Relatively disease free varieties?

[peppero]

Have any of you noticed varieties that have been relatively disease free over the years?
Surely there must be some. I plan to pay special attention to what survives this year.

For those of you who graft; what rootstocks have you been pleased with?

I think there are many who would be interested in the above two questions.

Jon

[efisakov]

I think I have being growing Carbon for more than 10 years and in different locations (even houses). It is one of the last plants producing. Plus I like it.

[habitat_gardener]

Last year, a Rose de Berne was the only medium/large tomato that kept going in my challenging (tree roots, shade, etc.) backyard garden. Like other plants, it had some mildew, but that didn't stop it from producing nonstop. It was one of the most consistent plants I've ever grown.

Green Tiger also did very well there.

[jmsieglaff]

What kind of disease? I only have foliage issues (e.g., Septoria, Early Blight, some minor Gray mold on leaves). Carbon Copy (what do you know Carbon in its blood) has been quite tolerant to Septoria. Sungold has also been fairly tolerant of Septoria, it can get some EB, but usually minor. I would need to test it in many seasons, especially because this year has been very low pressure on the foliage fungal issues--but Sunrise Bumblebee and Eva Purple Ball have been very healthy. I don't think I've had to remove a leaf from those plants aside from my leaves near the ground get the axe pruning.

[kath]

I think this is a great thread, Jon, and I'll be watching it closely and contributing my two cents eventually. I'm growing quite a few new varieties again this season as well as a lot of the repeat performers and am not spraying any of them just to find out which ones will be the last ones standing. The plan is to just pick off bad leaves and eventually pull whole plants when necessary.

So far this looks to be a great tomato year, with most of the plants still in amazing condition, great fruit set on most and really nice size fruits. Sowed later so the bigger varieties are just beginning to blush now and we've tasted about 3/4 of the cherry varieties. Fun!

kath

[Douglas14]

I agree, great subject Jon! I'll be following it with great interest.

Last year Abraham Lincoln impressed me with relatively healthy foliage compared to the other varieties I've grown. It produced nice looking and very good tasting fruits. Nice production as well. I'm growing it again this year, but there's been not much for foliage issues in my garden so far, to make a comparison.

Here's a link to an article about this variety, that William Woys Weaver wrote, where he states it "resists foliage diseases".

http://www.motherearthnews.com/organ...z08amzmcc.aspx

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by peppero

Have any of you noticed varieties that have been relatively disease free over the years?
Surely there must be some. I plan to pay special attention to what survives this year.

For those of you who graft; what rootstocks have you been pleased with?

I think there are many who would be interested in the above two questions.

Jon

No,I haven't seen any varieties that have been relatively disease free over the years,and that's well over about 4,000 plus varieties grown and many regrown for my SSE Yearbook listings as well as seed offers.

As for common foliage diseases,it all depends on the season and which spores and bacteria are in the air and which way the wind is blowing.

As for soilborne diseases,certain ones are found in the south,very few in the north,then along the Gulf Caost up into CA.

Honest,I kind of cringe when someone says he or she was growing X,Y and Z and no disease problems at all ,and someone says well I should try those,and yet they live in an area where those diseases are not found.

I was going to post something like this in the Pest and Disease Forum , I may still do that,since I see it happening all the time there,that is, no diseases on his or that one,so others want to grow it as well.

OK, done with this semi-rant for now.

Carolyn

[parah]

Don't miss this thread about foliage disease:

http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=42203

Some very helpful info about specific varieties.

[b54red]

Originally Posted by carolyn137

No,I haven't seen any varieties that have been relatively disease free over the years,and that's well over about 4,000 plus varieties grown and many regrown for my SSE Yearbook listings as well as seed offers.

As for common foliage diseases,it all depends on the season and which spores and bacteria are in the air and which way the wind is blowing.

As for soilborne diseases,certain ones are found in the south,very few in the north,then along the Gulf Caost up into CA.

Honest,I kind of cringe when someone says he or she was growing X,Y and Z and no disease problems at all ,and someone says well I should try those,and yet they live in an area where those diseases are not found.

I was going to post something like this in the Pest and Disease Forum , I may still do that,since I see it happening all the time there,that is, no diseases on his or that one,so others want to grow it as well.

OK, done with this semi-rant for now.

Carolyn

I haven't found any varieties that are foliage disease free though some are more tolerant of certain diseases than others. I love hearing how people grow all season without using any fungicides with no foliage diseases. I tried that for one very short season. Down here foliage diseases and pests aren't a matter of if but when.

Bill

[NarnianGarden]

Up here in the North, diseases are probably less of an issue, but they do exist.. In my container garden, I have seen viral and fungal and what not wipe a plant out - in a few days at best.

But I have not seen a black variety from Russia being hit as hard: Noire de Crimee and Black krim have grown until October with no handicaps, while other varieties closeby had given up and died.
That doesn't mean they are resistant, but probably stronger than some others. Grub's Mystery green won't be back for that exact reason - as Bill pointed out, it's vulnerable to gray mold.
Given some more resilient varieties (from Russia and elsewhere), I don't want to spend the season nursing dying plants. Although I have ordered some (supposedly bio) fungicide so I am prepared to fight ..

[Spartanburg123]

In my garden this year, Cuostralee succumbed to something I cannot identify, and fairly early. GGWT has proven to be very resistant to the critters and pathogens in my garden, at least compared to others. Rebel Yell too. Some bad actors: Grandfather Ashlock, Hungarian Heart, Big Zac. All of these turned yellow fairly early, with the other varieties listed above just happily producing pounds and pounds of tomatoes...

[b54red]

Originally Posted by Spartanburg123

In my garden this year, Cuostralee succumbed to something I cannot identify, and fairly early. GGWT has proven to be very resistant to the critters and pathogens in my garden, at least compared to others. Rebel Yell too. Some bad actors: Grandfather Ashlock, Hungarian Heart, Big Zac. All of these turned yellow fairly early, with the other varieties listed above just happily producing pounds and pounds of tomatoes...

Possible culprit could be TSWV this is the second worst year for that disease for me and if you aren't familiar with its various symptoms it can be hard to spot. I have seen it so often over the years that I can usually tell quite early in the process when a plant has it. This is a skill gained through experience I wouldn't wish on anyone.

Bill

[Spartanburg123]

Well Bill, I wish I had your eyes up here in Spartanburg! I just planted my second crop in pots to get away from this disease....

[kygreg]

Victoriana Nursery Company in England has 2 varieties offered -Primabella and Primavera- that their description says has the highest blight resistance. They are cherry size. Has anyone tried these? I am considering growing one or both next year.

[Gardeneer]

According to OSU, Legend has good Late blight resistance.