101 year-old retired WVU professor introduces disease resistant tomato, free seeds!
Plant pathology professor emeritus Mannon Gallegly from WVU has introduced a cool new tomato. WVU photo
I interviewed plant pathology professor emeritus Mannon Gallegly from WVU, who is 101 and 30 years into retirement, who has created his fourth and final tomato called "Mannon's Majesty." He was featured on the February 4, 2024 Organic Gardener Radio show.
The tomato is resistant to Septoria leaf spot, one of the major diseases that home gardeners deal with. It’s also resistant to fusarium wilt, verticillium wilt and late blight.
His first introduction was West Virginia ‘63 which is resistant to late blight. It wasn’t until after he retired that Dr. Gallegly went back to tomato breeding
Here’s the whole story and how to get free seeds if they are still available. West Virginia ‘63, Mountaineer Pride ('17A) and Mountaineer Delight (‘17B) are all available from the university. Those three are also for sale from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange.