Tomato Disease Causing the Leaves Happening Now

Early blight of tomato

There is an issue occurring now in home gardens that may need your attention called early blight of tomato. Early blight of tomato has been seen on the variety called ‘Big Boy’but is probably on others as well.

If left alone this disease will first cause leaf yellowing on older leaves, followed by grey or brown spotting, then dieback of the plant.

Once plant dieback occurs, the fruits are left exposed to intense sunlight where they sunburn.

This disease can be easy to control if you start early. The key to prevention and spread of the disease is sanitation and rotating your vegetables between garden spots.

Remove yellowing foliage at the stem by “snapping” off the leaves or by cutting with a scissors. It is important to remove the infected leaves and stems as early as possible and put them in the trash, not the compost pile.

Prevent the disease from spreading on new foliage by using a fungicide. Any commercial vegetable fungicide will work but those containing in the ingredients chlorothalonil, mancozeb and copper work the best. I talk about it more in depth on my blog.