Coustralee' & Omar Lebanese?

[My Foot Smells]

Read Dr. Carolyn's book the other night, a very nice read and informative. The seed saving section has perked interest in saving seeds, as currently it is something I do not do; but really need to add to my list of things to do.

The heirloom descriptives with pictures caught my wife's attention, and she asked me about the Coustralee & Omar variety. IDK, I said - never have grown either, nor know anybody who has grown.

Obviously these are two very big red tomatoes (LOL), which is everyone's favorite, right?

I am zone 7b and it gets hotter than a hijackers pistol come august. The weather can be tormenting. So really can't grow things that are meek and temperamental.

tia

[Nematode]

Different climate, but Coustralee was very tasty. First year. Didn't track productivity.

[My Foot Smells]

Thanks. Sounds like a winner, but I wonder why I do not hear of it being grown more?

It's getting close to gathering up some seeds for next year, so thinking about growing a couple different heirloom varieties. Will always grow Cherokee Purple, but have room to try a few different next year.

[cloz]

I grew Coustralee in 2011. Didn't produce one tomato. Needless to say, it never returned to my garden.
I grew Omar's Lebanese in 2011 also. Notes say good taste and poor production. I have it in my garden this year also and I'm still waiting for a ripe tomato but it does have 5 tomatoes on the plant. Not a big producer so I won't grow it again.

Cloz

[PaulF]

Having grown both periodically since 1999, most years both do very well here in the mid-west. My Iowa garden was better suited to both, but now in Nebraska they still produce large, good tasting tomatoes. Production is not overwhelming, each plant giving up around 25 to 30 tomatoes in the 12-18 ounce average size.

Both Cuostralee, or is it Coustralee now, and Omar's Lebanese were among the first heirlooms I tried and still get planted every third year or so. Maybe they need heat and humidity to do well. But then Arkansas is hotter and more humid than Nebraska. Give them a try, I think you might like them....both.

[seaeagle]

Coustralee did very well last year in heat and humidity for me.They were productive and ripened really well for a very large tomato with no cracking.Bringing it back next year to replace some of these non productive ones.It is strange how some varieties grow great in some places and terrible in others.Zone 7B here very close to 8A

[slugworth]

omar's does love hot weather,it is a slow producer but the tomatoes are all a uniform 18oz.
I started seeds from a rotten one I picked a few weeks ago for next year.
More pink than red IMO.

[My Foot Smells]

Thanks for all the replies. Seems like ppl are growing more Russian these days than heirlooms of old.

C-eagle, it feels like 8a, and a 10a on some days. Okra likes the heat and humidity, I mistakenly grew a batch one year and had to pull up the plants with a logging chain tied to the jeep. Treated them like a red-headed step child too, withholding water days on end, and planted out in the open 16 hours of sunshine.

If either variety like heat and humidity, they will do very well here - that's two things I got for sure.

[Gardenboy]

I grow Omar's Lebanese every year! It's one of the top 10 favorites for taste and production. It's does perform well in our humid winters and cool 55 degree nights in Jan. and Feb.

[My Foot Smells]

Originally Posted by Gardenboy

I grow Omar's Lebanese every year! It's one of the top 10 favorites for taste and production. It's does perform well in our humid winters and cool 55 degree nights in Jan. and Feb.

Nice to know, gator country sure does have some humidity. 55 degree night would feel wonderful, haven't experienced that since May, however, cool front bringing low 60's Thursday, and I'm pumped up for a nice weekend (low humidity too). I threw the weed whacker down about 1 month ago and refused to pick it back up until things cooled off.

[seaeagle]

Originally Posted by My Foot Smells

Thanks for all the replies. Seems like ppl are growing more Russian these days than heirlooms of old.

C-eagle, it feels like 8a, and a 10a on some days. Okra likes the heat and humidity, I mistakenly grew a batch one year and had to pull up the plants with a logging chain tied to the jeep. Treated them like a red-headed step child too, withholding water days on end, and planted out in the open 16 hours of sunshine.

If either variety like heat and humidity, they will do very well here - that's two things I got for sure.

I couldn't even finish my okra last night I am so tired of it.I know what you mean, okra has trunks like trees here at the end of the year.

[Nematode]

Uh oh, I have a feeling Carolyn will be by to chastize us for poor spelling

[My Foot Smells]

Originally Posted by Nematode

Uh oh, I have a feeling Carolyn will be by to chastize us for poor spelling

Dunchoo know, that is how heirloom varieties change over time.

No, it's spelled right.

COUSTRALEE TOMATO (heirloom)

[b54red]

I have grown both and have a negative rating on them both. Coustralee was so susceptible to fusarium that neither I nor a friend of mine could ever get them large enough to produce fruit without them dying first and so after three years of trying I gave up on it. Maybe I should try it again now that I am grafting all my plants. Omars on the other hand was much better at producing a few fruits and wow were they large. Some years I got tomatoes over 2 lbs off of them and other years just a handful around a pound and a half. Despite the huge beautiful fruits I found the texture rather mealy and the tomato flavor too bland for my taste.

If you are looking for large red tomatoes that will do good in the heat and humidity of the south I think you need to look at a few other varieties that have been far more successful and more importantly much better tasting in my book. Neves Azorean Red is a really large productive red beefsteak that is really good. Red Barn is also a massive tomato that is very productive in even the hottest weather as is Couilles de Taureau. Another large red that is wonderfully tasty is Dester but the vines are very prone to diseases but will still usually give you a good harvest of very juicy tomatoes. I have been experimenting with finding a few good reds for years by trying many different varieties and those are the ones that have proven themselves to me for multiple seasons. I am trying another new one this year that shows promise and that is Rebel Yell but so far I haven't gotten the really large fruits from it that I have gotten from the others.

Bill

[My Foot Smells]

Originally Posted by b54red

I have grown both and have a negative rating on them both. Coustralee was so susceptible to fusarium that neither I nor a friend of mine could ever get them large enough to produce fruit without them dying first and so after three years of trying I gave up on it. Maybe I should try it again now that I am grafting all my plants. Omars on the other hand was much better at producing a few fruits and wow were they large. Some years I got tomatoes over 2 lbs off of them and other years just a handful around a pound and a half. Despite the huge beautiful fruits I found the texture rather mealy and the tomato flavor too bland for my taste.

If you are looking for large red tomatoes that will do good in the heat and humidity of the south I think you need to look at a few other varieties that have been far more successful and more importantly much better tasting in my book. Neves Azorean Red is a really large productive red beefsteak that is really good. Red Barn is also a massive tomato that is very productive in even the hottest weather as is Couilles de Taureau. Another large red that is wonderfully tasty is Dester but the vines are very prone to diseases but will still usually give you a good harvest of very juicy tomatoes. I have been experimenting with finding a few good reds for years by trying many different varieties and those are the ones that have proven themselves to me for multiple seasons. I am trying another new one this year that shows promise and that is Rebel Yell but so far I haven't gotten the really large fruits from it that I have gotten from the others.

Bill

thanks bill, strong words.