[ricky]

does anyone have any thoughts on blight resistant tomatoes as i have lost all of my tom two years in a row i usually grow the usual moneymaker and alisa craig and have tumbling tom in my hanging baskets all in all i usually grow about 300 plants in my 42 by 16 polytunnel ,i know this past year has been bad all over for gardeners with little light and sunshine but its always the blight that slips in and ruins everything , if anyone has tried these blight resistant toms please let me know especially the hanging basket variety many thanks

[mumofstig]

Are you sure it was blight rather than Botrytis, cos you are often safe from blight undercover.

I know you've got a big poly but even so planting 300  doesn't give them much space for air flow, which is why I'm asking about Botrytis?

[ricky]

its definately blight i had everyone round looking at them from potato farmers to fellow gardeners blight has been really bad over here as past 2 years even the farmers who were spraying their potatoes with dithane said in some areas it still got through, i have 50 odd hanging baskets with toms in as well i just want to know if any of you guys have tried these blight resistant toms or is it just alot of hype thanks. ricky

[mumofstig]

I didn't mean to offend, I just wanted to make sure, as some people confuse the 2 things

[BabbyAnn]

Last year I grew Legend and Ferline F1 - after a wet August, many people on my site lost their outdoor tomatoes to blight so I was pretty chuffed to find mine were fine.  However, they are not truly blight resistant because at the time I decided to harvest the bulk of the crop, I noticed tell tale signs - I would say that it was more like a delay and if I hadn't decided to harvest I think they would have eventually succumbed as well.  The extra 2-3 weeks was enough to get a satisfactory harvest.

This year I also grew some short season varieties and these were ripening well ahead of any late blight ... of course, this year was very dry here so we didn't get any blight whatsoever (the year I decided to also grow blight resistant potatoes as well ... typical  )

[MoreWhisky]

I grow Shirleys outside i also use an anti blight spray. I havent had blight in yrs i cant seem to say the same for other ppl on my site. My crop this yr was fantastic to.

[B_and_D]

Which anti-blight spray do you use? Bordeaux mix?

We grew Ferlines (blight resistant) this year and they got blight the same as everyone else and every other tomato variety on the site.  Onset was delayed by a week or so but they aren't non-blight.  I suspect if blight wasn't so bad this year they may have survived, but can't be sure.

[Janeymiddlewife]

I used bordeaux mix twice this year on mine in late July & Mid August as I was going away, still picking this week outdoors, I was lucky to time it right. I don't like using sprays, but didn't want to risk leaving them at what turned out to be peak blight time round here. They just need washing very thoroughly as the blue stuff is water resistant

[Salmo]

Resistant means just that, the same as water resistant clothing is not waterproof.

[mumofstig]

Everyone has to make their own decision whether to spray or not

[ricky]

hi thanks for all your replys i used dithane which is copper based [ maybe all the sprays are im not to sure] but the blight still got in ,i was told of another spray which the farmers are starting to use over here called invader which is systemic all the potato farmers are raving about it , id rather grow tomatoes that is resistant to blight when you spray them it gets very messy ,so are you good people telling me that what all the seed companys are claiming ie blight resistant tomato seeds is stretching the truth slightly ,i dont want to spend x amount on these seeds [arnt they expensive] to go through another year of torture dumping tomato plants in august thanks again

[BabbyAnn]

so are you good people telling me that what all the seed companys are claiming ie blight resistant tomato seeds is stretching the truth slightly

no - I think Salmo hit it on the head. 

Resistant means just that, the same as water resistant clothing is not waterproof.

In a mild case I would say that the blight resistant varieties will be unaffected, but when its bad, not even its resistance will hold off blight, but you may get an extra week or 2 before it succumbs

i dont want to spend x amount on these seeds [arnt they expensive] to go through another year of torture dumping tomato plants in august thanks again

that comes with the territory I'm afraid - I went 4 years one after another with blight    In the end I bought a greenhouse to grow some at home under "controlled" conditions as a back up while also growing some outdoors at the allotment.  You can't change weather conditions - so if your area is likely to get bouts of rain that encourage blight, then growing outdoors might not be an option.  The alternate is growing a shorter season variety (that is, crops before blight starts to manifest)

BTW, Legend tomatoes - once you've bought the seeds you don't need to buy any more because you can save the seed    I have to confess I saved the seed from Ferline F1 and grew them this year - my problem this year wasn't so much blight but drought so I couldn't really test their blight resistantness, but taste wise they were the same.  Koralik Cherry and Fantasio are also supposed to be blight resistant.

[ricky]

thanks ann im 46 next year and am still learning mother nature just keeps moving the goal posts thanks for your words of wisdom

[Salmo]

Seeds from F1 varieties do not breed true so seed saved from F1 resistant varieties will produce offspring that may or may not be resistant.

What is more the F1 parent with the resistant genes may be a useless tomato and your plants may be like it.

[Yorkie]

hi thanks for all your replys i used dithane which is copper based [ maybe all the sprays are im not to sure] but the blight still got in ,i was told of another spray which the farmers are starting to use over here called invader which is systemic all the potato farmers are raving about it , id rather grow tomatoes that is resistant to blight when you spray them it gets very messy ,so are you good people telling me that what all the seed companys are claiming ie blight resistant tomato seeds is stretching the truth slightly ,i dont want to spend x amount on these seeds [arnt they expensive] to go through another year of torture dumping tomato plants in august thanks again

You may not be aware, but the license for Dithane is revoked with effect from the end of December 2011 so it will no longer be legal to store or use it.

Invader is a professional-use only spray so cannot be bought or used by anyone who does not have the relevant professional licence.