question about old OP varieties

[shelleybean]

I'm not sure if this is the right category for this question. Seems like it could also do in the Diseases section. Back in the days before varieties included things like VFF or VFN in their names, I see some descriptions in old seed catalogs that simply say "wilt resistant." Is there any way to know which wilt they're describing? Fursarium, maybe? I'm talking about tomatoes like Crimson Cushion and some of the old Livingston varieties. I've looked around for an answer but I just get a lot of info on what V and F and N stand for and I already know all that. I just want to know what was meant by "wilt" in the late 1800's/early 1900's. Thanks in advance.

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by shelleybean

I'm not sure if this is the right category for this question. Seems like it could also do in the Diseases section. Back in the days before varieties included things like VFF or VFN in their names, I see some descriptions in old seed catalogs that simply say "wilt resistant." Is there any way to know which wilt they're describing? Fursarium, maybe? I'm talking about tomatoes like Crimson Cushion and some of the old Livingston varieties. I've looked around for an answer but I just get a lot of info on what V and F and N stand for and I already know all that. I just want to know what was meant by "wilt" in the late 1800's/early 1900's. Thanks in advance.

Good question, but no way to answer it b'c back in that time period there weren't specific names for specific diseases.

So wilt could have referred to bacterial wilt, to Fusarium, to Verticillium, to Root Knot Nematodes, and more/

And could have also referred to wilting in drought conditions. The wilty gene wasn't IDed until many years later and it describes a condition where plants devoid of water and then given water do or do not recover. Many though it referred to wilty leaves, as originally said by Chuck Wyatt, now deceased, but that's not true.

Carolyn

[shelleybean]

Thanks, Carolyn. I knew that might be the answer I'd get. Oh well.

[Worth1]

Might as well have been called plague resistant.

Worth