieties are best to plant in the new year. What to pay attention to when buying and how not to fall for the bait of unscrupulous sellers.
Bull's heart
Tomatoes of the “ox heart” variety are the largest, sweetest and especially loved by children. Until the greenhouse was installed, the harvest of “hearts” was very small and went entirely to us, the children.
I remember my grandmother’s worries about the time of picking: “Long stem,” she said, “it’s time to pick the seedlings.” I remember how I trimmed the bushes so that they did not grow too long, how I made a garter. She instructed my sister and I not to pour water on the fruits or leaves, and to carefully loosen the soil under the bushes.
As soon as the opportunity arose to cultivate my own garden, the first thing I did was plant “ox heart” - I so wanted the taste from my childhood.
Donor varieties
Domestic scientific and breeding institutions keep samples of local varieties in their collections. They are used to create new hybrids as donors of genes responsible for early ripening, cold resistance and other beneficial properties. And most importantly – for the taste. They are paired with specimens that are fertile and not susceptible to disease. And it turns out very good offspring. Perhaps in the description of some breeding object you had to read: “Selection from a variety...”.
The fact is that the plants belonging to the same variety that make up it are not absolute copies of each other. From generation to generation, more or less significant mutations arise and accumulate. If seed propagation is carried out by a specialist who is faced with the task of preserving the sample, he will take care to exclude the ingress of impurities, and to obtain offspring he will select exactly those plants that fully correspond to the description.
If initially the same variety is grown by different people who take seeds not from those plants that most accurately repeat the characteristics of their parents, but from those that they simply like better (slightly brighter color of the fruit, the first ripe fruits, powerful or, conversely, , compact bush, etc.), then after several generations the same “selection” is obtained, which is similar to the original variety, but is already noticeably different from it. That is why local or folk varieties are fertile material for breeding. Particularly attractive are self-pollinating species, in which the specimen they like is highly likely to produce offspring similar to itself (if it is not a hybrid, and if persistent insects have not brought foreign pollen).
Rocket
I remembered my grandmother’s advice when I first landed a “rocket” on the site. If you don’t apply fertilizer in time, either the fruits will crack or growth will stop. In the 2000s, when the “rocket” was just starting to be planted, there was almost no information about the variety, so all the nuances were reached empirically.
Grandmother, like a real scientist, worked and observed. Therefore, the tips that she gladly shared with me - plant fresh seedlings, remove side leaves, do not bury the roots, do not plant in the shade - helped me a lot.
My grandmother usually pickled these tomatoes in jars.
Lady fingers
Grandmother loved “fingers” for their unpretentiousness, early ripening and bright taste.
She plucked the bushes when the third leaf appeared and plucked the tip of the root. I remember helping her. They really say that it’s better to see once: when I wanted to plant the “fingers”, my grandmother’s hands themselves remembered my grandmother’s science.
From her I learned that “lady fingers” do not have to be tied up, and the seeds of these tomatoes can be harvested from fruits from your own plot.
The best of the old
Selection of the best vegetables for breeding
It turns out that the centuries-old works of our ancestors are no longer needed by anyone? No, of course not. What is good about them is precisely those qualities for which they have been selected for more than a dozen generations. And above all, it's taste. Without it, all other virtues were meaningless.
In books on vegetable growing published at the beginning of the last century, the most delicious are Nezhinsky, preserved in Soviet times and giving its “blood” to new hybrids, and Borovsky, which is most likely lost. Muromsky has not yet been surpassed in terms of early maturity.
And another advantage of the northern selection (selections were carried out in the vegetable gardening areas of the Vladimir and Yaroslavl regions) is resistance to variable temperatures and unpretentiousness. The isolation of cultivation centers helped to avoid infection with diseases. Therefore, there was no need for infection-resistant varieties, and there was nothing to make them from then. Naturally, veteran varieties can no longer resist the modern set of harmful microorganisms.
White filling
My grandmother planted “White filling” less often: this variety has been known for a long time, but she wanted to experiment. She praised the “white filling” for the fact that the fruits have time to ripen before the development of diseases, for example, late blight.
I remember that my grandmother did not advise watering the bushes more than twice a week. She watered, and I loosened the soil when I was little. Then they entrusted me with a watering can and told me not to pour water under the roots.
Bright, juicy white tomatoes were usually used in salads.
On the advice of my grandmother, my sister grows this variety in the northern region: in cold summers it gives a good harvest. Easy to care for, resistant to bad weather, “white filling” is quite within the capabilities of a novice gardener.
For open ground and greenhouses
There are many varieties of tomatoes, and making a choice can be very difficult. It is best to rely on your experience in growing. There are varieties that grow well both in greenhouses and in open ground.
Monomakh's hat
The tomatoes are quite large, weighing about 900 grams. The pulp has a sweet and sour taste. Medium-early type of fruiting (fruits appear 110-120 days after planting the seedlings).
Resistant to diseases. In the Northern regions it should be planted under cover, as it prefers a warm climate. In greenhouses, the yield reaches up to 20 kg per m2, in open ground up to 10 kg per bush.
Puzata Khata
The fruits have an unusual shape, somewhat reminiscent of small houses for gnomes, with enhanced ribbing.
Peculiarities:
- The average early ripening period is up to 100 days.
- They begin to turn red with sufficient heat and sunlight.
- The fruits have a sweet and sour taste, quite juicy with fleshy pulp.
The variety requires formation and garter; tomatoes ripen 2-3 pieces on one bunch. They require preventive measures against various diseases.
Golden Dome
The tomato has a mid-early ripening period. Productivity reaches up to 14 kg per bush. It has an orange color, a sweet and juicy taste.
Drop of honey
Tomatoes have a bright yellow hue, and sometimes even closer to orange. Several pieces ripen on the branches at once. This type of tomato contains a large amount of sugar. The weight of one tomato is about 30 grams. Tomato is grown in open ground and does not require much care.
Recommendation Particular attention should be paid to watering and applying mineral fertilizers.
The fruits appear in early September.
Bull's heart
It occupies a leading position in the popular vote ranking. The most popular type of tomato among gardeners. Has a late ripening period. The first fruits ripen 110-120 days after planting the seedlings. It is grown both in greenhouses and in open ground.
Productivity:
- When grown in a garden bed, you can harvest up to 5 kg from one bush.
- In greenhouse conditions, the yield increases to 12 kg.
The height reaches 1.5 meters. The tomatoes are heart-shaped and bright red in color. Large fruits are located near the ground, small ones at the top of the bush. The pulp is dense, the taste is uniquely sweet. This type of vegetable is a favorite among tomato gardeners.
When trying to grow a tomato, you can conclude whether it is suitable for growing on the site or not. For one gardener, this will be a favorite variety that is used annually, while another person, having planted it once, will not return to it again. You should not stop at the same types, you should try and find what suits you.
Moskvich
As it turned out, Moskvich tomatoes also grow well in cold summers. Their grandmother first planted them in the mid-80s. The summer that year was cool, and only the persistent Muscovite bushes produced a good harvest.
“We plant the Muscovites in separate apartments when the second leaf sprouts,” the grandmother joked, “and after a month and a half we can register them in the greenhouse.”
This variety does not require special care, so all my grandmother’s advice regarding the “Muscovite” concerned preparations. These tomatoes don't last long.
Tomato "Amish Paste Round"
Tomato "Amish Paste Round" ripens in 85 days, indeterminate variety. One of the oldest tomato varieties, originating in the USA in the second half of the 19th century. It was first developed in Amish communities (the most conservative branch of Protestantism, which rejects the benefits of civilization and prefers a simple life close to nature) in Pennsylvania. The variety is described as a tomato with excellent flavor for canning or fresh salads - "the standard for canning tomatoes."
Tomatoes are usually classified as a "paste" when they are ideal for making sauces. These tomatoes usually contain little juice, which allows them to cook faster. The Amish Pasta variety is an exception to this rule due to the juiciness of its fruit. Its juicy texture makes the sauce smoother and the taste super sweet.
There are many varieties developed by the Amish community that vary in shape. “Amish Pasta Round” is a variation with fruits of a regular round shape. They have firm, bright red flesh and the perfect combination of salty and sweet. The variety requires a lighted, spacious place and good nutrition to set large tomatoes.
Tomato "Amish Paste Round" (Amish Paste Round). © Lyudmila Svetlitskaya
Tomato "Amish Paste Round" in section. © Lyudmila Svetlitskaya
My review of the Amish Pasta Round variety
In my garden these were very productive tomatoes with an average fruit weight of 300 g; the fruits were round and oval in shape. When cut, they are very juicy and meaty. The bush is tall and formed into two stems. Last year, many of the tomatoes I grew had green shoulders, and Amish Pasta Round was no exception.
The tomatoes were not bad in taste, but I can’t call this variety particularly outstanding; it had the most ordinary tomato taste. In my opinion, these tomatoes were a bit rough, so I practically didn’t use them for the salad. For me, it turned out to be more of a technical variety, which I used for canning and preparing lecho.
Otradny
Our whole family loved the unusual taste of these tomatoes, and, of course, we, the grandchildren, were the first to try them. Small, but tasty and bright fruits ripen quickly by mid-summer.
My grandmother usually planted “Otradny” in open ground and did not recommend placing it in a greenhouse. But she told me not to take my eyes off it: in the first couple of weeks, you need to quickly remove the fruits from the bushes so that they do not have time to deteriorate. Seedlings need to be picked when two leaves appear on the stem.
Return to old varieties
Many amateur gardeners propose to “revive the former glory of the Russian vegetable garden” by returning to old “folk” varieties.
And here a couple of questions arise:
- How well do they know the “price” of the issue?
- Where can I get old varieties?
The fact is that each company wishing to produce seeds must prove its rights to this selection achievement and pay the costs associated with inclusion in the State Register. It turns out that there is simply no one to grow varieties of anonymous authors for sale.
Moreover, they are in many ways inferior to modern hybrids:
- Our old local, Eastern European cucumbers tend to turn yellow quickly (like most black-thorned ones).
- They are also rich in the so-called barren flowers, that is, male flowers, and cannot be compared with modern, predominantly female or purely female flowers, in which each flower can become greenery, in terms of productivity.
- They are less resistant to diseases.
- And we need to collect our Murom and Vyaznikovsky ones every other day, otherwise they begin to actively grow in thickness, turning into the now unfashionable “barrels”.
- More slender - Nerosimy and Nezhinsky. But in terms of maturation they are almost two weeks behind the sprinters.
- National breeders have never even heard of the fact that there are cucumbers that do not taste bitter under any circumstances, as well as about parthenocarpy. All their varieties require pollination. And “self-fertile” ones were brought from distant countries only in the 20th century.
Cosmonaut Volkov
“Why this name?” – I asked my grandmother. “Because the bush grows long,” she answered. “It definitely needs to be secured.” My grandmother loved this Soviet, well-proven variety for its large number of fruits and resistance to various diseases.
Tall bushes require constant care and regular fertilization. When we watered the “cosmonaut” in the greenhouse, they showed me both garters and supports for the branches. The lower branches are supported so that they do not fall to the ground, because the largest and most delicious fruits grow on them.
We usually made salads or lecho from “space” tomatoes. Grandmother did not preserve very large fruits: they did not go into the jar.
- Author: Zimina Tatyana
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Tomato "Heinz"
Heinz tomato has been around since the 1930s. These tomatoes also provide the famous taste of Heinz ketchup. The variety forms small bushes strewn with fruits weighing about 100–170 g. The fruits are resistant to cracking, produce high yields and, above all, are distinguished by excellent taste.
The HJ HEINZ company began a program of growing tomatoes for processing in 1936. Its goal was to select varieties with increased productivity and rapid ripening. At first, the company focused primarily on processing tomatoes for its famous ketchup. The commercial success of 'Heinz' hybrids prompted the company to enter the seed trade in 1992.
The 'Heinz' varieties have proven themselves among producers due to their consistently high yields, transportability and bright color. Their acid content is ideal for canning, they taste great in salads and they are resistant to Fusarium and Verticillium blight. Heinz is a kind of “heirloom can” in the garden. Ripening time is 75-80 days.
Heinz tomato. © Lyudmila Svetlitskaya
Tomato "Heinz" in section. © Lyudmila Svetlitskaya
My review of the Heinz variety
As I understand it, there are several varieties that are grown and sold, and they differ in height and size of the fruit. Therefore, the description of the Heinz variety varies from source to source, and reviews about them are very different.
The variation of the Heinz variety that I grew was very low, literally creeping bushes. They were very branchy and did not need pinching. The bushes are literally strewn with small fruits slightly larger than cherry ones. The tomatoes were evenly round in shape, just like in the picture, and had a uniform bright red color without “green shoulders.” When cut, the fruits are very juicy. The taste is tomato, sweet with a slight sourness.
I was pleased with the variety, because it has low, compact bushes that did not require pinching or staking, as well as high yield.
