Blight resistant tomatoes

[mr.greenjeans]

I struggle with tomato blight every year. I take the usual precautions, like covering the ground under the plants, watering only at the base of the plant, not crowding the plants and last year I tried spraying a baking soda and water solution on the plants every 2 weeks. I still see the healthy plants start to blight about mid August, then go downhill rapidly. I usually plant Better Boy or Celebrity tomato plants. This year I'm thinking about starting from seed and I am tempted to try a blight resistant variety like Defiant or the new Bodacious that Burpee Seeds is promoting this year. Any thoughts?
Thanks,
Dan

[Vanisle_BC]

I struggle with tomato blight every year.....

Hi Dan, you have my sympathy. The only thing I "know" - I.e. have read/heard somewhere - about tomato blight is that one should never let the foliage stay wet for (?)24 hours. In my own garden I've had blight once. After that I've always grown tomatoes in roofed beds, and so far blight has not returned. Whether that's because I've kept the foliage dry I don't know - maybe I've just been lucky. It would be interesting to hear whether your experience would reinforce the wet-foliage theory, or not.

P.S. I always grow from seed.

[pepperhead212]

My problem last season, with blight and septoria leaf spot, was that it was raining so much up to mid July, that it was impossible to keep the tomatoes dry! In years like that, there's not much we can do.

[applestar]

I generally grow heirlooms and OP new varieties, so I had to look up Defiant which I wasn’t familiar with, and the results describe it as developed to resist LATE blight. I would be devastated if I was getting late blight in my garden every year.

Knock on wood — I’ve been fortunate to only have seen late blight show up in my garden twice in the last 10 or more years, and even then, only very limited — 2 or three potato plants, possibly 3 or 4 tomato plants — without spreading. Is there a reason your garden is more prone/vulnerable? I guess the drought we usually get in the summer must help.


I’m a firm believer in soil health and root-zone microbe diversity. Do you use home made compost or bokashi, or commercial soil micro-organism inoculants? I see them in catalogs, but I tend to avoid single organism biological agent. Recently I saw a blend that I might consider.

There is a Japanese blog/vlog I started to follow recently, and he plants (hybrid) tomatoes (and melons) under roofed tunnel as vanisle_BC mentioned — it rains a lot in Japan, too.

[mr.greenjeans]

Thanks for the replies. We do have high humidity here in Iowa but I would say the tomatoes are usually dry by noon. About 4 years ago I did away with my ground level garden and built 2, 4' x 8' x12" H raised bed gardens. For soil, I used about 70% Iowa black dirt and 30% Black Kow composted cow manure. I fertilize every year with an organic 4-6-3 fertilizer and add about 2 large bags of commercial compost of one kind or other. I fought blight in my old garden also where I did not use Black Kow. A friend of mine has a theory that greenhouse grown plants may come with blight due to the crowded growing conditions in a greenhouse. I don't know if that's possible but I going to try growing from seed this year, plus there is a large variety of seeds to choose from where plants are usually limited to a few varieties.

[PaulF]

I think it may be the varieties you are choosing that may be more conducive to blight. You have a good handle on good cultural practices with a mulching system and watering, so that may not be the problem. Buying plants is always a junk shoot especially if they are from a box store or hardware store. I think your friend is correct in that the care you take is not taken by wholesale growers of thousands of tomato plants grown for retail. Depending on where you are in central Iowa, there are lots of smaller nurseries who grow their own tomato plants.

Having lived in south central Iowa for a whole lot of years (Oskaloosa), I utilized raised beds for many years without a significant blight problem. That is a true statement only after I stopped growing the common hybrids like anything with a bigger, better, boy or girl in the name. The worst disease ridden variety was Celebrity. Beginning in 1990 I purchased a few so called heirlooms from a local nursery. Such good luck I had never had before. Beautiful, healthy plants right up to frost and the flavor was out of this world compared with the grocery store varieties I had tried to grow for the twenty previous years. A few years ago ( in our Nebraska garden) a friend wanted me to grow tomatoes for him since he had lost his garden space and he insisted on Celebrity. Eight of the eight plants were decimated by blight by August even though I started them from seeds. Thirty of my varieties were unaffected. I gave him a supply of my tomatoes and now he says to grow whatever I want since he likes mine better anyway.

Beginning in 1992 I began starting my own tomatoes from seed and discovered (me and Al Gore with the internet) heirlooms and open pollenated tomatoes. There is no such thing as a blight proof tomato, only resistance brought about by good growing practices that you seem to have in place, mulching, watering, air movement, keeping plants from contact with the soil. By October most plants are running out of steam and blight will set in, but by then they will have given all the fruit I want or need. You will love raised beds. I had six the size you have.

In 2005 we retired and moved to Brownville, Nebraska, where I had to start all over again and have only an in-ground garden 50'X50' with room for 30 tomato plants. My seed starting system utilizes six four foot shop style fluorescent lights with one cool white bulb and one bright white bulb. My seeds are planted in 6 packs and as soon as germination begins the lights are on a timer so they get 16 hours of light and 8 hours of darkness. The set up is in the basement so there is no sunlight to affect the light/dark hours. There is lots of information out there on growing from seed.

I know this is way too much information for the questions you asked but I get started and it is hard to stop. With the thousands of varieties available try some different ones. Mostly, have fun with the process. Good luck.

[mr.greenjeans]

That's interesting, Paul, that you had better luck with heirlooms. I thought the hybrids would have better blight resistance than heirlooms. We may be back to the conditions in the greenhouses that grow the seedlings. I will probably pick a couple different varieties to plant but I only plant 4 plants. 2 packs of 25 seeds will last me a long time!
Thanks,
Dan

[Vanisle_BC]

All my tomatoes have been heirlooms too. Oops, I lie; recently started growing Sungold because of their amazing sweetness. So far (3 years) they've been no problem.

My info says that properly stored (cool & dry) tomato seed stays viable for three years but I know it goes longer than that. Mine are in the fridge in a closed container with a desiccant satchel. I think they could go in the freezer but have never had the nerve. Our local library hosts a simple seed exchange: People put their surplus seed in small labelled packets and place them in a box on one of the library tables where anyone can help themselves.

[mr.greenjeans]

I freeze all my other garden seeds and they still germinate year after year. I was talking with my brother about starting tomatoes from seed and he said the one time he tried it, the plants were very spindly, fell over and died. I'll have to educate myself before I start the seeds. My wife bought me a " Deep Root Seed Starting System" for Christmas. Hopefully I can use that for the tomatoes.

[Vanisle_BC]

Dan, That's interesting that you keep your seeds in the freezer. Maybe I'll start doing that.

Spindly seedlings usually means not enough, or not strong enough, light. Mine grow under ordinary 4ft fluorescents, timed to stay on 16 hours a day same as Paul F does it. The lamps are kept as close as practical to the plants; even as little as two inches. Flourescents give off little heat so there's no damage to the seedlings. My lamps are a mix of 'cool white' and 'full spectrum' - but not the special, more expensive grow lights.

I hope you'll find a way to have more success and less frustration with tomatoes. Does your Seed Starting System have lights?

[mr.greenjeans]

My seed system doesn't have lights but my wife has some led grow lights for her flowers so I think I can mooch some light off her. This "seed starter" has 15 -3"x3"x4" deep pots with a wicking mat below and an 8" H clear plastic vented cover. Made by Gardeners Supply.
Yes, I've always kept my seed in the freezer. I'd heard of other people doing it. I've had no issues.

[mr.greenjeans]

Just read the instructions on my seed starter kit. It says to add liquid fertilizer to the water tray. When I think of liquid fertilizer, I think of fish emulsion. I know it will be diluted but will this smell up my house? Is there any organic liquid fertilizers that won't smell? Any recommendations?

[imafan26]

I planted Charger last year for TYLCV, but it had really good resistance to 3 races of fusarium and early blight. I did get some late blight, but I had stopped feeding the plants after three months and they were 6 months old when they started to show fungal issues. They probably would have done better if I had continued to feed them. I did not expect a determinate tomato to last that long. I did not spray and the tomatoes were grown in high humidity and with frequent storms coming about every two weeks or so. Charger produces a small slicing tomato that is very meaty and low acid. Typical market tomato taste.
I trellis cage my plants and they are 3 ft apart. I do remove all of the lowest leaves from the tomatoes. The red currant tomato also had good resistance to mildew, but I am seeing some fungal disease on the lower branches. I need to clean that up, it has been raining for weeks now. Fruit is tiny 1/4 inch in clusters and very sweet.

So far, these have been the most disease resistant tomatoes I have grown without spraying in high humidity and wet conditions.

There are tomatoes that have more disease resistance but there will be trade offs. You can improve plant resilience if they are healthy and if you like neem, it can be sprayed on the tomatoes weekly as an anti fungal preventive. It is useless for control.
Mulch the base of tomatoes and make sure you have good spacing and trellising to maximize air circulation and minimize splashing. Remove the lower leaves of the tomatoes.

Defiant has good resistance to early and late blight. I used to grow it, but can't now because it does not have TYLCV resistance.
https://www.veggiegardener.com/blight-r ... -tomatoes/

[Gary350]

My tomato plants have blight every year, some years are worse than others. I already knew vinegar will kill, mold, mildew, fungus, before I took biology class in college 50 yrs ago. About 25 years ago I started spraying tomato plants with 5% vinegar to kill blight. Spray the whole plant, top & underside of leaves, stems too all the way down to the soil. Let vinegar soak into the plants a few minutes before rinsing vinegar off with a water hose. Don't worry about vinegar in the soil that seems to be helpful too lower soil PH that prevents blight too. Years ago garden was endless work for me I still don't like a high maintenance garden so I don't do it. My tomato plants get blight about July 15 so I plant about 18 to 24 plants I want a big harvest quick about 300 lbs by July 15 We put 30 quarts a 20 pint mason jars in the pantry last summer and still had 40 jars from the year before. One year I tried blight spray sold at Lowe's & Home Depot it works but I hate spraying tomatoes plants every day & hate paying high prices for spray..

I don't grow Celebrity and have not grown Rutger in 38 years. I will try Rutger again this year it will be nice to have a few plants with no blight so we have tomatoes on the table until Nov. I have read Rutger is disease resistant its been too long for me to remember if that is true.

It is very interesting idea that tomato plants come with blight from the green houses. I plant lots of tomatoes from seeds but all plants soon get blight. Hot weather cherry tomatoes seem to resist blight better than larger tomatoes they live 3 or 4 weeks longer before dead. My best strategy is to plant seeds every 2 weeks so there are always new plants coming up. New plants will make about 2 weeks of good ripe tomatoes before they get blight and make another 2 weeks of tomatoes before having serious blight problems. When other plants in the garden are gone replace them with tomato seeds where, corn, squash, beans, etc were. I read online blight gets in the soil and returns every year.

I like to plant Big Beef it is a very good producer. I give all my tomato plants a pint jar of wood ash potassium makes lot of blossoms that becomes lots of tomatoes. I had good luck years ago with Jet Star and Beef Stake but the past 7 years those 2 tomatoes were terrible. I also learned tomatoes planted in full sun in 98 degree weather does very well I think it is too hot for blight but tomato plants stop making tomatoes in that heat. I like to plant tomatoes so plants get early morning sun coolest part of the day then full shade after lunch from a large shade tree or building or fence. I think shade promotes blight, full sun in TN is too hot but might not be too hot in Iowa. I have a problem with sun burned plants & tomatoes at 3 pm hottest part of the day that is why I want my plants in full shade after lunch. Solar 12 noon at my house is 12:51 pm by the clock.

[imafan26]

I liked Big Beef too. It used to be one of my mainstays.

[mr.greenjeans]

Thanks for the replies. I ended up ordering "Galahad" seeds from Johnny's. Galahad is a new variety bred for late blight resistance. We'll see how it goes. The manager at a local nursery talked me in to trying Brandywine heirloom (sudduth's strain). According to him, they are known for blight resistance. Again, we'll see how it goes. I did some reading on Rutgers heirloom tomatoes. They are considered to be a good Midwest tomato. Campbells soup grew them in Indiana for years until they moved their operation to California. Rutgers are known to be heavy producers of 4 - 6 oz. tomatoes. Haven't decided if I'll try a Rutgers.

[Gary350]

Thanks for the replies. I ended up ordering "Galahad" seeds from Johnny's. Galahad is a new variety bred for late blight resistance. We'll see how it goes. The manager at a local nursery talked me in to trying Brandywine heirloom (sudduth's strain). According to him, they are known for blight resistance. Again, we'll see how it goes. I did some reading on Rutgers heirloom tomatoes. They are considered to be a good Midwest tomato. Campbells soup grew them in Indiana for years until they moved their operation to California. Rutgers are known to be heavy producers of 4 - 6 oz. tomatoes. Haven't decided if I'll try a Rutgers.

Last spring someone said, Brandywine is blight resistant so I bought a 4 pack. Most of my tomato plants got blight about the same time within a week of each other 3 Brandwine plants died first. 1 sprayed the last Brandywine plant tried for a month to save it but it died too. Brandywine was a terrible producer most tomatoes rotted before they were ripe. I only got 3 good tomatoes from 4 plants. Sometimes I wonder about plants 30 years ago plants seemed to do much better but now days same variety is not as good as they were before..

[Vanisle_BC]

Last spring someone said, Brandywine is blight resistant so I bought a 4 pack. Most of my tomato plants got blight about the same time within a week of each other 3 Brandwine plants died first........

Gary I notice your brandywine were from a '4 pack' - I.e. purchased plants? Someone has queried whether store-bought plants are more likely to develop blight than those we raise from seed. It would be interesting to know if people posting about blight had started from seed or plants. Also I believe there are 2 kinds of blight - late & early - so it could be helpful to know which is being referred to. The only one I've experienced was well into summer, which I assume is 'late.'

ETA: It's always possible too, that varieties are mislabeled as to name or disease resistance; either in error or deliberately .

[applestar]

Definitely essential to differentiate between Early Blight which is bad but generally manageable vs. Late Blight which is pretty much a death sentence and you want to expel the entire plant roots and all out of your garden asap. They are completely different organisms.

Tomato leaf symptoms Diagnostic Key
https://vegetablemdonline.ppath.cornell. ... afKey.html

[Gary350]

I have not considered growing Bradley or Rutger tomatoes in about 35 or 40 years. I read online Bradley & Rutger are both disease resistance. So far I have not learned what disease resistance means? Does that mean it is blight resistant?

My tomato plants get blight about July 15 every year. I can not find a definition of early blight or late blight so I have no clue which blight my plants have. I don't remember who asked that question?

Bradley Tomatoes are PINK color, 80 day crop, big producer. Size 8 oz.. All tomatoes on the plant ripen on the same day. Thin skin not suited for machine harvest. Indeterminate. Plants only 36" tall. Short shelf life vs other tomatoes. Balance delicious sweet flavor. Disease Resistant.

Rutger tomatoes are RED color, 73 day crop, well balanced acid/sugar flavor, open pollinated, beefsteak. Size 7 oz. Plants 5 to 6 ft tall. Disease Resistant. Indeterminate. Thin skin.

"Open pollinated" generally refers to seeds that will "breed true". When the plants of an open-pollinated variety self-pollinate, or are pollinated by another representative of the same variety, the resulting seeds will produce plants roughly identical to their parents.

This year I will plant 4 Bradly & 4 Rutger give them a go to see how well they deal with blight.

[PaulF]

Many hybrids have a "disease resistance" bred into them. This breeding was started in the late 40s and 50s when this country began to switch from local food production and harvest into a model of nationwide production and shipping of our food supply. We have benefitted from this ability to provide many foods to areas where the supply was lacking.

Hybrid tomatoes needed to be able to be harvested relatively green, to have thick skins for ease of trucking long distances without damage and to meet the appearance the marketplace decided was appropriate for the consumer. In the process we got the "grocery store" hybrid tomato that was round, red, with the flavor also bred out.

Back to disease resistance. If you were a tomato farmer (and this is still the case) with 1000 acres of tomatoes, a few days more without disease meant making a living by the tomato harvest, or a few days less and losing the crop and the farm this "resistance" was meaningful. For back yard farmers a few days means next to nothing.

As the tomato farm hybrids were about the only tomato plants sold in the marketplace, the home gardener was destined to be forced to also grow round, red, flavorless tomatoes until groups of gardeners rose up and revived the local old fashioned varieties they remembered. Home growers care little about shipping qualities and determinate growth habits so the harvest can be done all at once for the marketplace. Hence the explosion of the heirloom/OP tomatoes.

Blight (and other diseases) are almost inevitable because they attack weaknesses. Old age and the lack of several cultural growing habits cause stress to a plant thereby allowing disease to infiltrate and damage or kill plants. Personally, spending time and effort to protect tomatoes from stress with a proper mulching program, providing good airflow with staking/caging, watering at the base and not allowing soil splash onto leaves, watching growth habits and then providing proper fertilization and disease protection with sprays, etc. if necessary. Also by planting where there is ample sunlight and rotation where possible are other cultural practices. I get more production and less disease the more I pay attention than by purchasing plants from a box store than say "disease resistant". I agree that home grown plants will display fewer problems...I know the conditions they were grown in and can pick the very strongest for my garden. I know they have not been forced to be what a consumer thinks a tomato plant should look like in the store by artificial means.

There have been "new" hybrids that try to breed flavor back into the fruits and some may even taste good, but I will let the grocery store tomatoes alone and continue growing my "cult" varieties.

[imafan26]

Brandywine is a large potato leaf variety. It does produce large delicious fruit that is often lobed and has green shoulders. It is not a great producer considering its massive size. Sudduth is one of the strains. I planted Brandywine OTV. It is also a pink tomato but it had good heat tolerance. I was told it would not pollinate well in high humidity but it was not a problem. It did have a lot of fungal disease because of the leaves and it did have to be sprayed pretty much every week. The birds got the first 5 tomatoes. They broke through the net bags and the bird netting. I had to baby the Brandywine because it really was not very resistant to fungal diseases at all.

I have grown Celebrity and Rutgers. Celebrity does have good resistance, but it is a market tomato. Rutgers was o.k. as far as disease goes, the tomato is not that big, but a good size. Flavor is good, but it is not Brandywine.

[TomatoNut95]

I prefer to grow nothing but heirloom tomatoes. All from seed, with the exception of a Bonnie plant if it's an heirloom. Last year, however, I buy a couple of hybrids. Wasn't pleased with them.

Bradley is a good variety. So far it's proven to be crack resistant.
Baker Creek offers many interesting heirlooms and some are disease resistant.

Spindly tomatoes are a sign of poor light. Been there, seen it. This happens when you start tomatoes indoors with insufficient light. I don't like starting them in the house, I start my tomatoes in my greenhouse. Tomatoes also get spindly when their pots are too small.