Where can I find disease resistance info for heirlooms?

[b54red]

I have had phenomenal results with grafting onto resistant rootstock to prevent fusarium. I found that the best rootstocks were the ones resistant to all three races of fusarium which I obviously have since no tomatoes resistant to just two do very well for long.

I have found some heirloom tomatoes to be far more resistant to fusarium than others and have found many that have absolutely no tolerance to it. Below are some that have shown the best tolerance. All of them will eventually get it but they have enough resistance to usually produce at the least a decent amount before they get too sick and wilt completely. The ones with the star after them have done the best against fusarium of the heirlooms and the ones with two are the ones that have done the very best.

Indian Stripe **
Neves Azorean Red **
Andrew Raharts Jumbo Red**
Terhune
Kosovo*
Black Krim
Gary O' Sena**
Spudakee**
Cherokee Purple**
Druzba
Mortgage Lifter
Eva Purple Ball
Dr. Wyches Yellow*
KBX
JD's Special C Tex**
Stump of the World*
Limbaugh's Legacy
Lumpy Red*
Frank's Large Red

I'm sure there are some i am leaving out but these have been more successful than most the last few years despite rampant fusarium in my garden. I still always plant plenty of replacements because if I see a plant has fusarium before it has good sized tomatoes already then I will pull it and replace it.

[Alfredo]

Originally Posted by mrdoitall

Here is a chart with some Info. on a few of the heirlooms tomatoes. Just hit the link and scroll down the page.
http://vegetablemdonline.ppath.corne...matoTable.html

Great Link! Good for a starting point.
~Alfredo

[Heritage]

Elizabeth,

It does look like Fusarium rather than Verticillium to me - actually, pretty classic symptoms for Fusarium.

The ooze test you refer to is for Bacterial wilt.

If you don't have the time to graft next season, you could grow your favorite heirlooms in containers and grow only F1 hybrids (with the VF designation) in the infected soil. If you grow in containers try to keep them as far as possible from the infected soil and use a barrier (plastic mulch, etc.) between the pots and the soil (don't set the containers directly on the soil)

Good luck!
Steve

[b54red]

There aren't that many good tasting hybrids that are really resistant to fusarium. One of the best for me has been Big Beef but it is only resistant to two races of fusarium. I usually still get fusarium in Big Beef but they tend to last long enough most of the time to make a good to very good crop. There are a couple of very resistant hybrids available but the taste is not as good so unless your garden is really eaten up with fusarium I would start with Big Beef and some of the heirlooms I recommended and keep starting replacement plants if a few of them fall to fusarium. The better option is to use some grafts of your favorite scions onto resistant rootstock. That is what I did this year and I had my best year ever and it is not over yet.

Bill

Bill

[efisakov]

I just want to add to Bills list Carbon.

[indigosand]

Originally Posted by Heritage

Elizabeth,

It does look like Fusarium rather than Verticillium to me - actually, pretty classic symptoms for Fusarium.

The ooze test you refer to is for Bacterial wilt.

If you don't have the time to graft next season, you could grow your favorite heirlooms in containers and grow only F1 hybrids (with the VF designation) in the infected soil. If you grow in containers try to keep them as far as possible from the infected soil and use a barrier (plastic mulch, etc.) between the pots and the soil (don't set the containers directly on the soil)

Good luck!
Steve

Thanks, that will be my first line of defense. Yes, my mistake the test in the water was to rule out bacterial wilt not fusarium. The more I read the more confusing it gets because the symptoms are so similar?? My plants did have the V shaped lesion on the tip but also the one sided yellowing. Is it possible for a plant to be infected with both?

Originally Posted by b54red

There aren't that many good tasting hybrids that are really resistant to fusarium. One of the best for me has been Big Beef but it is only resistant to two races of fusarium. I usually still get fusarium in Big Beef but they tend to last long enough most of the time to make a good to very good crop. There are a couple of very resistant hybrids available but the taste is not as good so unless your garden is really eaten up with fusarium I would start with Big Beef and some of the heirlooms I recommended and keep starting replacement plants if a few of them fall to fusarium. The better option is to use some grafts of your favorite scions onto resistant rootstock. That is what I did this year and I had my best year ever and it is not over yet.

Bill

Bill

Bill, it's interesting that you should say that because big beefsteak is exactly what I grew there last year! I wasn't impressed with the taste but they were vigorous until my paste tomatoes infected them with septoria toward the end of the season. I had a nice big crop of them. It can't be too bad, really(the disease). I have tomatillos, blackberries, basil and bush beans in the same location just feet away from the troubled spot that aren't having any issues.