Quote:
Originally Posted by Bruinwar
Thanks for your replies Carolyn & efisakov.
Efisakov: part of the War on Disease this year will include pest control. What I am looking for is a good disease resist... uhem... tolerance tomato. Purple Cherokee is a great tasting tomato but failed completely for me two years in a row. They died before any fruit ripened.
Carolyn: Although we've had some very cold winters, the pathogens appear to have survived in the soil & likely was what you refer to as "splash-back infection". I was warned from my first year the area was loaded with (specifically) Septoria Leaf Spot. However, these infections could very well be airborne, not sure how I would be able to tell. They infections do start from the bottom of the plants. From what the symptoms looked like, it's a combination of problems, some fungal, some bacterial.
The plots that I rent are part of a huge garden plot area & the spread of disease was rampant the last couple years. As I said I have a War on Disease plan started & I plan on getting feedback in the disease forum.
My original post might of been better in the disease/pest forum.
One variety that did OK last year was Gurney's Orange Whoppers (a hybrid). They were all I had for canning whole tomatoes. However, I didn't really care much for the taste & was looking for some suggestions of some strains that might be more tolerant.
Thanks again for the replies! 
-joe |
Yes, it sounds like splash back infection to me as well since it affects the lower leaves first and then moves up the plant.
So to prevent that it helps to turn over the soil completely and deeply, not with a tiller, but with a shovel, if that's allowed in your rented garden plot.
Foliage diseases that can affect a plant from the air and rain almost always infect the foliage near the top of the plant, not the bottom as with splashback infection.
And yes, foliage diseases ARE more prevalent in rented space b'c you are close to other folks tomatoes and you have no idea if they raised them from seed or bought plants.
And no reason that I can see for you posting the same as here in the Pest and Disease Forum, b'c you're here now, and are actually more likely to get responses in General Discussion than you would in the Disease Forum, at least IMO. But yes, in the future it might be best for everyone to keep all threads having to do with diseases and pests in that Forum.
Finally, hybrids don't act any differently from non-hybrids when it comes to foliage diseases. I said in my first post that there were some exceptions, that has to do with Early Blight where a few varieties have low tolerance, but it's of use only to the commercial grower who can then spray maybe every 7 to 8 days as opposed to maybe 3 to5 days, but that's a HUGE money savings for the large scale commercial folks who have out acres and acres of tomatoes.
Carolyn