Due to some welcomed late summer/early fall rains, my beautiful heirloom tomato plants caught some funky things. One plant has blossom end rot, others have some blotcht brown pattern on the fruits and others have fungal leaf problems. It's my first year in a new house, with verrrrry poor soil, dug trenches and built up beds to plant, had mostly clay (blackest stuff I've ever seen) and lots of rocks. Also first time growing heirlooms.

Are the 'looms less fungal resistant than thier hybrid cousins?

I am learning so much on this forum. What a great bunch of folks.

BTW, I'm in Austin,TX, flash flood capital of the world!
Zone 8.

Still pickin' okra, fall crop of zukes just starting getting mature, banana peppers, bell peppers, basil, and a few tomato stragglers that managed to hang on through the summer drought.

Peace to you all,
Elizabeth
Gratefully growing anything I can!

What kind of heirlooom tomatoes did you grow?

Whooh. Okay, here are some possible causes for viral attack:

Tomacco Mosaic Virus: infects maters. Anyone in your garden smoke w/o washing hands carefully?

Not staking plants: slopping on the ground is a good way to pick up diseases from the soil

Not enough mulch: dirt splashes up and carries disesases with it

Watering from overhead: wet foliage encourages disease

...and other! Yes, hybrids are bred to be much more resistant to disease. However, they usually don't taste as good, saving the seeds is usually worse than useless, and you're not helping to conserve germ plasm.

I can't afford to grow but one hybrid a year -- do a search for Better Boy under my name and you'll find my rave reviews.

I think the key may be "late rains", an extra layer of mulch, drip irrigantion, not watering from the top, and a bit of luck will help.

This was your first year and increasing the amount of humus and a bit of fiddling with available lime should reduce blossom end rot. You might try epsom salts if salts in general are not problematic in your area. Lots of compost couldn't hurt.

I here that Burpee has a great tasting tomatoe called Brandy Boy. I have not tried it yet but I will come spring time. It's supposed to taste great and produce more tomatoes than the heirloom variety brandy. Keep your tomatoes evenly watered to avoid blossom end rot. and don't overhead water. As long as mother nature doesn't throw you a curve ball you'll be fine. Happy planting, Marianne

> I here that Burpee has a great tasting tomatoe called
> Brandy Boy. Don't bother it taste no better then the average garden tomato not even close to great taste of brandywine pink

I ordered the plants over the internet from CA. they were pretty expensive but arrived promptly and in great shape.

They are:
Hawaiian Pineapple
Prudence Purple
Pineapple
Great White
Mexico

I have only tasted the Pineapple and the Mexico, I think.
both were great.
I really want to grow the Cherokee Purples. I bought some this year at a local farmers mkt. Then, later in the summer, Whole Foods Market was selling heirlooms for $5 a lb!!!!

I did mulch real good with alfalfa straw (only straw available around here).
I think the uneven water issue wasthe culprit and the unhealthy soil conditions.

I have a great compost pile going right now so should have some real good stuff next year. Got friends with horses that are more than willing to donate to the cause

Peace, Eliz
Gratefully growing anything I can in Zone 8, Austin,TX

byker,

I've grown Cherokee Purple for the last 3 years. I grew my own plants from seed though. With this rainy weather the last couple of years I had a little trouble with blossom end rot but nothing serious. Why don't you get your soil tested and see if it needs calcium (lime or crushed oyster shells can be bought at most places that sell chicken feed). Be sure to mulch with a thick layer of shredded leaves and plant as early as you can get away with. That is why I grow from seed by the time Home Despot or Lows get plants down here it is to close to the blazing hot summer temperatures. Above a certain temperature tomatoes stop setting new fruit. Mule Team is another pretty disease resistant heirloom that I have also gotten compliments for on its taste. Try southernexposure.com, they list several resistance heirlooms and specialize in warm southern climates like ours.

Good luck!

TinyTrees:Texas soil is alkaline so lime isn't used to raise pH. Usually sulfer is used to lower it. I never heard of adding lime until I moved North. A soil test wouldn't hurt.

Hybrids succumb to fungal leaf diseases just as readily as heirlooms or open pollinated varieties. Some hybrids have a little extra resistance to certain diseases like V, T, F but it's important to consider that they ALL are susceptible, just some a little more resistant. Don't let those disease resistant claims steer you exclusively to hybrids. The difference is practically nil. Many heirlooms have been saved for generations because of great taste! Many hybrids have been bred to be commercial crops that are hard for easy picking and taste was never a factor in their creation. (Can you say supermarket variety?) There are some very good hybrids but even better heirlooms.

Some of my favorite hybrids:

Big Beef
First Prize
Beefmaster
SunGold

Some of my favorite heirlooms:

Brandywine (Sudduth Strain)
Pruden's Purple
Kellogg's Breakfast
Cherokee Purple

Thanks 4 the info Bigdaddy. I'm not about to go back to only hybrids. This summer was my first time to ever taste Cherokees & I'm forever in luv!!! I WILL grow them next spring.

Hey, Gulfcoastguy, I was born & raised in Meridian,MS & spent 1971-1979 living in the
Long Beach/Gulfport/Biloxi corridor. Ran ruts in Hwy 90. Graduated from LBHS! Where r u located?

I'm a bit depressed, fell off my bicycle & brok my arm. Can' do much gardening right now. Really not a whole lot to do, but I did want to get some cool weather crops in the ground. Since it was 92 here yesterday, I suppose, it can wait a couple of weeks.

Visualize Whirled Peas
Eliz in Kyle, TX

Biker,

I live in Ocean Springs right behind the hospital in Fort Bayou subdivision. The yards are only a quarter acre but the people like to keep up their landscaping. It also has sidewalks every where so I can take my boxer puppy for walks. Sidewalks are an endangered species around here.
Other disease resistant varieties I have tried are Eva Purple Ball (real productive but small and to many seeds) and Peron Sprayless(good but Mule Team is better). A real good hybrid that is disease resistant, productive, and taste good for zone 8 is Dona. Try Tomato Growers Supply for just about any variety of seed.
Broken bones are a bummer. I broke my ankle in karate class a few years ago and it would still swell up for about six months after the cast came off. Kept on working with my leg in a cast half way up my thigh.
I surveyed in Gautier at that time. Ever try to cross Hwy 90 on crutches? Got to go.