Cuostralee - Disease Tolerance?

[Baizanator]

I've read that these plants are incredibly susceptible to disease and fungi. Does anyone have any thoughts? Comments?

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by Baizanator

I've read that these plants are incredibly susceptible to disease and fungi. Does anyone have any thoughts? Comments?

Yes, lots of thoughts.


It's a variety I received from Norbert P in France in a huge trade in 1992 that brought many great varieties to the US and there were 3 other folks he contacted as well and we got together so that we didn't ask for duplicate requests nor sent dupicate seeds in return.

So since first SSE listed in 1993 ( I think, I didn't check) there have been many thousabnds of folks who have grown it.

I've grown it many times and so have folks in all parts of the country and I don't think there would be so many seed site selling seeds if it were a disease magnet.

Tania hasn't had time to update all seed sites for 2102 but here's the link to her site:

http://t.tatianastomatobase.com:88/wiki/Cuostralee

I've seen a thread here where folks are bemoaning the fact that they haven't been successful growing it, and I don't the reasons why, but I haven't seen lots of folks saying it's a disease magnet, far from it in my experiece and also reading feedback from the several message sites where I read/post, or have in the past , as well as the entries for it in the SSE YEarbooks and I just checked the many lisitings for it in the 2012 Yearbook and only one comment about disease;( excellent disease tolerance).

I know pretty much which diseases you have to deal with in TX but the only way you're going to know for sure what Cuostralee is all about is to grow it yourself and see how it compares to other heirloom varieties you've grown as to tolerance to both foliar and systemic diseases as well as taste.

[Baizanator]

Originally Posted by carolyn137

Yes, lots of thoughts.


It's a variety I received from Norbert P in France in a huge trade in 1992 that brought many great varieties to the US and there were 3 other folks he contacted as well and we got together so that we didn't ask for duplicate requests nor sent dupicate seeds in return.

So since first SSE listed in 1993 ( I think, I didn't check) there have been many thousabnds of folks who have grown it.

I've grown it many times and so have folks in all parts of the country and I don't think there would be so many seed site selling seeds if it were a disease magnet.

Tania hasn't had time to update all seed sites for 2102 but here's the link to her site:

http://t.tatianastomatobase.com:88/wiki/Cuostralee

I've seen a thread here where folks are bemoaning the fact that they haven't been successful growing it, and I don't the reasons why, but I haven't seen lots of folks saying it's a disease magnet, far from it in my experiece and also reading feedback from the several message sites where I read/post, or have in the past , as well as the entries for it in the SSE YEarbooks and I just checked the many lisitings for it in the 2012 Yearbook and only one comment about disease;( excellent disease tolerance).

I know pretty much which diseases you have to deal with in TX but the only way you're going to know for sure what Cuostralee is all about is to grow it yourself and see how it compares to other heirloom varieties you've grown as to tolerance to both foliar and systemic diseases as well as taste.

Thanks Carolyn. I have a book that said it was disease prone and saw on Dave's Garden where someone said that they had to stay on top of it for Anthracnose.

Biggest thing here is RKN and Southern Bacterial Wilt but, given that I'll be planting in EarthBoxes this fall and spring, I'm not too worried.

Thanks for the info as always.

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by Baizanator

Thanks Carolyn. I have a book that said it was disease prone and saw on Dave's Garden where someone said that they had to stay on top of it for Anthracnose.

Biggest thing here is RKN and Southern Bacterial Wilt but, given that I'll be planting in EarthBoxes this fall and spring, I'm not too worried.

Thanks for the info as always.

Just curious but who was the author and what was the name of the book that said it was disease prone and what specific diseases were mentioned? I thought I was familiar with all or most books about heirloom tomatoes, but perhaps I missed one, which is why I'd like to know about it.

I've posted in the Tomato Forum at Daves Garden for about 12 years now, and know probably most of the TX gardeners who post there, and have never seen anyone say that but anthracnose is such a common disease and usually appears as fruit lesions when the temps start going down in the Fall, so I don't see anything special about Cuostralee in that regard.

Back to the living room to turn on the fan, another 90 plus day and no AC here, b'c there's usually no need for it.

[Baizanator]

Originally Posted by carolyn137

Just curious but who was the author and what was the name of the book that said it was disease prone and what specific diseases were mentioned? I thought I was familiar with all or most books about heirloom tomatoes, but perhaps I missed one, which is why I'd like to know about it.

I've posted in the Tomato Forum at Daves Garden for about 12 years now, and know probably most of the TX gardeners who post there, and have never seen anyone say that but anthracnose is such a common disease and usually appears as fruit lesions when the temps start going down in the Fall, so I don't see anything special about Cuostralee in that regard.

Back to the living room to turn on the fan, another 90 plus day and no AC here, b'c there's usually no need for it.

Carolyn,

The book is "Tomato" by Gail Harland and Sofia Larrinua-Craxton.

[RebelRidin]

I have one in my plantings this year and so far all looks well. Should get some fruit from it in a few more weeks.

Oddly, the first dign of possible disease on lower leaves in my garden....... Big Beef.

[Fusion_power]

Cuostralee is like most older varieties, susceptible to foliage diseases and to nematodes. Put it in a hot humid environment and it will go down to septoria fast. It will usually make a decent crop first.

DarJones

[b54red]

It is highly susceptible to fusarium wilt but if you are growing it in a container it might do well. I had to give up in frustration after about a dozen attempts. I have heard it is a great tasting tomato but it just can't survive in my garden soil but it is not alone. Good luck with it.

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by Fusion_power

Cuostralee is like most older varieties, susceptible to foliage diseases and to nematodes. Put it in a hot humid environment and it will go down to septoria fast. It will usually make a decent crop first.

DarJones

Darrel, but almost ALL heirloom varieties are older varieties and no doubt putting many of them in a hot humid climate such as your Alabama would cause problems with not just foliage diseases but also some systemic diseases.

But not everyone even in hot humid climates has systemic diseases either, I mean the plants, not the humans.

And yes, I'm defending Cuostralee based on feedback since I first listed it in I guess 1993, from feedback from the many message sites where I've participated in in the past as well as the listings in the SSE YEarbooks for almost 20 years now.

I say, is there ONE heirloom variety that never gets BER, or foliage diseases or even systemic diseases based on where it's grown and how it's grown and I say that b'c we in the northern climes do not have RKN's or Fusarium or Southern Blight or TSWV, etc, that many of you have in the southern climes have plus all the gemini viral diseases to worry about.

So I guess it's a trade off, right?

OK, I feel better now and I'd make the same points if I were discussing heirloom varieties OTHER than Cuostralee as well.

[Fusion_power]

Carolyn, we said the same thing, just in different ways. There are no available open pollinated varieties that are resistant to late blight. There are a few open pollinated varieties with some limited tolerance to early blight. There are a few varieties with very limited tolerance to septoria. You can count on both hands the number of open pollinated varieties with good tolerance to fusarium. There are a decent number of open pollinated varieties with tolerance to nematodes. There are a few open pollinated varieties with gray mold tolerance. There are almost no tomatoes that combine any of the above tolerances. Here are a few varieties to think about.

R.G. Bold Red - combines early and late blight tolerance and some septoria tolerance.
Eva Purple Ball, Old Brooks - have some tolerance to early blight
Burgundy Traveler - some tolerance to septoria
Mortgage Lifter Red - some tolerance to Verticillium and Fusarium

Several varieties have exhibited a form of disease tolerance based on vigorous growth. Cherokee Purple, Brandywine, Kelloggs Breakfast, etc would fit this description.

But the future looks a lot brighter. I have a line from Randy Gardner that is segregating for nematode tolerance combined with late blight and early blight. I have another line that is segregating for TSWV tolerance combined with early and late blight. Within 2 years, I expect to have tomatoes available that taste good and tolerate most of the common diseases. Combining those resistances will take a lot of years. More important, combining the disease tolerances with good flavor is the long term objective.

DarJones

[b54red]

The one thing that is a constant for me is fusarium so resistance to it is my paramount concern in picking heirlooms. Not even the hardiest hybrids can consistently withstand the fusarium in my soil but usually ones like Big Beef will last longer and produce more full sized fruits than all but a few heirlooms before getting too sick. The reason I recommend so many of the black tomatoes for down here is they frequently will give a good crop before getting sick and occasionally will stay alive for a very long time. The big drawback is they also seem much more susceptible to Gray Mold.

As Carolyn says not everyone suffers from systemic problems like fusarium down here. I gave my vet about 25 plants and many of his are still producing because he has very little fusarium problem and kept foliage diseases at bay with regular spraying of Daconil. My sister had no fusarium for the last two years but this year it has started to show up in some of her plants but much later and much less than I have to deal with.

Dar, good luck coming up with a good strain of tomatoes that is resistant to TSWV. This year it has not been much of a problem for me but 3 years ago it got about 1/3 of my plants. It would be nice to have a few heirlooms that can withstand it without tasting like grocery store tomatoes.

Despite all the problems down here it is nice to have been eating fresh tomatoes for the last few months and yet still be setting out plants with time to make a fall crop.