Are your Tomatoes Fired Up?

A very common problem I have encountered in gardens this spring is known as Early Blight.  We have had a especially good year for the development of this fungal disease.  Cooler temperatures, heavy and often rains have caused this to progress somewhat faster than in other years.  What to do?

Control begins with clean transplants, which means no spotting on the leaves, and good green color to the plant.  Since this is a soil born disease there should be a mulch placed on the soil to keep soil from bouncing on to the leaves during heavy rains.  Any thing will do such as newspaper, leaves, grass clippings, etc. An early spray program of chlorothalonil or mancozeb (these are active ingredients) will insure that you keep the plant clean longer through the season.  If you are not partial to chemical treatments then particular attention will need to be paid to the cultural practices that will reduce the risk.  Water under the foliage with drip irrigation or soaker hoses, but never over the top with a sprinkler.  Also if you reuse trellises, cages, stakes etc. you will need to sanitize these during the winter.  The tiny spores can overwinter on these structures and cause re-infestation the following year. 

In central Kentucky you still have time to replant tomatoes to get a crop but the above practices need to be used. 

Follow these steps to keep the Tomatoes coming all season

The staple of many gardens really could use a little help from you to provide fruit for the entire season. That care should start at or just before transplanting to maintain good clean transplants that can thrive and handle all that the summer will throw at them.

 

The major problem of tomatoes comes from a soil born disease called early blight. Early blight is described when the plant begins to “fire up” from the bottom. Firing up refers to the lowest leaves on the plant spotting then turning yellow or black and finally falling off. When early blight is bad enough it will affect the leaves, stem and the fruit. The problem can result in the loss of the entire crop. So, what to do to prevent crop loss from early blight in tomatoes?

•  Start with clean disease free transplants (no spots and good color). Grow your own seedlings is a better way to ensure disease free plants.
•  After planting mulch under the plants to keep soil from bouncing up on the plant. Mulch can be organic, landscape fabric, or paper type products. 
• Early sprays of Chlorothalonil (a protectant fungicide) applied weekly will keep your plants much cleaner. Brand names include Fungonil and Chlorothalonil.  
• Watering should always be done at the root zone and not over the top. Sprinklers in the garden are a sure way to promote disease.

 These steps are sure to help you keep disease free plants all the way to frost.

 

Even though the other prevalent problem on tomatoes (Blossom End Rot) is not disease the cultural practices listed to the left will greatly decrease the occurrences of this abiotic problem. Blossom end rot is a lack of calcium being taken up by the plant because of intermittent watering and the allowing of the plant to dry between watering. So keep the plants moist and mulched and the lovely red fruit will keep coming all season.