Preventing Disease Problems (6256)

Many bacterial, fungal and viral diseases attack vegetable crops in home gardens. Most of these are not serious, and only in a very few cases is spraying a fungicide recommended. Remember, when disease symptoms are noticed, it is usually too late to spray a fungicide. Below are ten tips that can help you prevent disease problems:

1. Select disease-resistant varieties, particularly for those diseases that appear in your garden each year.

2. Purchase certified, disease-free potato tubers and asparagus and rhubarb crowns.

3. Grow healthy plants by providing adequate light, water, and nutrients. Give each plant adequate space to ensure good air circulation, and add organic matter to your garden each year.

4. Keep bare ground covered with an organic mulch. Newspaper with straw over the top works very well.

5. Avoid watering foliage in the evening. It is best to direct irrigation water around the plant base where it can quickly reach the root zone.

6. Avoid handling wet foliage.

7. Harvest your vegetables before they become over-ripe.

8. Cut off and discard leaves and pull up and discard entire plants that are badly infected by disease.

9. Pick off and remove diseased fruits, and clear your garden at the end of the season of all plant debris. This should be composted or tilled into the soil. Plant parts infected with especially damaging diseases, like late blight of tomato and potato, should be bagged and put out with your trash.

10. Keep weeds to a minimum and control those insect pests like thrips, aphids, flea beetles, and cucumber beetles that are most likely to spread diseases.

For more information on this subject, Please visit the College of Agricultural Sciences Publications Web site.

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