How to protect yourself from tomato diseases and pests?
Tomato cultivation is certainly the most popular in amateur gardens. The multitude of existing varieties, the relative and the harvests often abundant make it the favorite fruit vegetable of all, young and old. But the tomato is also a fragile plant that can be harmed by many diseases and other pests. However, there are a few tips to avoid the pitfalls of growing in the garden, so let's discover them together.
Cryptic diseases and their remedies
Aternariasis
This disease causes the appearance of rounded, blackish spots on the leaves of the plant. Canker spots can also occur on the stems. To protect against this, we recommend planting resistant tomato varieties. Before planting, care must be taken to remove all the tops from previous crops. Every year, remember to rotate your crops and regularly aerate your growing tunnels.
Powdery mildew
When your tomato plants are affected by this disease, you will see yellow spots appear on the upper surface of the leaves while the lower surface will be adorned with white fuzz. When the foot is affected, the leaves turn yellow, dry out and then fall.
To prevent the disease, we recommend spraying water mixed with 10% skimmed milk. This mixture eradicates the fungus responsible for powdery mildew in addition to strengthening the natural defenses of the tomato plant.
If your feet are affected, an infusion of milk and garlic or horsetail manure will allow you to effectively treat your plants without affecting the integrity of your soil. Also remember to remove the attacked leaves and add nitrogen such as .
Mildew
Mildew is the nightmare of the vegetable garden, whether in permaculture or in conventional cultivation. The underside of the leaves of tomato plants reveals a grayish, white down, which spreads spores everywhere around. Once the plants are infected, the stems begin to turn black and within just a few days, the plant dies.
To avoid the disease, because once declared there is not much to do, you will have to create strong and resistant plants. This happens through a strong root complex. To do this, you will need to repot your plants successively. Favor the mixture of varieties, avoid overwatering and regularly remove leaves from your plants to facilitate the passage of air. Mulching is also an ideal solution. Ideally, prepare a homemade concoction made from herbs such as horsetail, fern, nettle and comfrey to strengthen your plants.
Botrytis
Botrytis is a disease that causes brownish spots and causes grayish fuzz to appear on the leaves and stems of tomato plants. The fruits are also affected by gray and soft rot. To protect yourself from this, you will need to respect a crop rotation, plant resistant varieties and avoid injuring your feet when removing leaves and . The important thing is also to respect .
Bacterial diseases and their remedies
Among the bacterial diseases that can affect tomato plants, there are four particularly distressing ones.
- Bacterial canker causes unilateral wilting on leaves, drying of the leaves as well as whitish spots on the fruits.
- Tomato speckle causes black spots to appear on the leaves. It is responsible for significant drooping of flowers as well as brown rotting spots.
- Bacterial scab is distinguished by brownish spots surrounded by a yellow circle which lead to leaf fall as well as pustular spots on the fruits.
- The black pith causes dark spots to appear on the stems of the plants but also on the peduncles.
For all these bacterial diseases, there is no effective curative treatment. Also, the only way to avoid them is to use preventive treatments. To sow your seeds, use healthy seeds of resistant varieties, thoroughly disinfect your greenhouses. Favor crop rotation and eliminate the slightest infected plant. Remember to disinfect your stakes well and avoid excessive water intake.
Pests and solutions
When it’s not diseases that attack our tomatoes, it’s pests. Here’s how to protect yourself.
Mites
If your plants are victims of a mite attack, you will see the inside of the leaves turn brown while the skin of your fruits will crack. To avoid this, water your plants regularly so as not to make them thirsty. Hoe correctly and regularly. Repellents based on nettle maceration or a horsetail decoction are also effective. If your plants are infected, you can use a garlic decoction at a rate of 70 grams per liter which you must dilute to 30% and spray three times three days apart.
Moths
Noctuids are young caterpillars which devour the crown of the plant, causing its death and which create galleries in the fruits, causing them to rot and fall. The best way to repel them is to use pheromone traps.
Nematodes
Nematodes cause nodules to appear on the roots of attacked plants. This causes the plant to become stunted, leaves to turn yellow and then the plant to die. It is difficult to get rid of nematodes once they have taken hold. It is therefore essential to practice crop rotation, choose resistant varieties of tomatoes and carry out preventive treatments based on plant decoctions.
Physiological disorders and their remedies
Apical necrosis (or “black ass disease”)
Apical necrosis is characterized by brownish spots appearing on the necrotic fruits. It is avoided by enriching the soil when planting with a supply of nitrates and calcium like milk. The plant must then be watered regularly to avoid water stress, a gateway to many diseases. Ideally, and depending on your soil, a handful or two of sand in the planting hole will improve the plant's assimilation capabilities. And once again, we don’t forget about comfrey decoctions and nettle manure.
The hollow tomato
Easy to recognize, your tomatoes will take the shape of a triangle or a heart and their flesh will not be very thick.
To protect against this, we rely on comfrey extract and avoid nettle manure, which is too rich in nitrogen.
The bursting
This is characterized by cracking at the neck of the fruit and can go so far as to cause the tomato to burst. It is avoided by watering regularly, fertilizing correctly and aerating tunnel crops.
Weed control
Even if in permaculture, the idea that there are "bad" weeds is little appreciated, you should still know that in contact with fragile plants, such as tomatoes, these herbs can carry diseases. In addition, they must be controlled around the tomato plants so as not to compete with their growth. All light, water and nutrients present in the soil or added during cultivation should be entirely dedicated to growing the tomato. Also, it is strongly recommended to keep the growing plots "clean" during the critical period which goes from planting the tomato plant to the flowering of its third bouquet.
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