Very interesting. I would like to try it. Do not underestimate Oklahoma's heat, though. The middle east cools down in early evenings unlike our round-the-clock heat depending on that year's season and also geographical location. In many places in the middle east one need only shade as there is a cool breeze fairly constantly. When the sun is removed in the early evening it is blissful. Oklahoma? Not so much.

My experience was in Jordan which may be a tad cooler than many places in Iraq.

So, I'm not experienced but Dawn suggests tomatoes need cool evening weather to set fruit? Anyone have any thoughts on this? I checked the current weather in that city at 3am it was 104 degrees. Maybe they'll be fine. Very curious, indeed. Only one way to find out!

Abu = "Fater of"
Rawan = Male name

"Named for the onetime caretaker of the greenhouses at the Agricultural College at Al Ghraib"

I thought it looked interesting, too...thanks for your thoughts!

Sharon

You'll never know how it will do or how it will taste unless you try it, but I'll throw this out there: although I like this particular seed company a lot, I have been incredibly disappointed by many tomato varieties I've purchased from them. Hence, I've stopped buying tomato seeds from them for the most part. Almost nothing I've bought from them, in terms of tomato varieties that are exclusive to them or are being introduced by them, has lived up to their descriptions. I've found they sound so much better than they are in real life. More and more I am buying tomato seeds from other companies because the performance I get better better matches the description of it at the other companies' websites. I'm not saying that to dissuade you from trying this tomato, but basically am saying 'caveat emptor'.

Bon, Research shows the importance of temperatures, both high and low ones, on fruit set of tomatoes. Humidity plays a role too. High temperatures and low RH is not nearly as bad for tomatoes as high temperatures and high RH. I've had great fruit set in August with high temps in the 108-113 range while nighttime lows at the same time stayed above 80 degrees, as long as the relative humidity is staying low. At those same temperatures with high humidity, I get really poor fruit set.

Dawn

Ohhh...you're right, Dawn - I had heard that from another friend (about BS not being all that great).

I was just dinking around and came across that one and wondered if anyone had ever grown it - thanks!

Sharon

Thanks for the tips and clarity, Dawn.

I'm growing this and another from Iraq this year. I had incredible germination of Abu Rawan seeds and the seedlings are all strong.
I had a brief discussion with someone stationed in Iraq on a forum. I asked him if the temps drop a lot at night.
He said they drop from the daytime temps of 100 - 114 to between 80 and 90 degrees where he is.
Sounds like a great option for Oklahoma weather if it can set fruit under those temps in Iraq.
I'm hoping these plants will produce when most of the tomatoes stop setting fruit.
I have no idea what they taste like, but any homegrown tomato is better than a store bought tomato or no tomato.

Sounds like a great plan, debles. I hope you can keep us updated on how they fare. Looks like it'll be another scorcher, this year.

bon

Oh, good...since I'm the original poster of this thread (and had totally forgotten about it)...you'll have to let us know how it does for you - thanks!

Sharon

I ended up reseeding Nineveh since my original seed starting failed for that variety. Those transplants are small, but I ended up with 4 of them, several Basrawya and quite a few Abu Rawan. Some of the Abu Rawan plants have buds on them already, so they must be early producers too.
The person I had the discussion about night temps with is stationed in Baghdad.

As usual, Glacier was the first to flower and already has a tiny green tomato set. Last year Glacier was the first to set fruit, continued to set fruit throughout the entire season and was still loaded with unripe fruit when a freeze was forecast. I picked a couple ice cream buckets of green tomatoes from the two plants and nearly all of them ripened inside over the next few weeks. They're small tomatoes but very dependable and not bad tasting.

My Nineveh plants died and never produced anything at all. The Basrawya plants were planted in inexpensive 5 gal and 7 gal grow bags and they produced quite a few good sized tomatoes in spite of the heat. The Abu Rawan tomatoes are much smaller than the Basrawya ones, but have more flavor. I'm growing Abu Rawan and Basrawya again this year (2016). Also have a couple tiny seedlings of Al-Kuffa started. Last year I didn't grow any of the Iraqi varieties at all. A friend and neighbor gave me 2 plants of Asian Traveler she got from the Tomato Man's Daughter and they grew to be enormous and continued to set fruit all summer. The tomatoes are larger than a cherry, but still a small tomato. Good flavor with little or no core. I know this is an old thread, but I wanted to share my opinion. This year I'm trying Aswad eggplant, which is also from Iraq. No idea how it will do, but I've started seeds for Rosita, Mitoyo and Aswad this year. Last year the only tomatoes that kept setting fruit through the heat were Stupice and Asian Traveler.

OKDeb: How are Rosita, Mitoyo (!!) and Aswad doing in Oklahoma? I'm in zone 10 Los Angeles. Very interested in mitoyo.

Mitoyo is very long season, right? Will you try to overwinter them, prune them and grow them as perennials?

My eggplants aren't doing well this year. Our heat kicked in a good month and a half earlier than usual and we've had very little rain in Tulsa. High temps since early June. I also planted several Kamo eggplants and although I harvested one eggplant from one of those plants, they are now suffering more than the other varieties in this endless heat. There is an eggplant on my single Mitoyo plant and a couple on my 2 Aswad plants. I started 3 Rosita plants, but the squirrels broke one of them off, so I only have 2. The smaller one isn't doing well and the larger one finally has buds on it. The Kamo eggplant I harvested was delicious, although small. Don't think they get very large, but there was no bitterness at all. Horrible year for the garden. Most of my tomato plants are dying or dead. The ones in the earthboxes are doing better than those in the raised beds. Don't know if Rosita will produce anything, but of the several varieties I planted, Aswad and Mitoyo are handling the heat and drought better than Kamo or Rosita. I also have backyard chickens for the first time this year who are pretty spoiled. I've been more focused on keeping the chickens well during this heat than the garden. This year, even my Glacier and Stupice plants are dying or dead already. Glad I planted the four Abu Rawan plants in earthboxes.

I won't try to keep them alive over winter, but I will start my seed earlier next year in hopes of beating the horrific heat. Last year we had a very mild winter, but we do get freezing temps, ice storms and snow in Oklahoma.

We grew Abu Rowan tomatoes for the first time this year, and they ended up being our favorite tomato for sauces, hamburgers, salads, and snacking! We do square foot gardening and they grew extremely well. The seeds were obtained from Baker's Seed Catalog, and grown from seed to transplant in our basement with grow lights, then transplanted in May, They began being ready for harvest in July and continued to be harvested into early October. We are in Illinois, Zone 5A. We just finished saving the seeds from them. Definitely a keeper for us! Nicely balanced juice with flesh, and with a flavor similar to cherry tomatoes, but in a large tomato.