Question about dwarf varieties!

I've had some problems in my garden with dwarf varieties suffering from Gray Mold. I believe my problem is due to the rugose leafs which may retain the mold spores better. Have any good dwarf varieties been developed with RL or PL leafs?

Ted

[nctomatoman]

Ted, one of the genetic characteristics that seem to be linked to the Dwarf growth habit is the thick, wrinkled (aka rugose) foliage - there are RL and PL dwarfs, but all have that foliage. One possible solution - do some non-fruiting branch thinning to open up the plant a bit.

[rsg2001]

That's a good idea, Craig. I've been experiencing disease on mine as well, except that I believe that it is an aggressive Early Blight. I have only gotten a couple of tomatoes from each of the plants that have fruited, except for one that is planted on the other side of the garden. (It sprouted late and I didn't have room for it anywhere else. It's a bit of a bummer. They are F6 and F7 Boronias, and utterly delicious. I've saved a small amount of seeds from the ones that have ripened (and eaten the rest of the tomatoes, lol).

[carolyn137]

There are specific receptors on the upper leaf surface for the fungal foliage pathogens such as Early Blight ( A. solani) and Septoria Leaf Spot. And the protective effect of Daconil, for instance, is that it binds to those receptors so the spores can't attach.

So it seems to me there would be a possible advantage that rugose varieties would have since all the ruffling and folds might well hide many of those those receptors so the rugose varieties might well be more tolerant of foliage diseases.

Just a suggestion, no data to prove it.

Carolyn,

Your comment makes sense, but observation in my garden indicates the opposite. The rugose leafs are the only leaf form that exhibits gray mold damage for me. My belief is the cracks and crevasses tend to retain the spores better but I also have no scientific evidence. I had the problem severely last year so began this season with aggressive Daconil treatments which didn't help at all. I also tried copper sulphide and bleach treatments without success. I believe my moist mid spring climate is the primary culprit because I have grown rugose leaf dwarf plants in the dry fall climate of North Texas without any problems.

Ted