Pink tomato varieties
Pink is where the large heirlooms live. Every one of the 11 pink varieties in this catalogue weighs at least 5 oz (140 g), three of them reach 16 to 32 oz (450 to 900 g), and the group contains no cherry, grape or snacking tomato at all. That is unusual: most colour groups here span the full size range, and pink simply does not. Brandywine, Mortgage Lifter, Marianna's Peace and Giant Oxheart are all on this page, which is another way of saying that if you picture the archetypal heirloom slicer, you are picturing a pink tomato. The season runs 70 to 88 days from transplant, and 10 of the 11 are indeterminate.
- Varieties
- 16
- Days to harvest (from transplant)
- 70–88
- Fruit weight
- 5–32 oz (140–900 g)
- Growth habit
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15 Indeterminate
1 Dwarf
All 16 pink tomato varieties
How to choose
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You are choosing a slicing tomato whether you meant to or not. The smallest fruit here, Pink Fang at 5 to 7 oz, is larger than the largest fruit on several other colour pages. If you wanted something to eat by the handful, this is the wrong page and the cherry or grape lists are the right ones.
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Season length is the real filter. Anna Russian at 70 days and Pruden's Purple at 72 are the early options; Giant Oxheart at 88 and the 85-day group including Brandywine and Mortgage Lifter need most of a long summer. Given that these are large fruits, which take longer to fill and ripen once set, an 88-day pink tomato in a short season is the classic way to end up with a plant full of green fruit in October.
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Expect cracking and plan watering around it. Large, thin-skinned heirloom fruit splits when water uptake changes suddenly, and this page is almost entirely large thin-skinned heirloom fruit. Steady moisture matters more here than in any other colour group, and mulch does more good than any variety choice.
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New Big Dwarf is the only compact plant. It carries 8 to 12 oz fruit, which is genuinely a slicer, on a plant small enough for a large container. For anyone who wants a proper heirloom tomato without a two-metre trellis, it is the single answer on this page.
Compare side by side
| Color | Uses | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anna Russian | 70 (estimated) | 10–16 oz (280–450 g) (estimated) | Indeterminate | 4 (estimated) / 2 (estimated) / 4 (estimated) | Fresh & salads, Slicing, Sauce & paste | |
| Arkansas Traveler | 85 | 5–8 oz (140–220 g) | Indeterminate | 3 (estimated) / 3 (estimated) / 3 (estimated) | Fresh & salads, Slicing | |
| Brandywine | 85 (estimated) | 12–20 oz (340–570 g) (estimated) | Indeterminate | 4 (estimated) / 2 (estimated) / 5 (estimated) | Fresh & salads, Slicing, Juicing | |
| Cuor di Bue | 80 (estimated) | 8–14 oz (230–400 g) (estimated) | Indeterminate | 3 (estimated) / 3 (estimated) / 4 (estimated) | Fresh & salads, Slicing, Sauce & paste | |
| German Pink | 85 | 10–16 oz (280–450 g) | Indeterminate | 3 (estimated) / 3 (estimated) / 3 (estimated) | Fresh & salads, Slicing | |
| Giant Oxheart | 88 (estimated) | 16–32 oz (450–900 g) (estimated) | Indeterminate | 4 (estimated) / 2 (estimated) / 3 (estimated) | Slicing, Sauce & paste | |
| Goliath | 80 | 10–16 oz (280–450 g) | Indeterminate | 3 (estimated) / 3 (estimated) / 3 (estimated) | Fresh & salads, Slicing | |
| Hungarian Heart | 85 (estimated) | 14–24 oz (400–680 g) (estimated) | Indeterminate | 4 (estimated) / 2 (estimated) / 4 (estimated) | Slicing, Sauce & paste, Canning | |
| Marianna's Peace | 85 (estimated) | 16–32 oz (450–900 g) (estimated) | Indeterminate | 4 (estimated) / 2 (estimated) / 5 (estimated) | Fresh & salads, Slicing, Juicing | |
| Mortgage Lifter | 85 (estimated) | 16–32 oz (450–900 g) (estimated) | Indeterminate | 4 (estimated) / 2 (estimated) / 4 (estimated) | Fresh & salads, Slicing, Juicing | |
| Mushroom Basket | 75 | 10–16 oz (280–450 g) | Indeterminate | 4 (estimated) / 2 (estimated) / 3 (estimated) | Fresh & salads, Slicing, Juicing, Stuffing | |
| New Big Dwarf | 75 (estimated) | 8–12 oz (230–340 g) (estimated) | Dwarf | 4 (estimated) / 2 (estimated) / 4 (estimated) | Fresh & salads, Slicing, Juicing | |
| Pink Fang | 78 | 5–7 oz (140–200 g) | Indeterminate | 4 (estimated) / 2 (estimated) / 4 (estimated) | Slicing, Sauce & paste, Drying, Snacking, Roasting | |
| Pruden's Purple | 72 (estimated) | 12–20 oz (340–570 g) (estimated) | Indeterminate | 4 (estimated) / 2 (estimated) / 5 (estimated) | Fresh & salads, Slicing, Juicing | |
| Stump of the World | 85 | 10–24 oz (280–680 g) | Indeterminate | 4 (estimated) / 2 (estimated) / 4 (estimated) | Slicing, Fresh & salads | |
| Zapotec Pleated | 85 (estimated) | 6–10 oz (170–280 g) (estimated) | Indeterminate | 3 (estimated) / 3 (estimated) / 3 (estimated) | Fresh & salads, Slicing, Stuffing |
Values marked like this (estimated) are model estimates, not confirmed from a source.
Frequently asked questions
Why are so many heirloom tomatoes pink?
Because pink flesh with a clear (rather than yellow) skin was common in the cultivars gardeners kept and passed on, and those are the ones that survived to become heirlooms. Commercial breeding later favoured red, which is why the modern hybrid section of any catalogue looks different from the heirloom section.
What is the difference between a pink and a red tomato?
The skin. Pink tomatoes have red flesh under a clear skin; red tomatoes have red flesh under a yellow skin, and the combination reads as a deeper red. It is a genuine genetic difference rather than a marketing distinction, even though the visual gap is small.
Are there small pink tomatoes?
Not in this catalogue. All 11 pink varieties are 5 oz or larger, and the group contains no cherry, grape or cocktail types. If you want small pink fruit, the closest options are on the bicolour and striped pages rather than here.
Which pink tomato is the largest?
Giant Oxheart, Marianna's Peace and Mortgage Lifter all reach 16 to 32 oz (450 to 900 g). Giant Oxheart is also the latest at 88 days, so it needs the longest season of anything on this page.
Can I grow a pink heirloom in a pot?
New Big Dwarf is the one designed for it: dwarf habit, 8 to 12 oz fruit, container-sized plant. The other ten are indeterminate and will outgrow a pot before they finish fruiting.