Several disease problems occur on home-grown tomatoes. Reduce disease problems with a combination of practices that include:
- Purchase vigorous, healthy plants from a reliable supplier.
- Rotate the planting area within your garden each growing season. Plant tomatoes in the same place only once in three to four years.
- Plant disease-resistant tomato varieties, if needed.
- Remove and destroy all plant refuse in the fall and use deep cultivation to bury any remaining refuse.
- Avoid overwatering with sprinklers. Use surface watering methods such as drip-irrigation or hand watering from a garden hose. Do not handle plants when the vines are wet.
- Control weeds in and around the garden plots. Weeds not only compete with vegetables for soil moisture and nutrients but also serve as hosts for insects and disease organisms.
- Control insect pests (especially aphids) which may transmit a disease organism from plant to plant.
- Remove abnormal appearing plants as soon as they are observed. Virus diseases may be involved. To reduce the spread of viruses, wash hands and tools with a detergent after handling diseased or unusual looking plants.
- Do not use tobacco products while handling tomato plants. These products may carry viruses, especially tobacco mosaic virus.
- Use plastic or organic mulches to reduce disease and blossom-end rot problems. You can find products to control bloosom end rot at most local nursery and garden centers.
- If possible, choose a sunny location for your tomatoes (at least 6 hours of sun). You are less likely to have leaf disease problems in a sunny location than in a semi-shady one.
- Apply a recommended fungicide according to label directions at the first sign of leaf spot diseases. I recommend a more natural or organic product, such as those containing Neem Oil.
