Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Disease resistant vegetables
Between concerns over produce contamination, viruses, our desire to lower our carbon footprint and eat healthier; vegetable gardening has increased in popularity by the handfuls (of soil!)
If you’re new to gardening or just tired of fighting diseased plants, you may consider planting disease resistant varieties of vegetables. These are plants that have been bred with plants that are naturally more disease resistant. These are not genetically engineered with certain herbicides or pesticides. For more on GMO vs Hybrids
In your catalogs you’ll find codes listed for some vegetables. Here’s a comprehensive list from Johnny’s Seeds.
Cornell University that has a comprehensive list of vegetables that are disease resistant. If a plant is listed as “Good disease resistance” without any initials, it’s not really telling you anything except that the plant is vigorous, choose something else.
Since tomatoes are generally the number one planted “vegetable”, here are a couple of 2021 introductions you may want to try!
‘Tumbling Tom Yellow Hybrid’ tomato is superior for hanging baskets, containers and small space gardens. The graceful cascading vines reach up to 18 inches, and produce an abundance of 1 to 2 ounce yellow tomatoes, that are sweet and delicious. Plant are only 8 inches in width, so you can put them fairly close together. Resistant to fusarium, verticillium and nematodes. Determinate. 70 days.
‘Precious Pink Hybrid’ is resistant to Tobacco mosaic virus and Fusarium wilt. These 6 to 8 ounce pink tomatoes have that old fashioned flavor and juicy flesh that people crave. Yield potential is impressive on the vigorous indeterminate vine. Tmv, F. Indeterminate. 72 days.
