Gardening News & Tips

Tomato Bacterial Spot

There are different causes of bacterial spot on tomatoes and differents method of removing them.The spots may cause your tomato or pepper crop to diminish. These spots first affect the leaves of the plant. Sometimes, that's all it takes to subject the fruit to sun scald. However, the bacterial spots also affect the fruit and make it look less desirable.

Cause

Tomato Bacterials spot often starts with the seed. While bacterium, X. vesicatoria and X axonopodis pv vesicatoria, can overwinter in plant debris, it usually does so in the seed. Infected seeds are often the cause of the outbreaks. The same is true for diseased transplants. If the season is particularly damp, the infection travels from plant to plant. That's because the bacteria have a flagella, a whip like tail that makes them move through water easily. The wetter the leaves, the easier it is to transmit the disease. If you have one infected plant, it can spread easily throughout the entire filed of plants in damp weather.

Signs

You'll recognize some immediate signs of the bacterium on the seedlings. The cotyledons are often misshapen and look wilted. As the plant grows, you'll notice the leaves have spots on them. Eventually the leaves turn yellow, as do the stems and die. Since the older leaves are affected first and often the bacteria splashes up from the ground, you'll notice the bottom leaves have spots but the tops look good. Once the plant fruits, the spots also are on the fruit. These are often angular. Unlike bacterial speck that has small dots all over the fruit, the spot has larger ones.

Eliminating

While crop rotation is important to preventing bacterial spot, it's not always possible. Keeping the area clean and free from debris is important. Removing the affected leaves also prevents the disease from traveling throughout the plant. Don't do this when the plants are wet. Handling wet plants only transfers the disease to other leaves. There are also chemical and natural applications that can slow or stop the bacteria.

Copper is traditionally used if you want a chemical application but there are now more sophisticated techniques. These are biological methods to help control the problem. Bacteriophages are biological hit men. Phages are nothing more than viruses that infect the bacteria, which in turn infect your plants. Spraying with these viruses in the evening throughout the season helps to control and eliminate the problem.

Not everyone feels comfortable introducing new viruses to their food supply, regardless how innocent they seem. If you're one of those people, there are several home remedies that are often successful in treating bacterial spot, speck and other diseases.

The first uses apple cider vinegar. Use the organic type of vinegar for this process. Simply mix one gallon of water with 3 tablespoons of 5 percent acidic apple cider vinegar. You'll find the acidity on the label. Spray this mixture on your plants in the morning and it helps prevent not only leafspot but also mildew and scab.

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