If you’ve ever had a garden, chances are you’ve had to deal with some sort of plant disease. There are all sorts of plant diseases out there, each with their own set of symptoms, causes, and prevention methods. Today, we’re going to be talking about early blight vs late blight.
What is early blight?
Early blight is a type of fungal disease that commonly affects tomatoes and potatoes. The fungus that causes early blight, Alternaria solani, thrives in warm and humid conditions. Early blight can cause the leaves of affected plants to turn yellow or brown and eventually fall off. The fruit of affected plants might also be discolored or have dark spots on them.
How to prevent early blight?
There are a few things you can do to prevent early blight:
- Avoid overhead watering. Water at the base of the plant instead so that the leaves don’t stay wet for too long.
- Remove any dead or diseased leaves from the plant.
- Don’t plant tomatoes or potatoes too close together. This will help improve air circulation around the plants which will help keep the leaves dry.
- Mulch your plants properly. Mulch will help prevent the fungus that causes early blight from splashing up onto the leaves from the ground.
Preventing measures
- The best way to prevent it is by avoiding overhead watering, removing any dead or diseased leaves from the plant, not planting tomatoes or potatoes too close together, and mulching your plants properly.
- Some factors that might cause this disease are too much nitrogen in the soil, watering at night, or not enough air circulation around the plants.
What Causes Late Blight?
Late blight is caused by a fungus-like organism called Phytophthora infestans. This organism thrives in warm, wet conditions and can spread rapidly in humid weather. The spores of this organism are spread by wind and rain, and they can also be transported on clothing or shoes. Once the spores come into contact with a suitable host plant, they germinate and release zoospores that penetrate the plant’s surface.
How to Prevent Late Blight
There are several things you can do to prevent late blight from infecting your plants.
- First, make sure to purchase resistant varieties of potatoes and tomatoes when available.
- Second, practice good basic gardening hygiene by removing dead leaves and plants from your garden as soon as possible. This will help reduce the amount of spores that are present in your garden.
Comparisons at a glance
- Early blight is a fungal disease that affects tomatoes and potatoes. The disease is caused by the fungus Alternaria solani.
- Late blight is a fungal disease that affects tomatoes and potatoes. The disease is caused by the fungus Phytophthora infestans.
- Early blight typically affects plants early in the growing season, while late blight typically affects plants later in the season.
- Early blight typically causes leaf spot and fruit rot, while late blight typically causes stem rot and blossom end rot.
- Early blight can be controlled with fungicides, while late blight cannot be controlled with fungicides.
- Early blight can be controlled with crop rotation, while late blight cannot be controlled with crop rotation.
- Both early blight and late blight can be controlled with organic methods such as copper fungicides and sulfur dusting.
Endnote
Several factors might make your plants more susceptible to these blight infections. So, take care of your plants.