Septoria Leaf Spot

Septoria Leaf Spot:
Tomato plants in many parts of the North America can suffer from this fungal disease, which can appear at any time. Symptoms first appear on oldest, lower leaves. Gray-brown areas have gray centers and a darker border. The dark border lacks the rings typical of early blight. The centers of the discolored areas may have many small, black spores, and sometimes a yellowish area surrounds the darkened areas. It usually slowly defoliates plants, but a harvest is still possible.

Prevention And Control:
Copper fungicides such as Bordeaux mixture and liquid copper fungicide, and aerated compost tea sprayed as preventive. Grow Apotato-leaved@ (leaves that have no indentations on the borders) and rugose-leaved varieties (with a puckered leaf surface), which show better resistance.

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Disease information provided by NationalGardening.com, the online publisher of the National Gardening Association.

Photo courtesy University of Iowa Extension Plant Pathology.