Disease Resistant Heirloom Tomato Varieties

I say it during every video and I mean it. If you have garden or seed related questions, please ask! I am always happy to help.

At a recent master gardeners event, a customer came over to my table to ask a few very important garden and seed related questions.

"What can I do about Root Knot Nematodes?"

She said she was ready to give up on growing tomatoes because she had root knot nematodes in her soil. I offered solutions but I also wanted to share with everyone so I used this as a live chat topic.

 

 

First, I offered a few suggestions on how to treat organically.

Grow African Crackerjack Marigolds and practice crop rotation. Marigold roots release the chemical alpha-terthienyl. This compound is nematicidal and insecticidal.

Another way to deter or kill root knot nematodes is to solarize your soil. Soil solarization is a common way to wipe out root-knot nematodes. However, soil solarization will kill all beneficial nematodes, fungi, or bacteria which are in your beds as well, so this isn't something I recommend as your first option.

Next, I offered to "dig" a bit deeper for alternatives.

Aside from growing Marigolds and practicing crop rotation, I highly recommend planting more Disease Resistant Heirloom Tomato varieties. Keep in mind that while these are "more" disease resistant than others, it is not a guarantee that they will not be affected.

I gathered the following information from various state extension publications and organic sources. Some sources only listed "some disease resistance" so I did not include those in this particular article.

 

FIRST I’m going to start with my all-star. This beauty deserves a special shout out.

Cherokee Purple: Bacterial Speck, Fusarium Wilt 1, Fusarium Wilt 2, Fusarium Wilt 3, Root Knot Nematode, Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus, Verticillium Wilt

 

Heirloom Tomato varieties with resistance to Root Knot Nematodes include: Cherokee Purple and Roma

 

Ace 55 : Alternaria Stem Canker, Fusarium Wilt 1, Verticillium Wilt

Brandywine : Early Blight, Fulvia Blight

Garden Peach : Late Blight

Green Zebra : Late Blight, Septoria Leaf Spot

Homestead : Alternaria Stem Canker, Fusarium Wilt

Marglobe: Fusarium Wilt 1, Fusarium Wilt 2

Mortgage Lifter has good resistance to wilts

New Yorker: Verticillium Wilt

Matt’s Wild Cherry:  EARLY BLIGHT / LATE BLIGHT

Roma: Alternaria Stem Canker, Fusarium Wilt, Fusarium Wilt 1, Late Blight, Root Knot Nematode, Verticillium Wilt, Verticillium Wilt 1

Rio Grande: Fusarium Wilt 1, Fusarium Wilt 2, Verticillium Wilt

Manitoba: Fusarium Wilt 1, Verticillium Wilt

Thessaloniki: Gray Leaf Spot

 

This is not a complete list of all disease resistant tomatoes but it's an excellent list of HEIRLOOM TOMATOES with specific disease resistance. There are others with a general resistance that I will address in the future.