📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Duo
- 🌍 Origin: A striped commercial/heirloom variety originally sourced from the Czech Republic. Also distributed by some Russian seed companies (like Elcom), though growers note slight variations between the strains.
- 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate. Grows vigorously and easily reaches around 6.5 feet (2 meters) tall in a greenhouse.
- 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Small, round cocktail-sized tomatoes weighing about 0.7-1 oz (20-30 g). They feature a striking striped pattern, though some growers report the stripes can fade when fully ripe. The skin is generally thin.
- ⏳ Maturity & Yield: Early season and extremely productive. Known for setting massive clusters (up to 16 fruits on the first truss).
- ⚠️ Grower Notes: Performance can be mixed. Some praise its classic tomato flavor and early yields, while others note the fruits can be prone to cracking and dropping off the vine when fully ripe.
Seeds are from the Czech Republic. It is a cocktail variety, fruit weight is 0.7-1 oz (20-30 grams). There were 16 fruits on the first truss, and 8-10 on the subsequent ones. It looks a lot like Amur Tiger.
In the last photo, Duo is on the right, Tiger on the left. The fruits are slightly different. Duo is rounder, while Tiger is oblate, but visually they look very similar. Duo is more productive and ripens earlier. With simultaneous planting, Duo ripened its third truss while Tiger was only ripening its first. Duo also tastes better, it has a good tomatoey flavor, whereas Tiger is a bit bland.
Here are my Duos, I only grew one plant. A very heavy yielder, the fruits weigh about 1 oz (25-30 grams).
ElenaN said:
Here are my Duos, I only grew one plant. A very heavy yielder, the fruits weigh about 1 oz (25-30 grams).
Elena, what was your seed source? I have the Duo strain from Elcom.
Elena! The seeds originally came from the Czech Republic.
ElenaN said:
Elena! The seeds originally came from the Czech Republic.
The picture on my Duo packet from Elcom looks similar, we’ll try them out and see what they actually packed for us in there. 🙂
Zhavoronok (Katya) said:
Elena, I need to make sure I don’t forget to order this variety from you ;)! (Waiting for your seed list)
Katya, this variety is available from Elcom, you can just buy it at the seed expo.
elena1984 said:
Katya, this variety is available from Elcom, you can just buy it at the seed expo.
Elena, they actually turn out a bit different depending on if it’s the Elcom strain or the Czech one. If you want, send me your address in a PM. I’ll mail you some and I’d be glad to hear how they compare for you.
The coloring looks similar to my favorite, Ryabchik (Hazel Grouse), but that one is larger and the yield is just average.
It looks very similar to Amur Tiger. Tiger had a very thin skin. What about Duo? 😳 Oh wait, Sasha already wrote about the differences.
Here is last year’s Duo from Elcom. It looks different, it’s not as productive and the tomatoes are larger.
Can anyone tell me the height of this variety? I sowed it this year and I don’t know where to plant it out… in the bed with the determinates or indeterminates? 🤷♀️
Mine reached about 6.5 feet (2 meters) in the greenhouse, it’s an indeterminate.
Nadezhda, thanks for the info 🌸 I’ll send it over to the indeterminates 👍
Starting to ripen.
A complete disappointment. The seedlings were beautiful and it set fruit pretty well, but… the fruits just drop off, they crack, they don’t store well, and the skin is thin. I think they would just burst if I tried canning them. The taste is totally ordinary, store-bought ones are sometimes tastier. And as they ripen, the stripes fade, so they lose all their ornamental appeal too.
