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Old August 5, 2010   #2
b54red
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Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Alabama
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Yes you can plant and grow successfully in beds infected with fusarium. It can be very frustrating at times but I have been planting in fusarium infected beds for over 25 years and was told by an extension agent that I would not be successful with tomatoes but might have some luck with very resistant hybrids. This year I picked well over 1000 tomatoes off of herlooms so far this season. I lost over 1/3 of my plants to fusarium before ripe fruit stage; 1/3 produced very few before dying and 1/3 did very well. I planted 78 different varieties to see which would do well in my garden.
The trick is to plant varieties that have some good tolerance so that despite the fusarium they will still produce and grow for an extended time. In my experience some varieties have much better tolerance than others. One hybrid that has shown great tolerance year in and year out is Big Beef. If I had to pick just a few heirlooms to grow where fusarium is a problem I would pick: Neves Azorean Red, Old Virginia, Indian Stripe, Kosovo, Linnies Oxheart, BTD Pink, JD's Special C Tex and Gary O' Sena.
You will get a lot of advice about various soil treatments and root stimulants but so far I have not had much luck with them; but I continue to try them. They might be more successful where the fusarium is not so virulent as it is in my garden. I am still finding the best results with the more tolerant varieties whether treated or not.
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