Question about a heirloom Tomato

[Medbury Gardens]

I grow a large number of heirloom vegetables for seed,in which i have two New Zealand tomatoes that are grown each year.One of them was brought to this country by some Lebanese immigrants many years ago but its original name has been lost to time,we simply call it "Lebanese".Its a early tomato to ripen,mid sized and has excellent fruit set capabilities even in my hothouse

Anyone recognise it ???

[carolyn137]

I'm not sure of the color from the picture, nor the size. Could you please help with that?

Althought I must say that I think it will be impossible to ID it to a specific variety b'c most in Lebanon that were grown by families were never named. I discovered that when Omar Sahib brought back to me seeds from the hill town area which I named Omar's Lebanese and is a large pink beefsteak.

This year I grew one called Libanaise Montagnes and it's a large red beefsteak.

[icelord]

That looks just like the Rouge D Irak, mine looked identical to that.

Icelord

[Medbury Gardens]

Originally Posted by carolyn137

I'm not sure of the color from the picture, nor the size. Could you please help with that?

Althought I must say that I think it will be impossible to ID it to a specific variety b'c most in Lebanon that were grown by families were never named. I discovered that when Omar Sahib brought back to me seeds from the hill town area which I named Omar's Lebanese and is a large pink beefsteak.

This year I grew one called Libanaise Montagnes and it's a large red beefsteak.

Colour - i would describe as light red getting towards a dark pink,when it ripens,it retains green shoulders that slowly disappears when the tomato becomes over ripe and starts to wrinkle.

Size and shape - the fruit is slightly flattened and is rather inconsistent in size,that largest i picked so far is 6 cm across with at least half the tomatoes 20-30% smaller.

icelord-maybe we swoop seed and grow them side by side compare them??,i'll send ya PM.

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by Medbury Gardens

Colour - i would describe as light red getting towards a dark pink,when it ripens,it retains green shoulders that slowly disappears when the tomato becomes over ripe and starts to wrinkle.

Size and shape - the fruit is slightly flattened and is rather inconsistent in size,that largest i picked so far is 6 cm across with at least half the tomatoes 20-30% smaller.

icelord-maybe we swoop seed and grow them side by side compare them??,i'll send ya PM.

Since 1 cm = .4 inches and the largest fruit is about 6 cm that means that the fruits average only about 2.4 inches, and many are smaller.

There aren't that many Lebanese varieties that I know of that are that small, most being much much larger, but I admit I'm not in the mood to comb through the about 4000 varieties in the SSE YEarbook to even see if there are any of that color and in that size range.

And since you don't know how long they've been grown by that family and you don't know where they got them from, b'c there are other possibilities but no way to track them down as I see it.

As I recall icelord's Rouge d Irak is red and much larger as I remember the picture and when one Googles one gets pictures/descriptions of it that say a one pound heart, others say a smaller oblate ( flattened) globe and on and on but it's a true red, so wouldn't be the same as your lebanese one as I see it.

I wish I could be more helpful but as is often the case folks in many places never have a name for what they grow. The variety I named Omar's Lebanese had no name when Omar gave me the seeds, it has been grown in the hill towns almost forever, and no one cares what it's called.

[Medbury Gardens]

Thanks Carolyn,i do understand just how difficult it can be sometimes to identify some varieties.
oh well,the name "Lebanese" it shall remain

[mtbigfish]

Medbury
Watch in a few years it will be called New Zealand Lebanese or Medbury's New Zealand Lebanese or Medbury's Lebanese - never mind forget the name

if it grows good and tastes good who cares as long as you let people know when you share seed and don't send it to SSE etc unless you have more info
Dennis

[Medbury Gardens]

well gee thanks Dennis i dont really rate it this tomato very high in the way of taste any way but has very good fruit set and is quite productive.