Like many in the Northeast my garden got hit hard by late blight last year. New Hampshire is subject to early blight at times, but late blight is rare. I've been told by our university cooperative service that early blight over-winters in the soil, but late blight requires live plant tissue to survive (those few potatoes you salvaged from last year's hit shouldn't be used for seed this year!).
Last fall I cleaned my gardens and hauled the waste away, and this year I'll rotate crops as best I can.
I'd also like to try some different varieties that might be blight resistant. I'm looking for a source for Mountain Magic F1 tomatoes. Seedway Seeds in New York is a distributor for Bejo Seeds in California who has these seeds, but it seems that they aren't in the business of retailing to small buyers. Has anyone seen these on the net? Any other suggestions? I've tried Legend tomatoes in past years and didn't really like the taste or texture, so would go with them as a last resort. Better a mediocre tomato then none at all.
The Oregon State university website ( http://plant-disease.ippc.orst.edu/disease.cfm?RecordID=1084 ) has this on tomato blight:
The cultivar 'Legend' has late blight resistance in OSU-trials. WSU researchers have shown that 'Legend' may not be resistant to late blight under high disease pressure. Some cherry tomato cultivars ('Red Cherry' and 'Sweetie') were more tolerant to late blight in WSU trials. 'Matt's Wild Cherry' was considered resistant. The cultivar developed by OSU, Legend, is also considered resistant.
I'm also looking for blight resistant potatoes; suggestions? I'd heard that Kennebec had some blight resistance, but they died right along with the rest.
This message was edited Feb 12, 2010 5:27 PM
Source for Mountain Magic tomato seeds
Last year was so wet for the Midwest and New England that perhaps the blight was an exception to the usual occurrence. Hopefully, this year will be better for both of us. Johnny's Selected Seeds has a yellow grape tomato, 'Golden Sweet', which is the only one considered resistant to late blight. I found that 'Yukon Gold' potatoes performed best for me last year, compared to 'Kennebec', 'Irish Cobbler', 'Pontiac Red' which all got late blight for the first time in my garden.
Yukon Gold always perform best for me, and last year Orange Pixie survived the blight where the rest (40+ varieties) did not. The OP's were in a very protected area, though, so I really think that was more the case for survival. I will, however, continue with the variety because it did well and tasted good, too!
I had good luck with "Caribe" potatoes--good yield; no pest/disease problems. We had a wet, cool summer--no blight problems, but a poor tomato crop. My best performer was Paul Robeson.
When I Googled "Mountain Magic Tomato" , one hit said that there were a number 'Mountain' hybrids created by NC State.
www.totallytomato.com has four of them: 'Mountain Delight', 'Mountain Fresh Plus', 'Mountain Pride', and 'Mountain Spring', all with a degree of LB resistance. However, 'Mountain Magic F1' is supposed to be the most resistant. One source said that seed won't be available commercially until 2010. It is a cross between large-fruited tomato and high-sugar grape tomato.
Also, Harris Seeds carries many of the 'Mountain' varieties. www.harrisseeds.com
'Marglobe', 'Plum Regal', and 'Legend' were recommended as LB resistant.
One gardener said to help prevent LB: "Put a TUMS in each planted hole. Use an organic fertilizer with extra calcium and magnesium. Plant in a different place every year. Keep far away from potatoes, which are worse carriers of LB."
Here's a great link to info on Late Blight:
http://www.cpbn.org/article/summer-without-tomatoes
"keep far away from potatoes, witch are the worst carriers of LB"
Funny, that's what all the potatoes say about tomatoes.
What I've seen is the LB resistant varieties are still in the commercial grower mode,
FWIW:
The disease resistance identification codes shown below can found at the beginning of the product descriptions.
V - Verticillium Wilt
F - Fusarium Wilt (FF - Races 1 & 2; FFF - Races 1, 2, & 3)
N - Nematodes
T - Tobacco Mosaic Virus
A - Alternaria Stem Canker
St - Stemphylium Gray Leaf Spot
EB- Early Blight
LB- Late Blight
As a protectant against late blight use a product that contains chlorothalonil (Bravo), after infection the combination of Curzate (cymoxanil, fungicide group 27) mixed with a protectant should be used. Copper is not very effective on late blight."
Petunias, which are closely related to tomatoes and potatoes, can also be infected by late blight and show similar symptoms.
Early Blight
Tomato cultivars vary in their resistance to the disease. The cultivars, Mountain Fresh, Mountain Supreme, and Plum Dandy, have resistance to early blight.
Mountain Fresh Tomato from Reimer Seeds
http://www.reimerseeds.com/mountain-fresh-plus-tomato.aspx
77 days. Determinate VFFN Lycopersicon esculentum. (F1) Plant produces good yields of 12 oz red tomatoes. Developed by NC State University. Suitable for home garden and market growers.
Mountain Fresh Plus Tomato from Stokes Seeds
http://www.stokeseeds.com/cgi-bin/StokesSeeds.storefront
75 days Determinate VFFN. High quality 9 oz./255 g globe shaped fruit are very firm and smooth with a wide harvest or breaker stage and better taste. Excellent fresh market or chain store type. Some early blight tolerance
Plum Dandy from Harris Moran Seed Company and Territorial Seed Company
www.harrismoran.com
http://www.territorialseed.com/product/1188/227
82 days. EB, F1, V Plum Dandy is a new introduction from Randy Gardener of North Carolina State University. It is recommended for Fresh Market with excellent performance in trials from New Jersey to Florida. Recommended in all eastern USA/Canada tomato growing areas, Plum Dandy has excellent cool season production.
Plum Dandy produces high yields of very nice, well-shaped Roma tomatoes. The fruit ripens to a bright red exterior and interior color with good firmness and flavor.
Guarded by VF resistance and early blight tolerance, Plum Dandy has excellent packout.
Late Blight
Legend Tomato from Totally Tomatoes and Victory Seeds
http://www.totallytomato.com/dp.asp?P={53E6F9BF-4BFD-4C86-B740-0A19E0F67689}
http://www.victoryseeds.com/catalog/vegetable/tomato/tomato.html#Legend
68 Days Determinate Parthenocarpic
Round, shiny red fruits average 4" to 5", with sweet flavor and just a little acid to add a touch of zing. Green shoulders, few seeds and good uniformity in the earliest-maturing slicing tomato of its kind. Strong tolerance to late blight US8 and US11.
Stupice Tomato from Victory Seed, Territorial Seed and Totally Tomatoes
http://www.territorialseed.com/product/1136/s
http://www.victoryseeds.com/catalog/vegetable/tomato/tomato.html
http://www.totallytomato.com/dp.asp?P={6D4426FA-F408-451F-A511-4880F90600FB}
52-60 days, Indeterminate — Potato-leaf, four foot tall plants loaded with 2½ inch by two inch diameter fruits borne in clusters. Extremely early, great flavor. Heavy yields all season. Introduced here in the U.S. from Czechoslovakia in about 1976. Pronounced "stu-peek-a." Produces very well in northern climates.
Matt's Wild Cherry tomato from Reimer Seeds and Johnny's Selected Seeds
http://www.reimerseeds.com/matts-wild-cherry-tomato.aspx
http://www.johnnyseeds.com/p-7932-matts-wild-cherry.aspx
60 Days Indeterminate- 5/8- 3/4", deep red, round fruits have a tender, smooth texture, and loads of sweet, full flavor. High sugar content (11º Brix). Though the taste is superior, it doesn't yield well and the fruits are soft. Although the seedlings are very slow to get started and even by transplant time look weak and pale, once they get going, watch out. Even here in New Hampshire they grow to enormous size (think 7-foot shrub). And in the fall, only a hard frost will kill it. The fruits are delicate, degrade quickly and should not be washed until just before they are served or they will swell and split within a half hour.
* Recent Organic Seed Alliance trials conducted in 2006 and 2007 in Washington State indicated that the tomato cultivars Stupice and Juliet (cross between grape and plum tomato) have some resistance to foliar late blight. Juliet also exhibited some resistance to early blight (Alternaria solani). Phythophthora infestans isolates were isolated from diseased tissue and identified as US-11. (Dillon et al 2008)
* Washington State University trials in 1998 and 2000 in Mt. Vernon, Washington, indicated that Matt's Wild Cherry has some resistance to foliar and fruit late blight. Both US-8 and US-11 isolates of Phythophthora infestans were isolated from diseased tissue. (Inglis et al 1999 and 2001)
Both Early and Late Blight
Magic Mountain is not available to home gardeners at this time. It is sold to commercial growers by Seedway ( http://www.seedway.com/ ), a distributor of Bejo Seeds.
Mountain Magic F1 is one variety with resistance to early blight and Septoria leaf spot (diseases that occur commonly) as well as late blight (Ph-2 + Ph-3 genes combined). It is the hybrid of the large fruited early blight/late blight resistant line NC 2 CELBR crossed with the high sugar, rin grape tomato line NC 2 grape.
Mountain Magic produces round to deep round 2 oz. fruit on somewhat compact indeterminate plants. Fruits are flavorful, highly crack resistant and uniformly red inside and out, with a long shelf life. Resistant to Verticillium Wilt 1 and 2, and Fusarium Wilt 1 and 2, Mountain Magic also is moderately resistant to early blight, and highly resistant to late blight. Flavor stands up in taste comparisons with heirloom varieties.
Potatoes
There are some potato varieties including Elba, Kennebec, Allegany, Sebago, Rosa, Defender, Jacqueline Lee and Ozette, that are described as having some late blight resistance,
http://www.alwardcreek.com/seeds.shtml
Defender is an American cultivar whose parentage includes Ranger Russet and Polish potatoes resistant to late blight. It is a long white-skinned cultivar with both foliar and tuber resistance to late blight. Defender was released in 2004. Defender is a russet, with brown skin and white flesh.
Jacqueline Lee (round, yellow skin and flesh) About 110 days. An oval/oblong table stock selection with a high tuber set. The tubers have the bright skinned, smooth and attractive appearance that is typical of many European cultivars. The tubers have very low incidence of internal defects and good baking quality. The strength of this selection is its strong foliar resistance to the US8 genotype of late blight. Released by Michigan State University in cooperation with the Michigan Potato Industry Commission. The plants yield a heavy set of medium-sized (3-6 oz.), uniform tubers. The Jacqueline Lee tubers can be used for baking, mashing, and microwave cooking and have excellent taste quality similar to Yukon Gold.
Great info, and has solved the mystery of why no one can find 'Magic Mountain' seed yet!
I would be hesitant to use chlorothalonil myself, but it's probably used commercially anyway.
Maybe we'll have a normal year of rainfall, which should take care of most late blight problems anyway, as long as we start with clean plants (no Bonnie brand plants) and clean gardens (no leftover spuds in the ground).
The chances of EVERYONE having adhered to the "no leftover potato tubers" is slim to impossible. And just doing it at your house won't do you any good if one person in your 'hood left them in. If the weather conditions aren't vastly improved over last year, I see no way a repeat of last year can be avoided.
How true... I guess we just need to keep our fingers crossed!
I have every crossable part of my body crossed!!!
After a bit more research, I've received confirmation that Mountain Magic, and Plum Regal, will not be available this year. They are the best of the late blight resistant varieties. At this time Cornell University is working to create a tomato with triple resistance for LB, EB and Septoria leaf spot.
Here's a Cornell chart of disease resistance in tomatoes: http://vegetablemdonline.ppath.cornell.edu/Tables/TomatoTable.html
Available late blight resistant tomatoes seem to be Golden Sweet, Juliet, and Legend.
BTW: There seems to be a trend here, various universities are developing new plant varieties and patenting them. The growers have to pay a fee to use the technology.