Seed catalog disease code decoder
Decode tomato seed packet letters such as VFFNTA into Verticillium wilt, Fusarium races, nematodes, tobacco mosaic virus, Alternaria, and other catalog codes, with the difference between resistant and tolerant varieties.
Common tomato letters
- V: Verticillium wilt (UGA, Missouri, Cornell Cooperative Extension)
- F or FF: Fusarium wilt, or Fusarium races 1 and 2 (UGA, Missouri)
- N: root-knot nematode (UGA, Missouri, Cornell Cooperative Extension)
- T: tobacco mosaic virus (UGA, Missouri, Cornell Cooperative Extension)
- A: Alternaria, listed as early blight by University of Georgia
- TSWV: tomato spotted wilt virus (UGA)
- St: Stemphylium gray leaf spot (UC ANR)
Resistant and tolerant
University of Minnesota Extension says a resistant variety will not become diseased, while a tolerant variety will become diseased but more slowly and less severely. Seed catalogs use letter codes to mark those traits.
Related pages
Sources
- University of Georgia CAES Field Report, Read the plant label when choosing tomato varieties
- University of Missouri Extension G6461, Growing Home Garden Tomatoes
- Cornell Cooperative Extension Allegany County, Disease-resistant plants
- Mississippi State University Extension, Use label information to select tomatoes
- University of Minnesota Extension, Growing potatoes in home gardens
- University of California ANR, Red Tomatoes brochure