2 Saturday, March 3, 2018 The Topeka Capital-Journal | homes.cjonline.com
Wise selection favors good tomato results Diseases, pests can wreak havoc on plants
Ariel Whitely-Noll
M
any of the midto late-summer calls coming into the Shawnee County Choosing a tomato variety that is resistant to weather and pests in your locale can make the difference between Extension Master Gardeners Response Line crop success and failure. [METRO CREATIVE CONNECTION] are tomato-related. “What are these spots (a topic we’ll discuss in choice that may plague on my tomato leaves?” next week’s column), your yard for decades. “What are these knots but variety selection Disease- or peston my tomato roots?” also can play a key role. resistant varieties and “My plant just There is nothing more aren’t a cure-all. They died. What happened?” frustrating than workoffer protection, but are among our most ing all season caring for under favorable discommon questions. plants that eventually ease conditions, high The answers often end fail, only to find that pest densities or poor up being “early blight,” another variety choice sanitation, a resistant “nematodes” and “verwould have yielded a plant may still succumb ticillium or fusarium more favorable result. to the issue at hand. wilt.” These are just Variety selection is key Taste also can be a a few possible tomato to solving many common limiting factor in selecissues, but they can be plant issues. Tomato tion. Your favorite devastating to your crop. selection may impact cherry tomato may not Often when these your garden for only one have any resistance to tomato gardeners come season, but choosing fusarium wilt — putin for help, it’s too late. a tree that is suscepting all the pressure for Sanitation and other tible to a common pest success on your garcultural methods can when there is a resistant dening practices, the help control the problem variety available is a weather and a bit of luck.
Resistant varieties primarily are helpful to those who have had issues in the past. Depending on the problem, it may signify that your soil contains a pathogen that resistance can help combat. Fusarium wilt Although similar to verticillium wilt, this disease is more prevalent. Occurring midsummer, during periods of high soil and air temperatures, the disease develops as yellowing on the oldest leaves — those closest to the ground. The yellowing is restricted to one side of the plant, or on leaflets only showing on one
side of the petiole. The leaves wilt and dry up, but stay on the plant. Wilting continues and moves to younger foliage, resulting in the death of the plant. Stems will remain green and firm on the outside, but they’ll have a brown discoloration in the interior vascular tissue. There are three strains of fusarium. The following varieties are listed as having resistance to at least one of the strains: • Garden tomatoes: Sun Start, Sunny, Daybreak, Mt. Spring, Mt. Fresh, Celebrity, Floralina, Jet Star, Merced, Sunmaster, Sun Leaper, Carolina Gold. • Cherry tomatoes: Cherry Grande, Mt.
Belle, Sweet Chelsea. • Pasta/Roma tomatoes: Roma, Plum Dandy, Super Marzano. Verticillium wilt This disease tends to develop in the cooler spring months. Older leaves are affected first, turning yellow and wilting and eventually dropping off the plant. The yellowing of the leaves is uniform, unlike fusarium wilt. With disease progression, younger leaves begin to wilt and die, leaving on a few healthy leaves at the top of the plant. Diseased plants aren’t See TOMATOES, 4