Early Blight ?

fatboy · July 26, 2010

I think I have Early Blight. My question is should I cut of the leaves or just leave them. I don't want to spread it by moving the leaves around. I have Actinovate,Exel Lg and Ortho Garden Disease Control. Does one work better then the other? I Plan on spraying once a week.

HoosierDaddy · July 26, 2010

Others more professional may have better ideas but my understanding is:
I would cut off the leaves and move the clipped leaves as far away from the garden as possible. Placed in trash bags and the trash can is my action.
Don't water with a sprinkler. Any spray just causes the spores to move to other leaves and other plants. When you have to water, try to use a soaker hose or drip irrigation or a slow trickle from the hose end.
Mulch around the plant to minimize any splash from when it does rain. The splash and dripping to unmulched dirt can splash the spores to the plant.
I think some spray after each rain rather than solely on a time basis.

RayR · July 26, 2010

Always remove the infected leaves and dispose them in the trash. Never leave infected plant material in the garden. It seems every year I have to battle against Early Blight and Septoria Leaf Spot, realistically you are never going to rid your garden of fungal diseases like Early Blight completely, but they can be controlled by keeping a careful watch for outbreaks, disposing of infected leaves/stems and then spraying with a proper fungicide to prevent spread to healthy leaves.
From what I've read on this forum, everybody has a preferred fungicide, either organic or non-organic—whatever works best in each case. I've been using a copper soap fungicide this year with very good results on controlling Early Blight and Septoria on my tomato plants.

July 26, 2010	#1
fatboy Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: MN Posts: 17	Early Blight ? I think I have Early Blight. My question is should I cut of the leaves or just leave them. I don't want to spread it by moving the leaves around. I have Actinovate,Exel Lg and Ortho Garden Disease Control. Does one work better then the other? I Plan on spraying once a week.

July 26, 2010	#2
HoosierDaddy Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Zone 5 SE Michigan Posts: 50	Others more professional may have better ideas but my understanding is: I would cut off the leaves and move the clipped leaves as far away from the garden as possible. Placed in trash bags and the trash can is my action. Don't water with a sprinkler. Any spray just causes the spores to move to other leaves and other plants. When you have to water, try to use a soaker hose or drip irrigation or a slow trickle from the hose end. Mulch around the plant to minimize any splash from when it does rain. The splash and dripping to unmulched dirt can splash the spores to the plant. I think some spray after each rain rather than solely on a time basis. Last edited by HoosierDaddy; July 26, 2010 at 09:50 AM. Reason: Corrected typo

July 26, 2010	#3
RayR Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Cheektowaga, NY Posts: 2,466	Always remove the infected leaves and dispose them in the trash. Never leave infected plant material in the garden. It seems every year I have to battle against Early Blight and Septoria Leaf Spot, realistically you are never going to rid your garden of fungal diseases like Early Blight completely, but they can be controlled by keeping a careful watch for outbreaks, disposing of infected leaves/stems and then spraying with a proper fungicide to prevent spread to healthy leaves. From what I've read on this forum, everybody has a preferred fungicide, either organic or non-organic—whatever works best in each case. I've been using a copper soap fungicide this year with very good results on controlling Early Blight and Septoria on my tomato plants.