[John Vanini]

Having had Tomato Blight this year like I've never had it before, I searched
the Internet for any sign of blight resistant tomatoes. Some sites say there
isn't such a thing while others say there is and some offer seeds.



I offer the following information and three extracts from a couple of
well-known seed suppliers' sites, for those who may be interested.



I'd welcome the opinion and experiences of others in the group as I love
tomatoes (a whole pan-full, fried slowly and served with smoked bacon - now
I'm drooling! (LOL)) and would like to do better next year.



Ferline (from Thompson & Morgan) In recent trials Ferline has shown
impressive blight tolerance in a garden situation. Also resistant to
fusarium and verticillium wilt.



Legend (from Thompson & Morgan) In recent trials showing impressive blight
tolerance in a garden situation. Legend was bred in the USA by Dr. Jim
Baggett at Oregon State University. Both Thompson & Morgan and Dr Baggett
believe Legend could be the answer to many gardeners' prayers to help
overcome this most destructive disease.



Fantasio F1 (From Suttons Seeds) Good Blight tolerance helps ensure that the
leaves stay green and healthy. Shows resistance to Tobacco Mosaic Virus,
Verticilium and Fusarium Wilts, and Nematodes too.



Has anyone any experience of these seeds?



I searched the sites of two other seed suppliers (Marshalls and Mr
Fothergill's) but they don't list any such varieties. I've emailed both of
them to ask whether, in their opinion, such varieties exist and, if they do,
will the seeds be in the supplier's catalogue next year.



If anyone's interested, I'll give their replies when (and if!!!) I get them.



Best regards,



John

[®óñ© © ²°¹°-°³]

On Thu, 30 Aug 2007 08:58:55 GMT, "John Vanini"
wrote and included this (or some of this):

Having had Tomato Blight this year like I've never had it before, I searched
the Internet for any sign of blight resistant tomatoes. Some sites say there
isn't such a thing while others say there is and some offer seeds.



I offer the following information and three extracts from a couple of
well-known seed suppliers' sites, for those who may be interested.



I'd welcome the opinion and experiences of others in the group as I love
tomatoes (a whole pan-full, fried slowly and served with smoked bacon - now
I'm drooling! (LOL)) and would like to do better next year.



Ferline (from Thompson & Morgan) In recent trials Ferline has shown
impressive blight tolerance in a garden situation.

My neighbour is growing several varieties of tomato in her greenhouse.

All are badly blighted except the Ferline which is growing apace and
clean.


--
®óñ© © ²°¹°-°³

[Gill Matthews]

In article ,
says...
Having had Tomato Blight this year like I've never had it before, I searched
the Internet for any sign of blight resistant tomatoes. Some sites say there
isn't such a thing while others say there is and some offer seeds.

I have grown a variety of tomatoes this year and have had some blight on them.
Santa and gardeners delight more or less written off, Sweet million and first
in the field not too bad some salvageable cropping, Ferline and Konig humbert
pretty much untouched. Konig Humbert was from the heritage seed library and
confirms my opinion that we need to conserve geneic diversity in our food crops

Gill M
--

addy gill[at]pcservicesreading[dot]co[dot]uk

[John Vanini]

Thanks both for your postings. It's early days yet and, yes, I know, there's
insufficient information but Ferline does look a little hopeful!

I grew 'Super Marmande', 'Moneymaker', 'Sungold', 'Millionaire', and
'Nyagous' (a black Russian tomato) in groups of 4 plants, east to west, and
in the order given. None of these claim to be blight resistant and aren't.
The worst and first hit were the 'Super Marmande', and 'Moneymaker' and,
then, to a much lesser degree, the 'Sungold'.

The last two groups of tomato plantsweren't much affected when I looked a
couple of says ago but may have been since. The 'Nyagous' has survived the
best, at the moment with hardly a blemish. Mind you when I go up to the
allotment tomorrow, I am expecting the worst!

This, without doubt, only shows the direction in which the blight travelled,
and is travelling, and doesn't reflect any resistance to blight by the
plants. However, if that is the case then it appears to be travelling slowly
and against the prevailling wind!

I shall keep searching as, next year, I want to avoid problems if I can
because I really do love my fried tomatoes. Bought shop tomatoes just have
no flavour, raw or fried.

I read somewhere that if the tomato plants are grown out in the open but
under some sort of cover to keep off the rain it's possible to avoid blight
(a large polytunnel, for instance) - as long as there's a good movement of
air across the plants. It makes sense but it's almost the same as growing
them in a greenhouse and polytunnels aren't cheap!

Regards,

John




"Gill Matthews" Try the wrote in message
. ..
In article ,

says...
Having had Tomato Blight this year like I've never had it before, I
searched
the Internet for any sign of blight resistant tomatoes. Some sites say
there
isn't such a thing while others say there is and some offer seeds.

I have grown a variety of tomatoes this year and have had some blight on
them.
Santa and gardeners delight more or less written off, Sweet million and
first
in the field not too bad some salvageable cropping, Ferline and Konig
humbert
pretty much untouched. Konig Humbert was from the heritage seed library
and
confirms my opinion that we need to conserve geneic diversity in our food
crops

Gill M
--

addy gill[at]pcservicesreading[dot]co[dot]uk

[Sacha]

On 30/8/07 15:25, in article ,
"John Vanini" wrote:

Thanks both for your postings. It's early days yet and, yes, I know, there's
insufficient information but Ferline does look a little hopeful!

I grew 'Super Marmande', 'Moneymaker', 'Sungold', 'Millionaire', and
'Nyagous' (a black Russian tomato) in groups of 4 plants, east to west, and
in the order given. None of these claim to be blight resistant and aren't.
The worst and first hit were the 'Super Marmande', and 'Moneymaker' and,
then, to a much lesser degree, the 'Sungold'.

The last two groups of tomato plantsweren't much affected when I looked a
couple of says ago but may have been since. The 'Nyagous' has survived the
best, at the moment with hardly a blemish. Mind you when I go up to the
allotment tomorrow, I am expecting the worst!

This, without doubt, only shows the direction in which the blight travelled,
and is travelling, and doesn't reflect any resistance to blight by the
plants. However, if that is the case then it appears to be travelling slowly
and against the prevailling wind!

I shall keep searching as, next year, I want to avoid problems if I can
because I really do love my fried tomatoes. Bought shop tomatoes just have
no flavour, raw or fried.

I read somewhere that if the tomato plants are grown out in the open but
under some sort of cover to keep off the rain it's possible to avoid blight
(a large polytunnel, for instance) - as long as there's a good movement of
air across the plants. It makes sense but it's almost the same as growing
them in a greenhouse and polytunnels aren't cheap!

snip

We grew Jersey Sunrise this year and only that one - a heritage variety.
The ones outside got blight, the ones in the prop. house (big, vents full
length but warm) are still doing pretty well. We picked 5 lovely ones at
lunchtime.
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove weeds from address)
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'

[Bob Hobden]

"John Vanini" wrote ...
Having had Tomato Blight this year like I've never had it before, I
searched the Internet for any sign of blight resistant tomatoes. Some
sites say there isn't such a thing while others say there is and some
offer seeds.
I offer the following information and three extracts from a couple of
well-known seed suppliers' sites, for those who may be interested.
I'd welcome the opinion and experiences of others in the group as I love
tomatoes (a whole pan-full, fried slowly and served with smoked bacon -
now I'm drooling! (LOL)) and would like to do better next year.
Ferline (from Thompson & Morgan) In recent trials Ferline has shown
impressive blight tolerance in a garden situation. Also resistant to
fusarium and verticillium wilt.
Legend (from Thompson & Morgan) In recent trials showing impressive
blight tolerance in a garden situation. Legend was bred in the USA by Dr.
Jim Baggett at Oregon State University. Both Thompson & Morgan and Dr
Baggett believe Legend could be the answer to many gardeners' prayers to
help overcome this most destructive disease.
Fantasio F1 (From Suttons Seeds) Good Blight tolerance helps ensure that
the leaves stay green and healthy. Shows resistance to Tobacco Mosaic
Virus, Verticilium and Fusarium Wilts, and Nematodes too.
Has anyone any experience of these seeds?


"Ferline" certainly is resistant, I've proved it to myself over the last few
years, even that succumbed eventually out on the allotment this year but
then it was surrounded by others with blight. From now on we intend to just
grow blight resistant varieties so they should all be OK.
Found some "Fantasio" which is also from T & M and is also resistant.
What we now want is a cooking type, like "Brigade" was, deep red flesh with
little "water" that is resistant.
--
Regards
Bob Hobden
17mls W. of London.UK

[John Vanini]

Thanks for that information, Sacha,



Keeping the tomato plants covered and easy to water whilst ensuring a good
circulation of air is what I've read, on many sites now, should be done.
Your email seems to me to prove that.



The next trick is to design and build something that will do that for the
open allotment but with the minimum of cost and labour! It should be
something that can be taken out to the allotment, erected quickly and
easily, and, when finished with, dismantled and put away until the following
year. That's what I'm, also, looking into for next year.



It seems that, while there's no cure for blight, there's a possibility that
it can be prevented with the use of 'Bordeaux Mixture'. I believe that this
should be sprayed on the plants, in June, and at two weeks intervals. I'm
not sure at the moment so I've got to look into that again.



Regarding my question to Kings Seeds, I have just received the following
email from them. It says, "We do hope to list the variety Ferline F1 next
season, It is a variety, that in trial has shown good tolerance to blight.
At the present I do not think that there is a totally resistant variety."



Fair enough, we're a little bit further down the road towards me having
fried tomatoes for breakfast and for a longer period in the coming years!



Regards,



John

__________________________________________________ _______



"Sacha" wrote in message
. uk...

We grew Jersey Sunrise this year and only that one - a heritage variety.
The ones outside got blight, the ones in the prop. house (big, vents full
length but warm) are still doing pretty well. We picked 5 lovely ones at
lunchtime.
--
Sacha

[John Vanini]

Thanks Bob,

That's brilliant! I don't expect any tomato variety to be totally blight
resistant at the present time but that's good news!

What I want to do next year is sow something like Ferline (or Legend or
Fantasio - if they turn out to be blight resistant or blight tolerant) and
some of the varieties I like but keep them well apart to improve my chances
of avoiding blight and growing some tomatoes.

I, also, want to investigate sowing and growing tomatoes in more protective
conditions - such as a polytunnel, but I want something I can design and
build myself. I'll have to think about it - well, I've got long enough now
I've retired.

I can only say that what Sacha said confirmed, to a degree at least, what I
had read previously, that cover and air flow are very important and can
avoid blight (I suppose that's pretty obvious, really) - and, perhaps, the
use of "Bordeaux Mix".

Bob, I wonder, could you tell me what you thought of the taste of the
Ferline tomatoes, please? I've never heard of "Brigade" but might try some
just to see what they are like - blight resistant or not!

There was a beautiful tomato I grew last year - until it got blight - and
that was one called "Millionaire". It was sweet and very large and I only
managed to eat one before the blight got it! I was going to keep some of the
seed from the tomato but I ate it thinking there would be others and there
weren't!

That's something else I read in a document from some University (probably in
America!) that, in tests, the larger the tomato the more likely it seemed to
get blight. I've noticed on our allotment that one man has got blight on all
his tomatoes except for the small "Tumbler" tomatoes, which show no sign at
all of blight while all around him and his allotment, everyone else, also,
has blight - including me!

Thanks, again, very much for your information.

By the way - 17 miles west of London - could that be Runnymede? It's just a
thought! As a child, my parents used to take me for a day out there among
many other places I've since forgotten. I was born in Feltham in Middlesex
but I don't know where that is in relation to London!

Kindest regards,

John
_______________________________________

"Bob Hobden" wrote in message
...

"Ferline" certainly is resistant, I've proved it to myself over the last
few years, even that succumbed eventually out on the allotment this year
but then it was surrounded by others with blight. From now on we intend to
just grow blight resistant varieties so they should all be OK.
Found some "Fantasio" which is also from T & M and is also resistant.
What we now want is a cooking type, like "Brigade" was, deep red flesh
with little "water" that is resistant.
--
Regards
Bob Hobden
17mls W. of London.UK

[Bob Hobden]

"John Vanini" wrote (snip)

What I want to do next year is sow something like Ferline (or Legend or
Fantasio - if they turn out to be blight resistant or blight tolerant) and
some of the varieties I like but keep them well apart to improve my
chances of avoiding blight and growing some tomatoes.

We intend to put the blight resistant ones in one row and if we grow
anything that isn't then that will be kept well away.

I, also, want to investigate sowing and growing tomatoes in more
protective conditions - such as a polytunnel, but I want something I can
design and build myself. I'll have to think about it - well, I've got long
enough now I've retired.
I can only say that what Sacha said confirmed, to a degree at least, what
I had read previously, that cover and air flow are very important and can
avoid blight (I suppose that's pretty obvious, really) - and, perhaps, the
use of "Bordeaux Mix".

We have used Bordeaux Mixture for years but it all came too early this year,
and anyway, it gets washed off in persistant rain and has to be reapplied.

Bob, I wonder, could you tell me what you thought of the taste of the
Ferline tomatoes, please? I've never heard of "Brigade" but might try some
just to see what they are like - blight resistant or not!

It was as good as most, we mostly use them for cooking so would prefer
something bred for that purpose, Roma, Brigade etc but they are not Blight
Resistant.
..

By the way - 17 miles west of London - could that be Runnymede?

Near, Yes.


It's just a
thought! As a child, my parents used to take me for a day out there among
many other places I've since forgotten. I was born in Feltham in Middlesex
but I don't know where that is in relation to London!

About 12 miles roughly West.
Next thing you will tell me you went to Southville Primary School and
Longford Sec Mod. :-)
Lived in Feltham, Fruen Road actually, until I left home to get married.
Small world.

--
Regards
Bob Hobden
17mls W. of London.UK

[John Vanini]

It certainly is a small world, and no mistake! No, I didn;t go to the
schools you mention, but went to Hanworth Road Infants, and Cardinal Road
Juniors (I believe those were the correct names) in Feltham. I left Feltham
in 1948 at the age of 9 - luckily my parents agreed to come with me but I'd
probably have gone anyway!!!

We moved to Shropshire, where I started work, got married, in 1961, finally
moving to Sussex in 1969, where we have stayed ever since - though we are
now both talking of emigrating but to where, we haven't decided. I'll only
go if I can take my allotment, however!

Imagine my surprise when I took over my allotment to find that two other
plotholders were about the same age (within a couple of years) of me and
were born and lived in Feltham at the same time I was there!

I don't know Fruen Road, I'm afraid. We lived on, what we today would call,
a housing estate, on was Southcote Avenue. It's difficult to remember the
town layout with any certainty after all these years and I know it's changed
but we lived at the opposite end of the town to the railway station and on
the same side of the main road. I remember we often went into the
countryside at Sunbury thogh we had fields behind our house, across the
railway line.

Thanks for the information, once again!

Best regards,

John


"Bob Hobden" wrote in message
...
snip
It's just a thought! As a child, my parents used to take me for a day out
there among many other places I've since forgotten. I was born in Feltham
in Middlesex
but I don't know where that is in relation to London!

About 12 miles roughly West.
Next thing you will tell me you went to Southville Primary School and
Longford Sec Mod. :-)
Lived in Feltham, Fruen Road actually, until I left home to get married.
Small world.

Regards
Bob Hobden
17mls W. of London.UK

[tomch]

On 30 Aug, 09:58, "John Vanini" wrote:
....snip....

I searched the sites of two other seed suppliers (Marshalls and Mr
Fothergill's) but they don't list any such varieties. I've emailed both of
them to ask whether, in their opinion, such varieties exist and, if they do,
will the seeds be in the supplier's catalogue next year.

Two suppliers of less common varieties are
'Seeds of Distinction' www.seedsofdistinction.com
'Seeds by Size' www.seeds-by-size.co.uk

I have used both suppliers and am happy with their service.

Tom

[John Vanini]

Thanks Tom,

All information is very welcome and very useful.

I know of 'Seeds by Size' and have spoken to them but never used them. I
often wondered how they sold seeds by size until I made an enquiry and
received an email from John Size!

'Seeds of Distinction' are new to me but I'll have a look.

Regards,

John
______________________________________________
"tomch" wrote in message
oups.com...
On 30 Aug, 09:58, "John Vanini" wrote:
....snip....

I searched the sites of two other seed suppliers (Marshalls and Mr
Fothergill's) but they don't list any such varieties. I've emailed both
of
them to ask whether, in their opinion, such varieties exist and, if they
do,
will the seeds be in the supplier's catalogue next year.

Two suppliers of less common varieties are
'Seeds of Distinction' www.seedsofdistinction.com
'Seeds by Size' www.seeds-by-size.co.uk

I have used both suppliers and am happy with their service.

Tom

[Bob Hobden]

"Bob Hobden" wrote ...
"Ferline" certainly is resistant, I've proved it to myself over the last
few years, even that succumbed eventually out on the allotment this year
but then it was surrounded by others with blight. From now on we intend to
just grow blight resistant varieties so they should all be OK.
Found some "Fantasio" which is also from T & M and is also resistant.
What we now want is a cooking type, like "Brigade" was, deep red flesh
with little "water" that is resistant.

Found some info about "Legend"....
http://www.victoryseeds.com/catalog/...to_legend.html
which sounds just right for the British climate and it's a big tom too.
It appears they are available from T & M...
http://seeds.thompson-morgan.com/uk/en/product/726/1

So that makes three blight resistant varieties available in the UK. Ferline,
Fantasio and Legend.

"Brigade" is no longer available, at least I can't find it, used to be from
T & M but last year they only sold it in the USA, this year it's gone from
there too. They refused to supply anyone in the UK with seed.....I asked.
It has been in the past one of the most planted in the USA for the
processing industry for the same reason we like it for cooking, good taste,
lots of deep red flesh, and little "water & seeds".


--
Regards
Bob Hobden
17mls W. of London.UK

[Janet Tweedy]

In article , Gill Matthews
writes

Konig Humbert was from the heritage seed library and
confirms my opinion that we need to conserve geneic diversity in our food crops

Gill M


I grew broad ripple yellow currant tomatoes about three years ago and
they were the first to go! They were also from HDRA.
--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk

[mugwump]

I tried fantasio and legend outside and ferline in the greenhouse last summer.

I was away for a week in June and when I came back the outdoor plants had been ruined by the blight. Very disappointing. The greenhouse crop of ferline escaped it, but then so did all of my other non-blight-resistant greenhouse tomatoes.

I had been hoping to find a blight-resistant vriety of tomato to rival the' resistance Sarpo Mira has in potatoes, but evident;y the breeders aren't there yet.

I will try again this year, and hopefully, providing I don't go away at the wrong time again, the limited resistance they do have will give me time to get going with the bordeaux mixture and save something of the crop.