FungicidesĪ variety of fungicides are effective against early blight, but the fungi that cause this infection are becoming resistant in some areas. See our guide to learn more about controlling plant pathogens with Bacillus subtilis. While the copper fungicide dust will kill existing infections, CEASE decreases the likelihood that any remaining fungi will spread throughout your crop. This is a strain of the bacterium Bacillus subtilis that can help prevent the infection from spreading. Using drip irrigation instead of watering from overhead will help to keep your plants dry.Īnother option is the biofungicide CEASE, available from Arbico Organics. Try to avoid working with or around your plants in wet weather. In the presence of spores, this can help to prevent a fungal infection from getting worse. Take every precaution you can to minimize the amount of moisture on your tomato plants. Tomato plants are used to growing in dry climates, so they are unusually sensitive to water on their leaves, which makes them more prone to fungal infections than many other crops. The Alternaria spores require a lot of moisture to germinate. When you remove the weeds and volunteer plants, make sure you destroy them – do not place on your compost pile. This is true for edible crops such as potatoes, as well as hairy nightshade, black nightshade, and horse nettle, so be vigilant and keep these weeds out of your garden. These can pass the infection on to your tomato plants. Plants in the same family as tomatoes (solanaceous plants, or nightshades), and volunteer tomato plants can also serve as hosts for Alternaria species. Purge Nightshades and Volunteer Tomato Plants This applies to any crops in the nightshade family as well, such as eggplant, which can also be infected by the fungus. This is true even if you didn’t see any symptoms of early blight, since the pathogen can start building up without your knowledge. Wait at least two years before planting in the same location again, since the spores can persist in the soil and any partially decomposed plants for a year to follow. However, if tomatoes are the crop in question, restrain yourself! You increase the chance of developing an early blight infection if you grow tomato plants in the same place in consecutive years. When you harvest a bumper crop one year, it is so tempting to plant in the same spot the following season. These are the most effective ways to prevent it from taking hold in your garden: Rotate Your Crops Photo by Dwight Sipler, Wikimedia Commons, via CC BY-SA.
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