Breeding for Late Blight Resistant Tomatoes

[reed]

I think every tomato disease know is ubiquitous where I live but I still grow plenty of tomatoes.  Sometimes they do croak completely in late season but our canning jars are already full by then so I don't care all that  that much.
 
I have never done much of anything except save seed if I have choice, from less infected plants. And I compost old vines in the spot they grew and put tomatoes in a different spot the next year. Plenty of diseased leaves drop off anyway and the diseases are everywhere anyway so there is no point in wasting organic material in the interest of garden cleanliness.

I have recently been de-hybridizing the varieties Iron Lady and Celebrity. I grow the decedents of these in close proximity to my favorite Mr. Stripey (not Tigerella) in hopes a cross might happen. The F1 of Iron Lady was terrible flavor wise but some offspring after two seasons are much better.

[Diane Whitehead]

I am also de-hybridizing various blight-resistant ones -Iron Lady, Ferline. Losetto, Crimson Crush, Cocktail Crush.

A fawn managed to squeeze itself into my deer-proof area and eat the tops off them all.  I still haven't found the place where she is getting in but I will dig up what remains of the plants and plant them in my greenhouse, hoping for tomatoes from them in the winter.