Next years tomato

[mandyballantyne]

Hi Folks,

I know I am getting a bit ahead here but can anyone suggest a good variaty of tomato which is blight resistant?

I have lost them all again this year apart from 2 in the greenhouse and they are looking a bit dodgy.

I really don't want to give up on toms all together.

Thanks in advance, Mandy

[Cutecumber]

More resistant varieties of tomato and potato are appearing each year, but it is my understanding that they are not completely resistant.

I grow one variety (not particularly for its alleged resistance) called Ferline. It is a cordon type and produces medium-large tomatoes. I only have one plant this year which has been growing outdoors and it has one nearly-ripe fruit - not bad for outdoors.

I have not had blight this year as yet. It usually comes later if at all.

[multiveg]

I think it has been an exceptionally bad year - blight has come early to things what with all that rain, etc...
Thinking of carrots - with resistafly/flyaway it is suggested to sow a row of ordinary carrots too. Perhaps if you grow more than one variety of tomato - maybe they'll get infected with blight at different rates? Perhaps grow them alongside Ferline.

[Hazel at the Hill]

More resistant varieties of tomato and potato are appearing each year, but it is my understanding that they are not completely resistant.

I grow one variety (not particularly for its alleged resistance) called Ferline. It is a cordon type and produces medium-large tomatoes. I only have one plant this year which has been growing outdoors and it has one nearly-ripe fruit - not bad for outdoors.

I have not had blight this year as yet. It usually comes later if at all.

Ooh! Ferline! That's one of the varieties that Wellie sent me in the post today - I ate it for my lunch - YUMMY!!

And if it's blight resistant too, I'll defo put it on the 'must grow next year' list, given the problems we've had with blight on the spuds.

[Alison]

I'm growing Ferline as one of mine also, don't suffer with blight (fingers crossed!) so don't know if they are any more resilient. When I bought the seeds, T&M had an offer on for them and some bush ones called Legend which are supposed to be resilient also. Not tried them so don't know what they're like.

[sewer rat]

Ferline is indeed the cordon variety most often advertised as being most resisitant to blight. Having said that, the speed that breeders come up with new varieties, there'll probably be two or three to choose from next season.

[multiveg]

This year is bad for blight - I notice differences with potatoes and blight. In previous years when there hadn't been much blight - the differences weren't as noticeable. I seem to recall reading somewhere that Ferline was noticed with a resistance to blight in one of those years when blight wasn't around much.

[dinah gale]

Hope you are right about the new varieties Sewer Rat as even my Ferline toms have succumbed this year so I think I'll need to try another. Shame, as it's a lovely tomato.

This has been a bad year though with conditions just about perfect for blight, certainly here in Devon.

[leona]

matt's wild which is avaliable from simpson's seeds. 100% blight free. not sure if it would grow outside tho..

[sewer rat]

Being perfectly honest and having had all my polytunnel plants stricken with blight (but since denuding them all it looks as if I caught it in time) I wouldn't be too concerned about only growing blight resistant varieties next season. This season has been warm, windy and exceptionally wet - the ideal conditions for the spread of blight spores. The way I look at it is this; The commercial seed potato growers up here spray whenever the blight warnings are issued - sometimes twice a week - and if they still get stricken, so blight is gonna get ya no matter what. This year should be viewed as the exception and not the rule. If everyone only grew blight resistant potatoes and tomatoes, the rich and diverse varieties available to growers in this country (and abroad) would soon diminish - and that would be a greater catastrophe than blight.

[mrskp]

In amongst my 13 or 14 varieties (lost count now), I have both Ferline and Legend growing.

No blight whatsoever (touch wood) but no reasonable size going red at all tomatoes yet either.

The nearest I've got to anything being halfway near ripe is a couple of the Tumbling Tom in one of the baskets.

Everything just seems sooooooooooo late.

[sewer rat]

Hi MrsKP
My toms are only just starting to ripen now - it's very late and very slow this year - maybe fresh toms by Christmas ...........

[Alison]

Mine were very slow but now they've started they seem to all be ripening up quickly - so much for several sowings to spread the crop!

[mrskp]

Looking out of the window this morning, Christmas certainly seems nearer than the summer.

Very dark, and very wet.

Yo ho ho !

[Cutecumber]

Well, the blight in my garden is only progressing very slowly at the moment - it has been warm and dry lately, so the spores are somewhat limited from spreading.

We expect heavy rain this week, so I have no doubt it will go rampant in the next few days.

For information, the Ferline now show some signs of possible infection, but it is quite limited so far and the fruits are still ripening OK. I am actually unsure about whether it is blight at the moment.

Green Sausage have been badly affected, sadly.

Sungold, Berry, Rosada and Garden Peach still untouched.