How To Identify and Treat Tomato Diseases

Blossom End Rot

1. If you notice black or brown spots on the bottom side of your tomatoes, you probably have blossom end rot.
2. You can avoid or treat blossom end rot by simply evening out your watering.
3. To keep this disease from targeting your tomato plants, you should keep an eye on both your plants and the climate. Blossom end rot occurs when there is too much moisture in the soil, but may also occur with extremely dry soil. If your tomatoes start wilting or producing black or brown spots, water them evenly and check that they're not too moist or too dry.

Sunscald

1. This occurs to tomato plants when they are getting too much sun.
2. When affected by sunscald, you will notice that your tomatoes may have a patch of yellow or white near the side that faces the sun. This area will continue to grow as your tomato grows.
3. To prevent sunscald, avoid pruning your tomato plants. Or, you can grow your tomato plants in cages where they will produce protective foliage.

Early Blight

1. Early Blight is caused by a fungus.
2. To identify early blight, you should look to see if your tomato leaves have brown spots which are surrounded by yellow. These spots will spread outward. The lower leaves on the tomato plant will be withering.
3. To reduce the chance of your plants succumbing to early blight, you should apply a layer of mulch to reduce splashing, and then apply an all-purpose tomato dust.
4. If your tomatoes are already suffering from any sort of blight (early or late), the plants should be pulled.

Leaf Spot

1. Leaf spot is a fungus disease that is common in the Southeast, but can occur Nationwide.
2. If your tomato plant has leaf spot, you will notice dark brown spots on your leaves with yellow or light-colored centers. You may begin to lose leaves from the bottom of the plant, upward.
3. Leaf spot can be controlled by applying fungicides as a preventative measure, or by rotating your tomatoes with cereal, corn or legumes on a 4-year cycle where damage has been severe.