100% blight resistant tomato

[KarenO]

https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/plants...-crimson-crush

Via The Royal Horticultural Society in the UK: how about this? 100% blight resistant tomato, looks like it's only available as plants in UK at this time.

KarenO

[Salsacharley]

That's very interesting. I tried to buy some but I couldn't get past the "Country" drop down box on the Sutton registration page. They cost 7.99 pounds plus another 4.99 pounds shipping. That's some serious funds.

[Fusion_power]

Lot of hype, but the tomato just has ph2 and ph3. It is also selected for good flavor. As any good tomato breeder would tell you, there are NO totally blight resistant tomatoes.

You can find info about ph2 and ph3 in the breeding work Randy Gardner did on the Mountain series. Also, Amelia is a commonly available variety with both ph2 and ph3.

I'm not exactly pooh poohing the tomato, I'd love to trial it, but that price is way too high and the hype smells like a used car salesman.

[maf]

Originally Posted by Fusion_power

Lot of hype, but the tomato just has ph2 and ph3. It is also selected for good flavor. As any good tomato breeder would tell you, there are NO totally blight resistant tomatoes.

You can find info about ph2 and ph3 in the breeding work Randy Gardner did on the Mountain series. Also, Amelia is a commonly available variety with both ph2 and ph3.

I'm not exactly pooh poohing the tomato, I'd love to trial it, but that price is way too high and the hype smells like a used car salesman.

I agree with your statements about the hype and pricing and Randy Gardner and the Mountain series but when I looked up Amelia I could find no reference to ph2 or ph3, perhaps I am looking in the wrong places?

The difference between this and the Mountain series is that it may be OP and therefore homozygous for both genes compared to the heterozygous expression in Mountain Magic F1, for example. I don't know of any previously released lines that are homozygous for both.

I am feeling that I may have to trial some in 2015. Dar, I owe you some seeds so I will save you some from this.

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by Fusion_power

Lot of hype, but the tomato just has ph2 and ph3. It is also selected for good flavor. As any good tomato breeder would tell you, there are NO totally blight resistant tomatoes.

You can find info about ph2 and ph3 in the breeding work Randy Gardner did on the Mountain series. Also, Amelia is a commonly available variety with both ph2 and ph3.

I'm not exactly pooh poohing the tomato, I'd love to trial it, but that price is way too high and the hype smells like a used car salesman.

Agree with Fusion that there is NO variety totally resistant to blight, and the word blight can mean many things, but when they referred to ph2 and ph3 they are talking Late Blight, aka Phytopthera infestans. Perhaps some varieties are more tolerant to Late Blight under certain conditions, but totally resistant, no.

Carolyn

[Redbaron]

Originally Posted by Fusion_power

Lot of hype, but the tomato just has ph2 and ph3. It is also selected for good flavor. As any good tomato breeder would tell you, there are NO totally blight resistant tomatoes.

You can find info about ph2 and ph3 in the breeding work Randy Gardner did on the Mountain series. Also, Amelia is a commonly available variety with both ph2 and ph3.

I'm not exactly pooh poohing the tomato, I'd love to trial it, but that price is way too high and the hype smells like a used car salesman.

True, but it does actually say this:

elsewhere on the Suttons website it also says this:

The varieties Tomato Lizzano and Tomato Crimson Crush show some resistance to tomato blight. This variety is resistant but not immune and may still be attacked by blight.

So I would suggest they can be forgiven for being a bit over excited. Heck, I am! What's not to be excited about? A decent sized OP blight resistant tomato that tastes good! WOO HOO!

[ChrisK]

Iron Lady, I think. An F1 though.

Originally Posted by maf

I don't know of any previously released lines that are homozygous for both.

Agree with Dar. And, if this was the description of the tomato from one of the big seed companies everybody loves to hate here, I suspect the comments wouldn't be as charitable.

[PhilaGardener]

Certainly sounds like it is worth trialing widely! Being homozygous for Ph2 and Ph3, Crimson Crush should be able to be maintained by selfing, which is not true for Mountain Magic (F1 and heterozygous at these loci).

Because only plants are available this year, we will have to rely on our friends across the pond to save seed.

Resistant does not mean immune.

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by LDiane

Resistant does not mean immune.

I agree but perhaps it's a British term, and if it is I still don't equate tomato resistance with tomato immunity b/c immunity does not apply to tomatoes.

Carolyn

[Fusion_power]

Correcting one item above, it is Mountain Merit and Iron Lady that have ph2 and ph3, not Amelia which has SW5 and F1, 2, 3. I've read more about this tomato over the last few hours and find the media sensationalism to be way over the top.

I have several lines from Randy Gardner that are now homozygous for ph2 and ph3. One of them is from a cross with Brandywine. I should re-grow that line this year and see if there is something worth carrying further.

More info here. see NC1 Celebr

http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/fletcher/pro...ses/index.html

[Cole_Robbie]

Mulch is what prevents blight. The spores are in dirt, which splashes up on the lower part of the plant in a hard rain if you don't have mulch. The problem is so easy to fix with mulch -at least in my experience and location - that it seems a waste of breeders' talents to even attempt to address.

[KarenO]

Late blight spores can be carried by wind for miles which is what makes it such a huge problem and one that can wipe out entire crops within days.
Seems to me that the Royal Horticultural Society might have some know-how in their midst and I wouldn't be so hasty to nay say this new tomato without a fair try. Blight is not a huge problem in general where I live because the spores cannot survive the deep cold winters here. We do, on occasion have an outbreak caused by poor quality imported potato tubers, tomato pepper plants from warmer areas ( a big reason to grow our own imo and also to avoid buying anything from big (American) box stores like wallmart up here and to buy from local growers where possible. Even here it can be a big problem every few years. Mulch will not save plants from wind blown late blight spores I'm afraid.

KarenO

[Redbaron]

Originally Posted by Fusion_power

I have several lines from Randy Gardner that are now homozygous for ph2 and ph3. One of them is from a cross with Brandywine. I should re-grow that line this year and see if there is something worth carrying further.

More info here. see NC1 Celebr

http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/fletcher/pro...ses/index.html

Woo Hoo!!!!!! Absolutely YES! You should!

[Fusion_power]

Illinois is not epidemic prone though blight can hit the area. Eastern U.S. has had several years with US-8. Washington State has had problems with US-22. One of them can overcome ph-2. The other can in overcome ph-3 if conditions are favorable. The benefit of having both ph-2 and ph-3 in a single variety is that commercial growers can stretch out fungicide sprays and spray less.

Mulch is beneficial, it reduces spread of septoria spores. Late blight does not normally overwinter in soil. It overwinters on plant residue. You can mulch 3 feet deep and it won't prevent late blight from blowing in on a breeze.