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Late Blight on Tomato Plants at Local Large Stores in Most
States in the Northeast
Thomas A. Zitter, Department of Plant Pathology, Cornell
University, Ithaca, NY
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Late blight, caused by Phytophthora infestans, is a
serious disease affecting mainly tomato and potato throughout the world. It is
a common disease in New State and the surrounding states in the Northeast since
our summer, with cool temperatures and frequent rains, is very conducive for
disease development. Late blight is such a serious problem because the
inoculum (spores) is easily carried in wind currents to infect susceptible
plants in even the most remote area in our region. Currently all tomato and
potato plants grown in home gardens and in commercial fields are susceptible to
late blight! Commercially growers have to respond to reports of the disease by
spraying fungicides to prevent spread of the disease, which otherwise would
mean certain death of their crops. Unfortunately, homeowners may not be as
aware of this important disease, and if no corrective actions are taken in a
timely manner, home gardens can provide a source of inoculum for neighbors and for
commercial interests.
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The occurrence of late blight in 2009 is different compared
to most seasons in two ways. First, this is the earliest the disease has been
reported over such a broad region of the country. Several years ago we had a
similar occurrence with the disease originating from one county source in
upstate New York. By the end of the summer disease had spread to at least 14
counties, destroying tomatoes in the entire region. The second reason, and
more tragic for the Northeast, is that infected plants were distributed to
large local retail stores throughout the region (Ohio to Maine). Never before
has such an extensive distribution of infected plants occurred. The inoculum
is exceptionally contagious, spreading on garden center shelves to tomato
plants not involved in the original and initial source of the inoculum. We
have spread the word of this impending disaster, and within a day the original
supplier, working with Department of Agriculture in the affected states, has
removed most of the initial source plants. In checking to make sure that these
plants had been removed, I found local stores in Ithaca (Tompkins Co.) had
removed almost all of supplier’s plants on Saturday, June 27. However, the
disease had already spread to other tomato plants not from the original source. I stopped several people from purchasing infected tomato plants while I made my
visits, and I was very pleased that the garden center managers immediately
removing the remaining tomato plants from their shelves. But I know that this
same event is being repeated in multiple garden centers around the region.
What to do now? Many families have taking up
vegetable gardening, given the tough economic times, and tomato is the most
important crop in gardens. The good news is that in checking with local small
garden centers in Tompkins County, I found no evidence of late blight. The
organism is not seedborne (however, it is tuberborne in potato), so that tomato
plants started from seed locally would be free of the disease, at least for
now. Given the scenario that I described, we must assume that many
infected tomato plants have been planted across the entire region, if they
originated from so called “big box” stores.
Identification: The symptoms that develop on tomato
leaves, stems and fruit are quite dramatic, and are very obvious to the naked
eye. The leaf lesions are water-soaked, varying in size from a nickel
up to a quarter. They are water-soaked when the foliage has been exposed to
watering or heavy overnight dews. When these lesions drying out quickly, they
may appear lime-green in colored or even become beige. Please refer to this
web site for illustrations (http://vegetablemdonline.ppath.cornell.edu/DiagnosticKeys/TomLeaf/Late_Tom.htm).
The edge of the water-soaked lesion, on either the top or bottom leaf surface,
will be covered with white fungal growth that contains the spore inoculum
(visible with a hand lens). Spores are easily blown to surrounding areas and
infect plants and even weed species, in the family Solanaceae (the black
nightshade family). If the lesion has a yellow border and is occurring on the
bottom of the plant, it is likely due to infection of either early blight or
Septoria leaf spot, two common diseases found in home gardens. Again check the
Veg MD web site to aid in diagnosis. Brown to almost black lesions appear on infected
stems, and the same lesions will develop on fruit, either directly
on the infected plants, or a few days after they are sitting on your kitchen
counters. Although it is not dangers to humans, most of the fruit could be
used if the affected area is removed.
Plant examination and removal: Please inspect your
tomato plants on a daily basis! If symptoms are already appearing on plants in
your garden, these plants should be removed and put in a plastic bag for
disposal. Don’t just put the removed plants in a compost pile as spores will
still spread from this debris. Your neighbors, not to mention commercial
growers, will appreciate your taking this action immediately.
Plant treatments: Commercial growers have a number
of fungicides that if applied early and often, can reduce the spread of Late
Blight. They would choose not to spray if they could, but this destructive
disease does not give them any other option. Homeowners do have a few products
that are registered for use and the common name of chlorothalonil should appear
on the product label. Even here, these products are only effective if used
before the disease appears and should be reapplied every 5-7 days if wet
weather persists. Chlorothalonil is a protectant fungicide, with no systemic
movement in the plant, so thorough coverage is necessary. For organic growers
and homeowners, the options are very limited, since only copper fungicides can
be used, and they are not very effective.
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Late blight on tomatoes found for sale at local store. Click on images for enlargements. |
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| Late blight on Brandywine variety tomato |
