The term resistance or tolerance does not mean that the plant is completely immune to disease. It refers to a plant's ability to overcome to some degree the effect of the pathogen. Also, no variety is resistant or tolerant to all diseases. For instance, the initials VF by a tomato variety indicates resistance to the fungal diseases Verticillium wilt and Fusarium wilt, but does not mean that the variety is also resistant to the common leaf diseases. If you have had a particular disease problem on a crop in the past, check to see if resistance to this disease is available.
Many catalogs clearly list information on resistance or tolerance to specific diseases.
Plants that are healthy and growing vigorously are better able to resist infection by disease organisms. Prepared by Paula Flynn , Department of Plant Pathology Iowa State University , Ames, Iowa. This information subject to a usage policy .