Relatively disease free varieties?

[Gardeneer]

Originally Posted by joseph

The varieties that I have found that are relatively disease free are those that I saved seeds from last year that were relatively disease free, and the year before that, and the year before that, and the year before that, generation upon generation.

If a tomato grows relatively disease free in my garden, then it, and it's descendants are invited to grow in my garden next year. If a tomato succumbs to disease, or is highly prone to diseases so that it produces little fruit, then it and it's descendants are banned from my garden. Doesn't matter how early it is, or how blissfully tasty, or how beloved: It's a death sentence to the entire family for a tomato variety to exhibit severe enough disease symptoms that it interferes with production.

When I trial new varieties, something like 95% of them fail in my garden. For example, this spring I trialed 72 new varieties of tomatoes. 48 of the varieties survived the greenhouse and made it into the garden. 37 of them have survived so far in the garden. Those that died in the garden were mostly due to diseases. Only 4 of the varieties have set fruit in plenty of time to beat the average first fall frost. So this year 4/72 = 94% of the new varieties that I planted were failures.

Of the tomatoes that I have been growing in the same field for many generations, and saving the seed year after year, I only lost about 2% of the plants to diseases.

And this is how I grow my tomatoes: Covered in dirt from sprinkle irrigating!

Joseph, that is amazing !
Perhaps plants have certain immune system that can be developed to cope with their environments.

[Douglas14]

Very interesting statistics Joseph.
Diversity of growers is one reason I enjoy Tomatoville.

[nhardy]

I too think your question is too broad. Which desease?

My two cents. I think I had septoria aks SLS for at least 5 years. I planted Iron Lady, Mountain Merit, Premio because I had the seeds and Sungold F1 last year. Without spraying Ortho Max Garden Disease control, they all were defoliated and died early. Bottom watering, weed block and leaving the bed empty for 1 year did nothing.

http://www.growingproduce.com/vegeta...ance-packages/

[peppero]

I was out in the countryside for several hours yesterday and noticed that the tomato plants were for all practical purposes disease free. There was no mulch and they looked very healthy. Most were tied up with wood stakes and were grown together.

Makes you wonder.

Jon

[peppero]

Originally Posted by nhardy

I too think your question is too broad. Which desease?

My two cents. I think I had septoria aks SLS for at least 5 years. I planted Iron Lady, Mountain Merit, Premio because I had the seeds and Sungold F1 last year. Without spraying Ortho Max Garden Disease control, they all were defoliated and died early. Bottom watering, weed block and leaving the bed empty for 1 year did nothing.

http://www.growingproduce.com/vegeta...ance-packages/

As to the question, I wanted a variety of opinions. I figured that comments would benefit many people.
As for diseases, take your pick; like many of you I have/had most of them. Maybe someday..........

Jon

[dustdevil]

Years ago, I grew Early Girl tomatoes on the same piece of farmland for 22 years and never had any disease problem...no chems used either. Makes one wonder if tomato disease is on the rise...

[Tormato]

Originally Posted by joseph

The varieties that I have found that are relatively disease free are those that I saved seeds from last year that were relatively disease free, and the year before that, and the year before that, and the year before that, generation upon generation.

If a tomato grows relatively disease free in my garden, then it, and it's descendants are invited to grow in my garden next year. If a tomato succumbs to disease, or is highly prone to diseases so that it produces little fruit, then it and it's descendants are banned from my garden. Doesn't matter how early it is, or how blissfully tasty, or how beloved: It's a death sentence to the entire family for a tomato variety to exhibit severe enough disease symptoms that it interferes with production.

When I trial new varieties, something like 95% of them fail in my garden. For example, this spring I trialed 72 new varieties of tomatoes. 48 of the varieties survived the greenhouse and made it into the garden. 37 of them have survived so far in the garden. Those that died in the garden were mostly due to diseases. Only 4 of the varieties have set fruit in plenty of time to beat the average first fall frost. So this year 4/72 = 94% of the new varieties that I planted were failures.

Of the tomatoes that I have been growing in the same field for many generations, and saving the seed year after year, I only lost about 2% of the plants to diseases.

And this is how I grow my tomatoes: Covered in dirt from sprinkle irrigating!

.

TLC not!

Some people talk to their plants. Do you...uhmm...talk dirty to yours?
Dr. Lve Apple

[Cole_Robbie]

Originally Posted by peppero

I was out in the countryside for several hours yesterday and noticed that the tomato plants were for all practical purposes disease free. There was no mulch and they looked very healthy. Most were tied up with wood stakes and were grown together.

Makes you wonder.

Are you talking about large-scale commercial production? If so, I'd be impressed if the tomatoes taste good. Even at a market-grower level, I only see vendors growing commercial hybrids. Disease-free doesn't mean much to me if I don't like eating the tomatoes.

[Gardeneer]

Well commercial field growers also spray with some kind of fungicide regularly.

[zipcode]

Originally Posted by dustdevil

Years ago, I grew Early Girl tomatoes on the same piece of farmland for 22 years and never had any disease problem...no chems used either. Makes one wonder if tomato disease is on the rise...

Yeah, this is what my parents say also. We had huge problems with Late Blight for a few years in a row when I was smaller, which of course, was mostly due to a climate change, but also, as I learned after, new strains of Late Blight spread from Mexico. Now it's basically impossible to have potatoes with green leaves past july if you don't spray, like not even in a dry year (potatoes are quite a bit more prone to it than tomatoes for some reason).
To recommend a relatively resistant variety: Black Plum. It has good vigour, a bit of late blight resistance, possibly also Early one. It has very consistent fruit set in all conditions, even really cold. The taste is so-so, ok but a bit mild, not a paste, very seedy.

[peppero]

Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie

Are you talking about large-scale commercial production? If so, I'd be impressed if the tomatoes taste good. Even at a market-grower level, I only see vendors growing commercial hybrids. Disease-free doesn't mean much to me if I don't like eating the tomatoes.

They were all home gardens.

Jon

[Cole_Robbie]

Interesting. I always try to notice the home gardens I see here, and I am hardly ever impressed.

[habitat_gardener]

I'm trying a bunch of dwarf/determinate tomatoes in containers this year, and Sleeping Lady and Cole stand out. Most of the others got mildew or gray mold, lost a lot of leaves, and haven't produced anything. Partly to blame is a less sunny, less windy location and keeping seedlings in the humid greenhouse too long (and planting very late).

[Fusion_power]

I have seen the unicorn. Yes, I have, and it was a joy to behold. Unfortunately, it is a wild species of tomato with inedible fruit. Neither blight nor septoria nor even nematodes (think the old "underdog" song) put a dent in the foliage.

There are no truly immune "edible" tomatoes. All of them in one way or another get disease(s) that kill the leaves, clog the stems, turn roots into blobs, or otherwise prevent long term survival and production.

There is still a lot of potential to grow varieties that are better adapted and more disease tolerant in your local climate. Cherokee Purple is a consistent performer here in the South, but septoria takes it down every year. It still makes a good crop year in and year out.

In time and with a lot of work, tomatoes will be bred with high levels of disease tolerance.