- Heirloom
- Oxheart
- 85 (estimated) days to maturity (from transplant)
- Indeterminate
- Pink
Hungarian Heart
Heirloom oxheart from Hungary, 1901. Large pink oxheart: dense, nearly seedless, and equally at home raw or cooked. Ready in about 85 days from transplant.
Single source · Updated Sep 9, 2026 · Values marked like this (estimated) are estimates.
At a glance
- Fruit type
- Oxheart 14–24 oz (400–680 g) · Heart-shaped (estimated)
- Leaf type
- Regular leaf
- Days to harvest
- 85 days (estimated) from transplant · Mid-late
- Plant height
- 6–8 ft (180–240 cm) (estimated) Tall
- Spacing
- 24 × 35 in (60 × 90 cm) (estimated)
- Sunlight
- Full sun
- Position
- Handles open positions
- Growing sites
- Greenhouse · Polytunnel · Open ground
- Container growing
- Not suited to pots
- Difficulty
- Challenging (estimated) 4/5
- Skin
-
- Pink
- Interior
-
- Pink
Plant size and habit
Tall · Indeterminate
6–8 ft (180–240 cm) (estimated) · Regular leaf
Hungarian Heart is an indeterminate plant that keeps growing and setting fruit until frost; it needs a stake, cage, or trellis for the whole season. Expect a plant of 6–8 ft (180–240 cm).
Flavor
“Large pink oxheart: dense, nearly seedless, and equally at home raw or cooked.”
Growing calendar
85 (estimated) days from transplant Mid-late
Timing shown for temperate climates; sow indoors 6–8 (estimated) weeks before your last frost date. Look up your last frost date by ZIP code →
Disease resistance
No documented disease resistances — protect this variety with good airflow and crop rotation.
Uses & tags
- Slicing
- Sauce & paste
- Canning
- Heirloom classic
- Sauce workhorse
- High flavor
- Rare collector
Origin
According to a historic seed catalog listing, this heirloom was brought to the United States from Budapest in 1901. It is a large oxheart: broad at the shoulders, tapering to a point, with very dense flesh and few seeds. Oxhearts sit awkwardly between slicing and paste tomatoes and are usually used for both, cooked down or sliced raw.
Sources
Where to buy seeds
Prices rechecked dailyAll photos
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Hungarian Heart tomatoes ripening on the vine under cover -
A truss of Hungarian Heart tomatoes -
Hungarian Heart tomato plant in a garden bed with ripe fruit on the vine -
A ripe Hungarian Heart tomato held in a gardener's hand -
Freshly picked Hungarian Heart tomatoes -
Hungarian Heart tomato sliced in the kitchen
Questions
How do you grow a Hungarian Heart plant?
A Hungarian Heart plant grows 6–8 ft (180–240 cm) tall (estimated). Space plants 24 in (60 cm) apart in rows 35 in (90 cm) apart (estimated). Start seed indoors 6–8 weeks before your last frost (estimated); it germinates in 7–14 days (estimated). It needs full sun.
How long does Hungarian Heart take to mature?
Hungarian Heart is ready in about 85 days from transplant.
Does Hungarian Heart need staking?
Hungarian Heart is an indeterminate plant that keeps growing and setting fruit until frost; it needs a stake, cage, or trellis for the whole season. Expect a plant of 6–8 ft (180–240 cm).
Can Hungarian Heart be grown in a container?
Hungarian Heart is better suited to open ground or a greenhouse bed than a container.
Is Hungarian Heart resistant to disease?
No disease resistance is documented for Hungarian Heart.
