Tomato Bedouin

Brown pear shaped fruit on indeterminate potato leafed vines.

Description

Grown for the first time in 2018 with seeds from a seed swap, we were interested to see how this grew.

Heavy cropping brown pear shaped fruit with the rich flavour and colour of brown tomatoes. The web suggests its a Russian variety and its very similar to Japanese Black Trifele (aka Black Truffle) which is also a Potato Leafed plant so it becomes one of these questions as to whether they are the same but just lost in translation somewhere along the path.

Its done well (in 2018) with a reasonable crop, interesting because it seems that Bedouin (like Japanese Black Trifele) was bred in St Petersburg and intended for cooler climates – maybe even a hot summer like 2018 counts as a cool summer in some places).

I think we were lucky to get any plants at all. Of the five seeds we sowed, only one germinated and (if you look at the rightmost picture below) it had a funny kink in the stem. When transplanted, I made sure this was below the soil level and the plant went away well.

Need to compare it directly with Japanese Black Trifele.

Quick Facts

  • Fruit Type: Cooking
  • Fruit Shape: Plum
  • Fruit Size: 2 inch
  • Fruit Colour: Brown
  • Flesh Colour: Brown
  • Plant Type: Indeterminate
  • Leaf Type: Potato
  • Seed Type: Open Pollinated commercial
  • Ripe Days: Early/Mid (55-75 Days)
  • Taste: Rich
  • Our Source: 2017 Seed Swap
  • Origin:
  • Alternatives: Japanese Black Trifele, Black Plum, Egyptian
  • Fruit per Truss: 4-8
  • Truss Spacing: 15-18 inches

We haven’t found a commercial source for this cultivar, if you know of one, let us know.

Updated: 13/01/2021