Kitchen Garden Forum

Hi Everyone,
Does anyone know of a blight resistant outdoor tomatoes preferably a plum type please. My Roma variety have taken a very big blight hit so I have lost this years crop

Kind Regards

Arnie

Hi Arnie!
My most successful outdoor tom is the self sown cherry, OK I sowed it first but it just keeps popping up & it was well blighted at the start but popped up again & again & hit & miss for a few years! I just let it if not in the way & now I think it has inherited whatever gene protects! If your plum has succumbed try to find some not too mushy & experiment by saving a few seeds! I can't guarantee the same result but maybe worth a try? Other than that there are blight resistant tom seeds avail! Most with Crimson as a first name!

Dear Arnie,
I don't think that there is a blight resistant plum tomato out there at present. However one year I did grow both Roma and San Marzano outside and Roma fell prey to blight at least 10 days before the San Marzano did. This delay might be enough time for you to get a crop. However the SM did have a lot of blossom end rot so I did not get that big a crop off them either; but they were in pots and there was a couple of missed waterings at a critical time. It is worth a try with the SM I think; the seeds are cheap enough to make the experiment.

One thing I would do is try and get the plants as large as possible before they go out so they have a chance to get some fruit on before the blight hits. Up to a 2L pot if possible. I would also grow more of them and pinch out to maybe only three trusses so they will develop sooner.

If you only want them for cooking I would try either Legend or Ferline; they are small beefsteak types and are blight resistant.

If none of these hints work there are plenty of recipes for green tomatoes out there.....

Regards Sally Wright.

To Westi and Sally Wright,

Thank you for your advice its very helpful, I will try the toms you have recommended next year and hopefully will be able to bottle some.

Kind regards

Arnie

Hi Arnie, Suttons were selling Crimson Plum tomato plants this year. I've not tried them, but the seeds I buy each year for Crimson Crush and Crimson Blush have produced plants that shrugged off blight in the past. I'm trying Crimson Cherry this year too and all good so far.

I'm trying Crimson Apple next year if I can find it. Just the name says it might be a bigger. Indigo Rose is also promising which is another one that is bringing out other sizes but they will be black tomatoes initially from the gene pool but a few years growing that & from just a red spot to say it is ready from first sowing a few years ago it seems to be turning totally red this year! It ripens very late though which may not meet your climate.

OK to find Blight resistant tomato's. But surely flavour must come first.

Indigo Rose is a great taste but taste is person specific. Indigo is not as sweet as some but I like that wee tang. Crimson is slightly sweeter but when proper ripe is lovely. Shame you can't get a pre-taste of them as the descriptions are pretty generic on the packets. Maybe they need a scale of some type or perhaps KG could do an article or a readers vote?

Westi, I've noticed the brix rating applied to tomatoes on some seed sites. (Sugar content).

I not noticed that retropants - thank you, I'll keep my eye open for that to help next years selection.