Tomato Problems
Learn About Common Tomato Problems
There are many different types of tomato problems that can lead to destruction of plants and their fruit. Learning to identify the effects of fungal, viral and bacterial diseases, is the first step in gaining control of tomato problems. For it is only in finding solutions to these threats that healthy tomatoes will be harvested.
Fungal diseases are one of the most frequent tomato problems. Fungi produce little spores that spread from one plant to the next by rain, wind, machinery or human transfer. Wet conditions and humidity can produce just the right conditions. The most common types of fungal diseases are wilts, rots, and leaf spots. Examples include Anthracnose Fruit Rot, Early Blight, Late Blight, Septoria Leaf Spot, and Buckeye Rot.
To keep these diseases under control, you must begin every fall by tilling the season’s plants and debris into the soil. These fungi can survive throughout the winter and infect a new crop of plants next season. They also can live in weeds, such as nightshade, ground cherry and horse nettle so it is important to eliminate any weeds near tomato plants as well. Rotating your garden crops is also essential--tomatoes, eggplant, peppers and potatoes can all be affected by the same fungi. Do not grow any of these plants in the same area for at least three years.
With fungal tomato problems you can also take such preventative measures as planting where the tomatoes will get full sun, pruning so that there is air circulation inside the plant, staking and/or caging tomato plants so that they cannot bend over and touch the ground, watering in the morning so plants have a good opportunity to dry, mulching, and using fungicides.
Viral tomato problems are caused by humans and by insects. The two most prevalent viral diseases ate Tobacco Mosaic Virus and Cucumber Mosaic Virus. Persistence is necessary as the Tobacco Mosaic Virus has been found to live in the soil for as long as one hundred years. Once again, it is necessary to till under plant debris. Other preventative measures include planting disease-resistant seeds (Tobacco Mosaic Virus), and treating seeds with trisodium nitrate before planting.
Bacterial tomato problems can cause a one hundred percent loss of all plants. Examples of bacterial diseases include bacterial canker, bacterial spot, and bacterial speck. Each includes similar preventative measures, such as buying certified seed or planting disease free seedlings. There should be crop rotation for a minimum of two to three years, good weed control, sterilization of greenhouses, soils and seedbeds, keeping plants as dry as possible and controlling weeds. Preventative sprays are available, most containing copper compounds.
While there can be many other tomato problems, such as pests and mineral deficiencies, you can make great progress in growing healthy tomatoes if you care of fungal, viral and bacterial diseases. Remember that preventative efforts will be more successful than treating tomato problems after they have developed.