Blight Resistant Tomatoes

Discussion in 'Edible Gardening' started by JWK, Sep 20, 2021.

  1. JWK

    JWK Gardener Staff Member

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    I saw Bordeaux mixture on sale on ebay earlier this summer at something like £10 for those small plastic containers. Someone must have stockpiled them. You can buy the chemicals very cheaply online and mix yourself as I have done in the past. But I don't like the mess the spray makes when it gets on the fruit.
     
  2. Susieshoe

    Susieshoe Gardener

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    From this list I’ve grown
    Crimson Crush. Good taste, but nothing special
    Nagina plum. Nice balance of acid and sweet. Heavy cropper but late to get going
    honeymoon. Omg!! Awesome tomato. And a very good cropper for a beefsteak
    Cocktail crush. Taste is ok, will grow again but just a few plants as I prefer larger tomatoes

    can I recommend Oh Happy Day. Good cropper, beautiful taste. Pennard plants do a good selection of blight resistant seeds
     
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    • Susieshoe

      Susieshoe Gardener

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      This year I’ve had blight on my blight resistant outdoor plants but swift removal of the leaves has left the fruit mostly unaffected and I’ve been picking these since august. So, yes, blight resistant varieties can be affected by blight but it’s not the wholesale destruction of the plant and you’ll still get a good crop.
       
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      • Scrungee

        Scrungee Well known for it

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        I think I've only got about 15 or 16 containers in my stockpile, plus some weighed out in self seal poly bags with the water addition marked on them. I got around half of them for 30p each reduced to clear just before it was 'banned'.
         
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          Last edited: Sep 24, 2021
        • Scrungee

          Scrungee Well known for it

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          I've sprayed my outdoor Red Alerts three times with Bordeaux Mixture and there's hardly a trace (if any) of BM on them, despite having hardly any rain since starting to spray them.

          Today's pick of Red Alerts (not many left to ripen on the plants now and still no blight). Red Alert often get listed together with blight resistant varieties because they have few, small leaves, an open habit and very early so many tomatoes can (hnormally) be harvested before blight arrives.

          IMG_20210924_102940777_HDR.jpg

          Tomatoes grown undercover are different and will stay covered in it, as will the inside of polytunnel covers and greenhouse glass.
           
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            Last edited: Sep 24, 2021
          • esthersym

            esthersym Apprentice Gardener

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            Bit late to this thread, but I grew Primabella this year with no blight problems. I also grew Koralik F1 and some of these got blight. That was actually helpful because the Primabella didn't show any problems at all and I wouldn't have realised it was a bad year otherwise. Tastewise, the Primabella were quite acidic but with good flavour.
             
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            • JWK

              JWK Gardener Staff Member

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              Thank you @esthersym I haven't heard of Primabella before. How does it compare taste wise with Koralik? Did you prefer Primabella?
               
            • esthersym

              esthersym Apprentice Gardener

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              Well, I think they taste lovely!

              It's a bit difficult to describe taste -I think Primabella are "richer" in flavour than Koralik but also more acidic so they are nice in a salad. They cook down in to a tangy sauce. I would say that I prefered them to Koralik, yes. Primabella are also quite a bit larger despite them both being cherry types.

              I forgot to say that I grew them outdoors in the ground.
               
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              • Scrungee

                Scrungee Well known for it

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                I always found Koralik rather insipid, and gave up growing them when the lot got wiped out by blight. Think I''ve read somewhere that they're not resistant against the latest strains of late blight. They are also non-F1 and seed will grow true, not that I'd want to bother growing them.

                Primabella, being a 'cherry' tomato appears very interesting, although I'd describe that size as a 'salad' tomato. But at £2.99 for 5 seeds/60p each from T&M [1] they appear rather expensive, although I grow lots of Suncherry Premium F1 cherry tomatoes at 25 - 30p each seed.

                A tip to reduce costs is to sow some early, grow on under cover and let all the sideshoots grow big enough for use as cuttings before removing, producing a load of extra plants for free (my favourite price). Taking this into account I might be ableto justify a packet of seed for next year.

                Looking at seed seller's images of truss sizes, they all appear to be the same photo of a truss of 10 tomatoes. As sellers tend to use illustrations of the maximum possible number of toms that professional growers can achieve, @esthersym could you confirm what sort of truss sizes you had?

                [1] Or Tomato Seed 'Primabella' £2.50 for 5, or £3.99 for 10 Tomato Seeds - Primabella | The Organic Gardening Catalogue but a high P&P charge.
                 
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                  Last edited: Oct 10, 2021
                • john558

                  john558 Total Gardener

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                  That's a good idea, do you pinch out the main growing shoot?
                   
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                  • Scrungee

                    Scrungee Well known for it

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                    I've only done that when a plant has been very slow in making sideshoots.
                     
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                    • JWK

                      JWK Gardener Staff Member

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                      Watching Beechgrove Garden on catchup and saw them recommending Merrygold - the first orange fruited blight resistant variety. I might give this one a go next year, only seems to be available from Mr Fothergills.
                       
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                      • Scrungee

                        Scrungee Well known for it

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                        Did they show the plants, and if so what was the truss size like? There appears to be only one image available online, this is the uncropped version

                        [​IMG]


                        This place has them listed at £0.00 (free, my favourte price). TOMATO Merrygold F1

                        Screenshot_20211014-034107.png


                        20211014_042151.png
                         
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                          Last edited: Oct 14, 2021
                        • JWK

                          JWK Gardener Staff Member

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                          £4.95 postage !
                           
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                          • JWK

                            JWK Gardener Staff Member

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                            They showed the trusses next to another variety to which it's related, Merrygold had twice the amount. Looks worth a try.
                             
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