Download Tomato Plants Early Blight
Gif. Early blight's latin name is sometimes confused with a form of tomato rot, alternaria, a different tomato problem altogether. Early blight is a common tomato disease caused by the fungus alternaria solani.
Fact Sheet Tomato Early Blight 211 from www.pestnet.org
The disease known as early blight or target spot (because of the concentric circles within the spot) is one you can easily check and take care of your tomato plants. Tomatoes can tolerate losing some of their low leaves to early blight, but if persistent rain causes the disease to move more than halfway up the plants, they may be doomed. What does early blight look like?
Early blight starts with a few small lesions, but quickly spreads in damp summer weather.
Rotate tomato crops by planting them in a different place every year. Pruning off low leaves eliminates the damp environment early blight needs to spread, which reduces the number of leaves lost later in the season. Mary ann hansen, extension plant pathologist, department of plant pathology, physiology and weed science, virginia tech. Stake or cage plants to keep them off the ground.
