Ferline Blight Resistant tomatoes

[Primrose]

After two years of worrying about tomato blight I want to try growing some Ferline tomatoes this year which are supposed to be blight resistant but have a couple of questions. I notice on the seed packet they are F1. Has anybody found they really do resist blight better, and secondly, has anybody saved the seed and resowed the following year and still found they were resistant to blight? For the last two years I've reluctantly sprayed against blight and wonder whether purchased Ferline, or even saved seed from Ferline provide much protection or whether it's just whistling in the wind and spraying is the better option.

[tracie]

Hi,

I had some ferlines last year which I got from a local garden centre who's tomato plants are always good. I am sorry to report that the ferlines got blight just the same as all the others, and I was very disspaointed.

Hope this helps

Tracie

[loopie]

I did an initial trial of Ferline, and got blight as well!, so much for Blight resistance, best option is to grow in a greenhouse.

[Johnboy]

Hi Primrose,
To save the seed from Ferline F1 would probably end in failure.
By all means experiment but I very much doubt if Ferline F1 would breed true.
Ferline F1 is not intended to be blight free but over the whole country it has shown very good resistance. I have never grown it but have read several favourable reports. Sadly it seems that only favourable reports are available and the experiences of Tracie and Loopie and probably a great many more people never reach the surface.
JB.

[Primrose]

Thanks for your comments. I suspect you are all correct. I'll grow a few Ferline as a trial along with my old favourites and if the weather looks "blighty", reach for my spray. Having saved the seeds of other F1s in the past (notably winter squash), I wouldn't be hopeful that any of their original qualities would be retained.

[ken]

My experience was similar - Ferline was a bit later than other varieties in getting blight, but it still succumbed in the end. Also, to be honest, we weren't mad about the flavour, although I know some people rate it highly.
Two other suggestions. First, we've been very impressed with the early variety Latah, which we've been growing for three or four years. It really is very early: last year we sowed it in early March, the same day as those destined for the greenhouse. Obviously we kept Latah protected until we reckoned the frosts were over. But we were picking ripe tomatoes from outdoor Latah about 10 days before we got any from Gardeners Delight in the greenhouse. And we like the flavour. So the argument here is that at least you'll have more ripe tomatoes to pick before bligt strikes. Second, we don't like to spray our outdoor tomatoes, but what we do as soon as we see signs of blight is pick all the tomatoes (discarding those already showing blight) and soak them for five minutes in the kitchen sink in Milton Liquid (or own-label equivalent), the stuff they use for sterilising babies' bottles. Take the tomatoes out, replace the Milton soluton with clean water, and rinse the tomatoes. Pat them dry and put them on your windowsills, or in drawers, etc, to ripen. I reckon the liquid kills off the blight spores before they've penetrated the tomato skin.

[ken]

Apologies - I think I rambled on too long and ran out of space. Just to conclude. This tip of using Milton Liquid came from the original first edition of Square Foot Gardening, and it really works. You'll lose a small proportion of the tomatoes - presumably those where the blight has already penetrated - but you'll save most.

[Primrose]

Ken - the tip about Milton sterilising liquid is interesting because I've seen this before, but does anybody think it prevent blight if the sterilising liquid was actually sprayed onto the leaves and tomatoes in situ on the plants, left for five minutes and then sprayed off? I don't think tomatoes ripen so effectively once picked and they lose some of that lovely 'sun ripened' taste. Would there be any health risk to doing this?

[ken]

Hi Primrose. That's an interesting thought. The symptoms usually show up on the stems and leaves before they do on the tomatoes. Would you wait until you saw those early symptoms, and then spray? Or would you do a preventative spray whenever conditions were suitable for blight, which broadly speaking is 48 hours of high humidity and warm temperatures? I have my doubts, but it would be interesting to hear what others think.

[Primrose]

I seem to remember that for the last couple of years I've started spraying around early/mid July because the weather had been so conducive of blight conditions. You're right about blight often showing up first on the stems and leaves before the fruit gets affected. It would be interesting to spray some of one's plants with Dithane (or one's usual fungicide) some with Milton and leave some untreated and see what results. (hopefully not food poisoning!) I'm not sure whether Milton is dangerous if inbibed in any way.

[Johnboy]

Hi Ken,
What I fail to see is that you do not like using a chemical spray yet will pick your tomatoes and immerse them in a chemical. I appreciate that Milton is a sterilizer, with a very proven record, but it is still a chemical.
The modern anti-blight sprays are used regularly in commercial production and just so long as you wash your produce, which should be carried out as part of good practice, I fail to see your objections. However the older,
copper-based sprays, recommended for organic production, are far more unsafe.
JB.

[ken]

Hi Johnboy
....I never said I was consistent (!)

Yes, I've been aware of this contradiction, but have been hppy to work this way. Without wishing to stray away too far from the topic of tomato blight, which modern sprays are you recommending, and would they work against the blight which attcks our quince tree? The crop is ruined if we don't spray at least twice with Bordeaux misture.

All the best, Ken

[John]

I agree with your comments, Johnboy. It is always interesting to note members attitude to chemicals on this forum from the 'all chemicals are really bad news brigade', through the 'some chemicals are good but most are bad' to those like me who are quite happy to reach for the chemical packet whenever it will get the job done. From all the press and TV nonsense about chemicals, I sometimes begin to think that we exist in some magic non-chemical world that is becoming increasingly contaminated by these awful 'chemicals'. Its no wonder that Chemistry is fast becoming a fringe subject in schools. Anyway enough of my ranting.

Milton is simply a dilute solution of bleach (sodium hypochlorite) of pharmaceutical grade. I'm sure a dilute solution of ordinary household bleach would do just as good a job and it's considerably cheaper.

On the blight thing, I always grow a couple of cherry-type tomatoes (eg Tumbling Tom') in large pots on our patio. They suffer very little blight compared with my others in the veg. patch and I think this is because of the different growing conditions rather than the variety.

John

[Johnboy]

Hi John,
The trouble with blight lies with those who refuse to spray under any circumstances and it then means that because of them just about everybody on an allotment site will suffer.
With such people (anti-chemical Martyrs) the grave problem of blight will only get worse. Somehow these people will listen to those who are totally uninformed and act from dogmatic persuasion. To these people 'Scientist' is a word not to be uttered. They have the idea that if you spray something you are committing a heinous crime.
You only have to look at 2008 catalogues to note how many Organic Potatoes were not available because of the blight in 2007. We had an even worse year in 2008 but I suspect most potatoes will be available this year because the commercial growers risked going out of business unless they took remedial actions.
Anti-chemical Martyrs are only Martyrs to their own kind but to anybody with a modicum of common sense will realise that the situation cannot be allowed to prevail and thankfully I do not grow on an allotment because I would be taking direct action. Why should everybody suffer because of the selfish few!
JB.

[ken]

My turn again. Just to pick up on a point John made about cost. I bought one bottle of own-label Milton equivalent four or five years ago. It seemed to me inexpensive at the time, and it is like a life-time's supply. I use 2 - 4 teaspoon measures each season. So I don't think cost is an issue, John, but by all means get your bottle of Domestos out and have a go at guessing how much you need to dilute it, if you want to save a bit of money.
I hope I'm not dogmatic aout spraying. I use derris against gooseberry sawfly and also sometimes against caterpillars on brassica; I also use Tumble Weed or equivalent on perennial weeds in other parts of the garden. However, I try to keep in mind the need not to harm beneficilal wildlife.