Video: Disease-Resistant Varieties from Johnny's • Tutorial with Niki Jabbour

Canadian gardener, author and educator Niki Jabbour talks about disease-resistant varieties from Johnny's.

One of the best ways to prevent common plant diseases in your garden is by growing resistant varieties.

Plant breeders work hard to develop crop varieties that offer resistance to common diseases like late blight, downy mildew, and powdery mildew.

My strategy is to plant resistant varieties and pair that with good garden practices like crop rotation; proper spacing to allow good air flow; and soil mulching to reduce the occurrence of soilborne diseases.

A few years ago, late blight arrived in my garden, and most of my plants succumbed quickly. However, my 'Jasper' tomato plants were still going strong, as this delicious cherry tomato offers high resistance to late blight — it's even resistant to early blight.

'Defiant PhR' is another stand-out tomato, bred for earliness; flavor; and disease resistance. It's resistant to late blight, early blight, Fusarium wilt, and Verticillium wilt. It's a great choice for gardeners who want to grow tomatoes when disease pressure is high.

'Piccolino' is a productive cocktail cucumber that offers high resistance to scab and target spot, as well as intermediate resistance to cucumber mosaic virus (CMV), cucumber vein-yellowing virus (CVYV), and powdery mildew.

Another common disease is downy mildew, which [among others] affects basil plants. Choosing a variety like Prospera® DMR, which is resistant to downy mildew, is a good way to ensure you've got plenty of basil for pesto.

Happy Growing!

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