Quick Summary of Tunido (Тунидо)
- 🌍 Origin & The American Connection: An interesting “lost” variety. A Russian grower notes that her old, hand-packed seeds stated the variety originated in the USA. Given its appearance, it is highly likely that “Tunido” is a localized Russian name for an American striped paste tomato (such as Striped Roman or a similar variant).
- 🌿 Plant Habit: Determinate (bush). It grows to about 70 cm (28 inches) tall. While it is not a true tree-type (rugose) dwarf, the bush is very sturdy. It features broad leaves, which the grower notes gives it excellent heat tolerance.
- 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Small-to-medium elongated plums/icicles. They have a striking “fun” appearance—red skin heavily striped with jagged golden/yellow lines.
- 👅 Flavor & Texture: It has a good taste, but unlike most paste tomatoes, the flesh is quite soft.
- 🎯 Best Uses: Because the flesh is soft when fully ripe, it is not highly recommended for canning in jars (unless you pick them slightly underripe). It is better suited for fresh eating or cooking down into a quick sauce.
- 📈 Yield: Rated as above average.
Tunido. These are amateur (hand-packed) seeds, bought a very long time ago (on the plain white packet it was written that the variety was from the USA). I got 2 plants from them.
Determinate, height about 70 cm (28 inches). The bush, although not a true tree-type dwarf, is very sturdy, and the leaves are quite broad (which means it doesn’t fear the heat). Mid-season, yield is above average. The fruits are not large, they look fun/amusing, and have a good taste.
However, for canning in jars, it seems to me that it is a bit too soft. Unless you try to can them while they are still slightly underripe.
I wanted to say that it looks exactly like Tiger Plum (Sliva Tigrovaya), but that one turned out to be hard as an oak tree for me… Although visually they are identical, and it looks like Shere Khan too. But that one is also very dense/firm.
tomatinka wrote:
I wanted to say that it looks exactly like Tiger Plum…
Verochka, I once grew Striped Plum (Slivovidnyi Polosatyi) from the RO seed company — it’s not the same. The shape of those fruits was a little rounder, and the fruits themselves were much firmer. And now that I’m remembering it, I think that bush was a true tree-type dwarf (though I don’t remember for sure).
But Tunido, even though it has a sturdy bush, is not a tree-type dwarf.
I planted two bushes. One turned out exactly like the one in the photo, but the other one produced round-shaped fruits… they haven’t ripened yet, though.
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