question about best green bean seeds and tomato plants

[mbday630]

My hubby says that Blue Lake are the best string-less green bean seeds and I don't know if I will be able to get them this year. Also, we always get tomato blight - does anyone know of the best tomato plants that will fight the tomato blight? I like to can tomatoes and make juice so Roma tomatoes are out of the question. I can't wait until I can get into my garden. we still don't have buds on the trees or blooms on the cherry trees, but, my daffodils are up so I am thinking spring!

[LadyKestrel]

My daffodils are up, too, Mbday, and my forsythia bushes are blooming. I don't grow any veggies, however, so I can't help you there.

[draclvr]

OK. Tomato blight first. The rule is that you should never grow anything in the nightshade family - potatoes, tomatoes, etc. - in the same place more than once every 3 - 5 years. The early and late tomato blights live in the soil. You should also make sure you remove all parts of the dead plants at the end of the season as they can contribute. Obviously not many people have the acreage to rotate every 3 years. I DO have the space to rotate and I still got it. I decided about 3 years ago, I was done losing my plants way too early in the season. There is only one thing to do - spray with a fungicide about 2 weeks after you plant them and then every 10 days up until your fruit starts to ripen. I tried some of the fungicides like copper, but didn't have much luck. Finally started using Daconil. I hate doing that, but it's the only way. It's a pain because I grow at least 100 tomatoes every year, but it works.

I grow many varieties of tomatoes and haven't grown Romas for at least 20 years because there are MUCH better options. To me Roma tomatoes are tasteless. I grow all mine from seed and the two paste type tomatoes that I like best are Opalka, a Polish heirloom, and Mama Leone, another heirloom. I use them for spaghetti sauce, chili sauce, plain juice, salsa, Bloody Mary mix... everything. I grow Cherokee Purple, Big Beef, Aussie and a bunch of others for eating. If you can find some Cherokee Purple plant, try a few! The are hands down the best tasting tomato ever... although they look a little odd!

As far as the green beans go, if you like the Blue Lake, there are both bush and pole types. Several seed catalogs online have them. Jung Seeds has them... hubby orders a lot of his stuff from there.

https://www.jungseed.com/category/495

[mbday630]

I don't have the option of rotating plant growth, we just have a 20 x 20 garden. but, I do try and change the location of the plants, sometimes on one side and the next year going in a different direction. I do spray with a fungacide but for me, if I miss even a week, it gets out of hand and there is no way for me to curb the blight. once it hits, it hits hard and fast.

Hopefully I can find seeds. I might have to order online for them. hopefully some of the stores have a greenhouse that I can find tomato plants. I did find out last year that my queen ann (?) tomatoes seemed to thrive the blight better than better boy and early girl. I will try to stay on top of it this year. I have found out too that before you even see the blight, one has to spray. once it hits, it is a goner.

[draclvr]

Early girl is the worst. I haven't planted those for years. And for sure, if you miss one week, the early blight will take over. I'm pretty religious about spraying with the Daconil every 10 days and it pretty much keeps it away. I also go around with a garden scissors and clip off all the lower leaves so they don't touch the ground. I also do not prune tomatoes at all... Hubby was a true believer in pruning until he saw how much better mine did with a full complement of leaves.