Sunday, July 5, 2015

Can I "Cheat" with my Tomato Rotation?


Hi, Mike McGrath, thanks for taking my call!  I'm in West Chester, PA!  ....  Well, I'm a relatively new gardener, I've only been gardening for a few years.  I've been more successful than I have any right to be, and I credit that to all the great information and advice I've gotten from your show!  My boyfriend introduced me to it a few years ago, and I think he might be starting to regret it, because of how often I start sentences with "Mike McGrath says..."  When I have a question about gardening, I of course think of calling you up to get your advice, but then I either find the answer in your archives, or I can use the understanding I've gotten from your show to figure it out myself.  

But I do have a question I don't know how to answer and I'd like your advice.  I have very limited gardening space (I live in a townhome), and I'm growing tomatoes in the same space in a raised bed for the second year.  I know the Fusarium wilt will build up and I'll have to relocate them.  And I do have a plan for this; I have a second raised bed for when I need it.  

I'm so giddy over the success of my current tomatoes that I've started picking out varieties for next year, and I found some appealing varieties that were listed as resistant to Fursarium wilt.  (Specifically, the Rutgers tomato!)  I'm wondering, what is meant by "Resistant?"  Does it mean that the plant is not damaged by the presence of the virus?  Or, hopefully, does the wilt not use it as a host?  If that's the case, could I grow resistant varieties for 3 years, and would that have the same effect as not growing tomatoes in that spot for 3 years?  

I suspect it's the former- I could get away with growing the resistant varieties in that spot, but doing so will not eliminate the residual virus.  Presumably, these resistant varieties are resistant to damage, but still allow the wilt to persist?  Then if I were to plant a different variety, like Brandy Boy or something, it would be the same as if I planted it after several years of tomato growing.  I'm hoping you'll tell me that a resistant variety is impervious to the wilt.  Like the New Guinea Inpatients!  Those aren't a host, it's ok to plant those, they don't perpetuate the Impatient blight.  Are the resistant tomatoes the same?  

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