

Remove infected leaves during the growing season and remove all infected plant parts at the end of the season.Prune off the lowest 3-4 leaf branches once plants are well established and starting to develop fruits.Keep plants well mulched to minimize soil splashing.Monitor transplants carefully for signs of this disease.Provide adequate spacing to increase air circulation and remove all suckers that emerge from the plant base.The disease spores are wind-blown, allowing the disease to spread through a garden or neighborhood.Įarly blight symptoms on fruit Lesions with a yellow halo on foliage A severe early blight infection Management The disease can spread during wet or dry weather but is favored by rainfall and heavy dews. Infected, dead leaves may stick to fruits. When leaves die, fruits become more vulnerable to sunscald.Early blight is typically splashed by rainfall onto lower leaves early in the season. It can also be transmitted on seeds and transplants. The fungus overwinters in soil and on plant debris. This is a very common foliar disease of tomato plants that can result in defoliation and reduced yields.The disease can also move to stems and fruits and produce dark lesions. Individual lesions enlarge and coalesce and can kill entire leaves. The lesions develop a "bulls-eye" pattern of concentric rings that can be seen with a hand lens. A yellow halo usually surrounds the lesions. Infections begin as small brown spots on older leaves that quickly enlarge.Brown spots on leaves at the bottom of tomato plantsĮarly blight - Alternaria linariae (= A.
