Choose resistant vegetable seeds
Sow resilient varieties that combat disease
● Tomatoes: Cordon tomato ‘Crimson Crush’ is one of the most blight tolerant and is ideal for outdoor growing. Medium cordon ‘Fantasio’ is blight tolerant and resistant to fusarium and verticillium wilt, best under glass. Blight resistant cherry tomato ‘Lizzano’ is a trailing bush variety that’s ideal for pots. From Suttons (0844 326 2200; www.suttons.co.uk). ● Potatoes: Maincrop potato ‘Sarpo Mira’ has superb blight resistance and also resists slugs. It appears together with ‘Cara’, ‘Carolus, ‘Valor’, ‘Athlete’ and ‘Orla’ in T&M’s Late Blight Resistant Collection’ (0844 573 1818; www. thompson-morgan.com).
● Cucumbers: ‘Tamra’ is an early diseaseresistant variety. ‘Wautoma’ resists mosaic virus, scab and powdery mildew and crops well indoors or out. From Real Seeds (01239 821107; www. realseeds.co.uk).
● Beans: Climbing bean ‘Marga’ shows good resistance to rust, mosaic virus and anthracnose. French bean ‘Primavera’ is weather and disease resistant. From Mr Fothergills (0333 777 3936; www. mr-fothergills.co.uk).
● Lettuce: Cos lettuce ‘Jabeque’ is highly disease resistant; compact red butterhead ‘Roxy’ has excellent disease resistance; compact Iceberg ‘Saladin’ is resistant to leaf rot; and red oakleaf ‘Navara’ resists leaf aphid and downy mildew; from Kings Seeds (01376 570000; www.kingsseeds.com).
● Carrots: Early Nantes-type ‘Namur’ offers good disease resistance; ‘Resistafly’ has increased tolerance to carrot fly attack; from Marshalls Seeds (0844 557 6700; www.marshalls-seeds.co.uk).