Tollocan Fiesta TPS and Late Blight Resistance

[jayb]

This year I planted a few saved tubers from Tom's TPS Tollocan Fiesta. I'm impressed with these as this is the second season they have shown 'resistance' to Late Blight in the UK. Pretty much everything else I was growing has been wiped out, all except for some of the Sarpo varieties and a couple of Sarpo Kifli crosses from TPS. Although these crosses are showing some leaf damage.

Pictures are Tollocan Fiesta flowering amid the other dead varieties! As you would imagine, I'm hoping they remain healthy







Sadly no berries forming again, I wonder if this is a diploid?

[jayb]

I'm not sure the description is still on New World Seeds, but here's what I copied from the site when I bought them, "Tollocan Fiesta : This family of seedlings should be either white, yellow, pink, or red. The yields and blight resistances are among the reasons to grow this one. Very large plants."

[samyaza]

Tollocan Fiesta is clearly tetraploid. I've been growning it for 3 years.

Its resistance seems variable, as its fertility. I've grown susceptible, fruit bearing Tollocan Fiesta clones from true seed as well as completly sterile ones. It depends a bit on luck, as resistance genes are hanging around and really effective if expressing. Tollocan comes from Toluca, the late blight center of origin. It has Mexican stuff in the pedigree, understand really good late blight resistance to select for.

You also have to struggle with sterility inducing genes, such as CMS, which in fact has been the rule for a very long time. Some lines, other than Tollocan Fiesta can differ from 0 to 20 or more berries per plant, from a few tiny tubers to plenty of large tubers between two full siblings. Some commercial lines such as Charlotte gave me homogeneous results from TPS, but it was disappointing.

You can estimate the results of a TPS line, but it's still a surprise.

[jayb]

Thanks Samyaza, very interesting

Luckily it has good tasting potatoes, though it is a late cropper. I picked these yesterday, skin is still fresh.


1-017 by jayb 35, on Flickr

[samyaza]

As I remembered your post, I took a look in my spot this weekend and noticed an healthy clone among the putrefaction. It was a Tollocan Fiesta sowed in 2012. It's the first resistant Tollocan Fiesta I get from seed.

The tubers look exactly like those I got since then. Nice job !

I know it's tantalizing but I think you should have waited a bit longer as they're still in bloom. Mexican derived lines have always been late for me, sometimes very late. Last year, I harvested all my Chaposa clones end of October, a bit before my first frosts. They were still in bloom, but very healthy with very large, numerous tubers.

[jayb]

Sept 10, 2013 3:19:41 GMT -8 samyaza said:

As I remembered your post, I took a look in my spot this weekend and noticed an healthy clone among the putrefaction. It was a Tollocan Fiesta sowed in 2012. It's the first resistant Tollocan Fiesta I get from seed.

The tubers look exactly like those I got since then. Nice job !

Good one


And good advice re picking them, I've not dug the plants yet, just 'firkled' a few to eat in my impatience to remember their flavour!

[containergrower]

I am curious how best to deal with dying plants such as those in the photos.
Just to verify before doing, is it best to remove the top growth and dispose of it offsite (or burn it),like I'd do with virus-affected plants?
I'm guessing also best to wait a couple of weeks or so to dig any tubers that may have formed under the dying tops, right?

thanks in advance for advice. I don't have time to research this myself anytime soon.

[jayb]

A year on and I'm growing this one again, it's the star of the plot. I only have one row and it's showing great Late Blight resistance here again  Some of the lower leaves have yellowed and there are black spots on some leaves but that's as far as it goes. It is quite a vivid contrast to all the other varieties in the same plot, as they are all infected.

I've been pollinating flowers and I'm pleased to see berries forming for the first time. Although most are only just setting and it is getting late in the season, hopefully no frosts here for a while.