Disease Resistant Heirloom Tomato Data?

[Daryl]

Is there a database that sorts heirlooms by disease resistance? My garden is now too shady and has poor air circulation. I need all the help I can get.
Thank you.

[Dewayne mater]

I'm not aware of a an official list. If you search on Tville for disease resistant heirlooms, you'll come across some threads about that. Some folks believe that some varieties have certain types of resistance, me included. However, I'm not aware of double blind testing or some other type of scientific testing, more anecdotal. For example, I believe that Indian Stripe has some disease resistance. I also believe that black tomatoes are generally more susceptible to infection from molds. Several varieties have been discussed.

Good luck.

Dewayne Mater.

[amideutch]

I have found in my exprience that PL (Potato Leaf) varieties have been more resistant to disease than RL (Regular Leaf) varieties. But I also spray my plants regularly with Actinovate, AgriFos/Exel LG and azoxystrobin for disease prevention.

You could also grow some plants in containers that could be set in a sunnier location on your property.

Ami

[Dutch]

Originally Posted by Daryl

Is there a database that sorts heirlooms by disease resistance? My garden is now too shady and has poor air circulation. I need all the help I can get.
Thank you.

Daryl, Bill (B54red) Has posted some very good info on OP tomato resistance.
http://www.tomatoville.com/showpost....3&postcount=23
Dutch

[Daryl]

Ami, Most of my garden is in containers in the driveway, and in containers on the deck, and in a wading pool on top of an old grill support. I'm not ready to quit yet, but it's getting very difficult.

[Daryl]

Thank you. Do you know what diseases (other than Fusarium) were in the garden? Mine were hit this year with Late Blight, Early Blight, and finally Septoria. At least it was cold and wet enough early in the summer that the thrips weren't carrying TSWV. :-/
I found that Siletz and Indian Stripe were tolerant to most.

[Dutch]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Daryl
Thank you. Do you know what diseases (other than Fusarium) were in the garden? Mine were hit this year with Late Blight, Early Blight, and finally Septoria. At least it was cold and wet enough early in the summer that the thrips weren't carrying TSWV. :-/
I found that Siletz and Indian Stripe were tolerant to most.

Hi Daryl

I am a fan of Ami’s (amideutch) use of Actinovate, and AgriFos/Exel LG and use them both.

Bill (B54red) is from Alabama and can answer your questions about the tomato disease pressures in your area better than I could ever hope to. I will PM him about this thread.
Dutch

[b54red]

Daryl we get pretty much all the diseases of tomatoes except Verticullum wilt. The problem is with our humidity they are much more aggressive and persistent. I finally found a method of supporting my plants that helps keep them more open and thus allows more air flow. I use drop down lines from a 7 ft high horizontal bar and keep my plants to only two stems and clip them to the drop lines with tomato clips. This forces me to keep them pruned much better than any other system. Due to the heat this summer I have done a poor job of using fungicides on a regular basis yet still have had very little foliage disease and when I do get one I just spray the plants with my dilute bleach spray. I too am losing my sunlight in much of the garden and the plants in the shade are much more likely to get foliage diseases. I'm hoping to have a tree service cut out some of the limbs on my trees but there is nothing I can do about the ones in my neighbors yards that are producing most of the shade.

I have a terrible time with fusarium and a fair amount of nematodes to deal with but using grafting has cut that problem down to next to nothing. If you don't want to do grafting and have fusarium then I suggest you grow varieties that are more resistant to it like Big Beef or Amelia (which is not very tasty). All of the black tomatoes seem to have problems with Gray Mold but Indian Stripe and Carbon fair better than most. I grow a tomato that I thought was Lumpy Red that isn't but it has good resistance to foliage diseases and is somewhat resistant to fusarium. If you want to try it I can send you some seed. I find Virginia Sweet is also less likely to get foliage diseases as bad as most others. The only tomatoes that I have found that do halfway good in shady areas are Carbon and Lumpy Red.

I suggest you apply a regular spraying of Daconil every week on your tomatoes and about every third week substitute a copper spray. This will greatly reduce most foliage diseases but down here nothing will stop them completely and the bleach spray is the only thing I have found that will stop most diseases once they get a foothold in your garden. During rainy weather when fungicides cannot be applied or won't stick due to the frequent rains I like to spray with the bleach spray about every 4 or 5 days between showers.

Bill

[Daryl]

I haven't heard of Agri-Fos in years. I used to (18? years ago) have a friend in Australia who used it on both his tomatoes and for Phytophthora in trees. He was a tree man by trade, an heirloom grower for the love of it. Dr. Carolyn might remember him as a friend of the late Chuck Wyatt.
I have been spraying with Actinovate for the last couple of years and tried it as a last ditch soil drench this year. I think I will add it to my seed starting mix next year and see whether that helps.

[Daryl]

Thank you, Bill. We are not yet plagued with nematodes, but I grow almost all of my own plants and don't share or rent tools, which has brought nematodes into many gardens here. I was lucky that the farmer who used to plow and harrow for us every year mostly grew things that weren't susceptible to either nematodes or Fusarium. I left Verticillium behind when I left NJ 30+ years ago.

We had a tree taken out this summer, and will likely take another one out or have the canopy lifted next year, but as you say, trees on neighboring properties sometimes give you no choice. I don't suppose you have enough sun to be able to solarize part of your garden each year. Neither do I anymore.

I try to stay as organic as possible, so Daconil is out for me. I hadn't heard about the bleach spray until I came back and started reading some threads about it a few months ago. It's not organic, either, of course, though it's familiar as a household product. Is there any research on it?

Are you in the southern part of Alabama? I'm north of Atlanta and we've had almost no heat until the last few weeks. My biggest plague, Late Blight, loved our cool wet spring and early summer. After last year's nearly daily rain, it was a terrible blow.

I had some great Virginia Sweets for several years, but since I can't save seed anymore, when I purchased a new packet, they were not true to type. The same thing happened with Sasha's Altai this year. What I bought is definitely not what I had been growing. I need to find another supplier.

I am curious about your clip system. Do you keep enough foliage so that you don't get sunscald? Back when I had sun and air circulation, I used to use concrete reinforcing wire cages so that when it was really hot, there was enough foliage. Obviously, I have to rethink my strategy with the new conditions.

[Fusion_power]

Eva Purple Ball and Cherokee Purple tend to put up with foliage diseases better than most. If you have problems with nematodes, Rutgers would be a good choice. Gray Mold tolerance is in Tropic. Burgundy Traveler is an open pollinated variety that has decent foliage disease tolerance and nematode tolerance.

For my conditions in the hot humid southeastern U.S. there are no really good varieties in terms of foliage disease tolerance. I'm working with crosses to wild species to see if I can bring some of their good traits over into a domestic tomato background.

[amideutch]

I have been spraying with Actinovate for the last couple of years and tried it as a last ditch soil drench this year. I think I will add it to my seed starting mix next year and see whether that helps.

Exel LG (AgriFos) is biofriendly and can be used with Actinovate as a mix which will add a systemic to Actinovates contact mode of action for foliar applications.

Prior to planting out my seedlings I make a dip solution consisting of Actinovate, Biota Max and Mycogrow soluable mixed in a bucket with 1-1 1/2 gallons of water. As I grow my seedlings in biodegradeable pots, Dot Pots or CowPots I just submerse the pot in the solution for about 5 seconds, remove and allow it to drain back in the bucket and plant.

If your seedlings are in plastic pots submere them in the solution to fill, remove and drain and then slide your hand over the top of the seedling pot with the stem between your middle finger and ring finger, turn the pot upside down and remove the pot and plant.

The three products in the dip solution are composed of plant growth promoting fungi and bacteria plus biological disease control organisms. This is especially important when growing in containers as you don't know whats in the aggregate and it will enhance nutrient uptake of the plant as you must provide additional ferts during the course of the growing season as they are being depleted by the plant. Healthier the plant the more able it is to fight off disease.

Ami

[b54red]

Originally Posted by Fusion_power

Eva Purple Ball and Cherokee Purple tend to put up with foliage diseases better than most. If you have problems with nematodes, Rutgers would be a good choice. Gray Mold tolerance is in Tropic. Burgundy Traveler is an open pollinated variety that has decent foliage disease tolerance and nematode tolerance.

For my conditions in the hot humid southeastern U.S. there are no really good varieties in terms of foliage disease tolerance. I'm working with crosses to wild species to see if I can bring some of their good traits over into a domestic tomato background.

Its even worse down here but I have noticed over the last few years that both Virginia Sweet and my mislabeled version of Lumpy Red both show some real resistance to foliage diseases.

Bill

[b54red]

Originally Posted by Daryl

Thank you, Bill. We are not yet plagued with nematodes, but I grow almost all of my own plants and don't share or rent tools, which has brought nematodes into many gardens here. I was lucky that the farmer who used to plow and harrow for us every year mostly grew things that weren't susceptible to either nematodes or Fusarium. I left Verticillium behind when I left NJ 30+ years ago.

We had a tree taken out this summer, and will likely take another one out or have the canopy lifted next year, but as you say, trees on neighboring properties sometimes give you no choice. I don't suppose you have enough sun to be able to solarize part of your garden each year. Neither do I anymore.

I try to stay as organic as possible, so Daconil is out for me. I hadn't heard about the bleach spray until I came back and started reading some threads about it a few months ago. It's not organic, either, of course, though it's familiar as a household product. Is there any research on it?

Are you in the southern part of Alabama? I'm north of Atlanta and we've had almost no heat until the last few weeks. My biggest plague, Late Blight, loved our cool wet spring and early summer. After last year's nearly daily rain, it was a terrible blow.

I had some great Virginia Sweets for several years, but since I can't save seed anymore, when I purchased a new packet, they were not true to type. The same thing happened with Sasha's Altai this year. What I bought is definitely not what I had been growing. I need to find another supplier.

I am curious about your clip system. Do you keep enough foliage so that you don't get sunscald? Back when I had sun and air circulation, I used to use concrete reinforcing wire cages so that when it was really hot, there was enough foliage. Obviously, I have to rethink my strategy with the new conditions.

Daryl at least you are a little further north so your disease pressure is lighter than down here; but if you are going really organic you will just have to live with foliage diseases this far south. Your only hope is to go with the copper spray since it is considered organic and keep the foliage light and well pruned to allow better air flow and drying to slow down foliage disease problems.

The dilute bleach spray is certainly not organic but it has the advantage of leaving little or no residue due to its quick oxidation when sprayed onto the plants. It doesn't have any residual disease protection like Daconil which seems to be effective for at least a week if it isn't washed off. The bleach works well to destroy diseased foliage and stop the spread of disease with most non systemic disease problems if it is used early enough. As to research I have been using it for years with great success with most foliage diseases that affect tomatoes. I have even had success with it in beating back Late Blight but it is far more effective on the more common diseases and molds that you see nearly every season. The basic recipe for the mix is to add 5 1/4 ozs of Clorox's new concentrated bleach to a full gallon of water with a little soap for a spreader and spray it very late in the day or very early with a fine mist coating all parts of the plant taking extra care to get the undersides of the leaves. A day or two later all the diseased portions of the plant will shrivel up and the healthy growth will be unaffected. I then prune off the bad leaves and stems and repeat the process as needed.

I posted some photos of my clip system in other threads but if you would like to see some I can re post them. I'm not sure what the title of the thread was but it was probably back in May or June.

Bill

[Tomato Beth]

Peron and Legend are supposed to be known for their resistance to blight. I have both growing in my garden this year, and while I do have some problems with early blight at the moment, both vines are still producing good tomatoes just fine.