tomato diseases

There are various pests of tomato plants that affect the entire plant, from the stem and leaves to the fruits themselves. Here we explain the most common:

• The Red spider: caused by Tetranychus urticae, It is one of the main pests of tomato plants. These small reddish or yellowish arachnids, as their name suggests, are very small and attack the plant by sucking its cell juices to feed. The result is that the affected areas of the plant turn yellowish and eventually become necrotic. When there are many, they form easy-to-identify webs that they use to travel between plants.
• the white fly: caused by Trialeurodes vaporariorum and Bemisia tabaci, the whitefly lays its eggs on the underside of the young leaves of the plant, so that later the larvae feed on them. It directly harms the plant, but indirectly what it does is favor the proliferation of bold. On the other hand, we leave you this article on the Whitefly: how to eliminate it.
• aphid on tomato plants: caused by Aphis gossypii and Myzus persicae, appears in spring and autumn. The way in which aphids act on tomato plants is by forming colonies and distributing small foci. In addition, it is very typical in a wide variety of plants.
• thrips: known under the scientific name of Frankliniella occidentalis, They lay their eggs in the fruits, leaves and flowers inside the plant tissue. It is in this place where they lay large eggs and where the adult populations are found.
• leaf miners: we can talk about four different types of leafminers, where we find Liriomyza trifolii, Liriomyza bryoniae, Liriomyza strigata and Liriomyza huidobrensis. All of them lay their eggs inside the young leaves, from where the larva digs to feed. It is here that we witness the typical galleries. Do not miss this article on How to combat the citrus leafminer.
• caterpillars: the last of the tomato pests is caused by the different species of caterpillars. All of them lay their eggs on the leaves of the tomato plant, on the underside, and as the larvae grow they feed on said leaves. Here are some home remedies to remove caterpillars from plants.

Now that we have seen some of the tomato pests and photos, let’s take a look at the tomato plant diseases which are more common. We find the following:

• powdery mildew: it is a problem caused by the fungus Leveillula taurica which causes yellow and brown spots to appear on the leaves, causing them to wrinkle and dry.
• gray rot: it is caused by the fungus Botrytis cinerea that causes brown or grayish spots to appear on the leaves, stems and flowers, which also causes a wet and soft rot in the fruits.
• anthracnose: caused by fungus destructive speech, It appears during the ripening of the fruits, in the form of spots with the appearance of rot, which increase in size with time, making the tomatoes useless for consumption. Learn more about this tomato disease in this other EcologíaVerde article on Anthracnose: what it is and treatment.
• Mildew: under the scientific name of Phytophthora infestans, another fungus that affects the tomato plant in all its development phases and causes wet-looking spots to appear on all its leaves and stems.
• Alternariosis: the last of the tomato diseases is caused by alternaria solani, that generates circular spots with concentric rings, which end up causing affected areas of a dark and elongated color and darkened and sunken areas in the fruits.

To finish, we offer several tips to treat and prevent tomato pests and diseases. We are going to talk specifically about some of them below:

tomato mildew

To avoid the attack of this fungus it is necessary that the tomato crop has a good ventilation, with the plants sufficiently separated from each other. This is especially important when we talk about greenhouse tomato diseases, since it is here where the ventilation is scarcer and the fungus can appear more often. We must ensure that there is never standing water on the leaves of the plant.

We leave you the following post to find out how to combat mildew.

Alternariosis

When we talk about alternariosis, we refer to one of the tomato diseases due to excess moisture, so to prevent its appearance you must prevent ambient humidity at harvest it stays too high, in addition to keeping the crop clean. If symptoms of affected plants or fruits appear, remove them immediately.

powdery mildew

As with pests, with powdery mildew the most important thing is good crop hygiene, no organic matter decompose or attract pathogens. It is also important to remove all weeds.

Do not miss the following article to know how to combat powdery mildew with home remedies.

aphid

If your tomatoes are attacked by aphids, sprinkled garlic infusions on the plant are a very good way to fight against the plague in an ecological way. If what you want is to prevent its appearance, it is important to make sure clean the garden of weeds and remains of other cultivated plants, and keep humidity levels low.

If you want to know more, do not hesitate to consult the following article with Home remedies to eliminate aphids on plants.

Red spider

The measures to prevent the appearance of the red spider are the same as with aphids. Keep in mind that these appear when the temperatures are very high, so be especially careful in the warmer months. Also, avoid fertilizers with too much nitrogen content.

We leave you the following article so that you know more about the Red Spider: how to eliminate it.

White fly

Once again, the important thing is to maintain the strictest possible hygiene in our garden, removing any remaining organic matter from both the tomato and any other plant. Also, it is advisable not to pay at the end of the cycleto prevent the adult specimens from being attracted to the young shoots.

In addition, we recommend reading these other EcologíaVerde gardening guides where you can discover some homemade fungicides for tomatoes or How to grow organic tomatoes.

If you want to read more articles similar to tomato diseaseswe recommend that you enter our category .