It does, however, affect the plant’s health and growth. The good news is that powdery mildew doesn’t kill the plant. (Scot Nelson)īecause of the high humidity and frequent rain, Powdery Mildew is common in Hawaiʻi. The most effective treatment is to spray the plant with copper fungicide. This helps slow the spread of the disease. Department of Agriculture, mix a heaping teaspoon of baking soda, teaspoon of olive oil and teaspoon of mild soap mixed with a gallon of water and spray the entire plant. Dispose of the infected leaves in the garbage.Īccording to the U.S. Be careful not to touch any healthy leaves with the infected leaf or your hands once you have touched an infected leaf. Remove the dead and dying leaves immediately. If you look closely, you will notice the spot is a series of concentric circles. Early Blight appears first on the lower leaves as dark brown spots. This is less serious than Late Blight and is not likely to kill the plant if identified and immediately treated. Remove the entire plant, bag it and throw it in the garbage.Įarly blight Early blight start at the base of the tomato plant. Late blight spreads quickly and via water, too. It can kill a tomato plant in a few days.ĭon’t let the infected plant remain in your garden. The lesions quickly spread, causing leaf distortion, followed by yellowing, shriveling and death. Late Blight usually appears on the upper, newer leaves as brown lesions. This is the same species which caused the Irish Potato Famine. Once it is established there is little you can do but destroy the plant. This is almost always a fatal disease that usually occurs during the cool, rainy months. Increasing air flow and reducing ambient moisture may help. Before planting anything again, treat the soil with a fungicide following the product’s directions. The entire plant, roots, leaves, blossoms and fruit need to be removed and destroyed. Once infected, the fruit is inedible unless you are a bird or rat. A small, round sunken spot that may be pinkish or white in color often darkens as it increases in size on the fruit. This is a soil-borne disease that doesn’t appear until the fruit begins to ripen. Don’t be reluctant to contact a local Extension Agent or Master Gardener for a second opinion. Caveat: some diseases look alike and are hard to tell apart. This isn’t a 100% guarantee of a correct diagnosis, but usually it is fairly accurate. Do they just need a snack or are they victims of a nasty little virus, mold, fungus or mildew? Take a picture of the infected part of the plant and compare it with a picture of a documented diseased plant. You did everything right, and your tomatoes are looking sickly. Next planting, rotate a non-Solanaceae plant where tomatoes are growing this year.ĭoing these things reduces the chances that you will have to deal with a tomato disease.
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