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Late blight of tomatoes

Purdue University Extension plant pathologist Dan Egel says that while he doesn’t anticipate late blight of tomatoes to be as severe as last year, he says growers will still need to be aware of symptoms.

“Late blight causes large brown lesions on tomato leaves and stems that under moist conditions are often ringed with the white fungus,” Egel said. “Symptoms caused by late blight may look like other common tomato diseases and, thus, may be easily missed if not sent for accurate diagnosis.”

Because late blight can be miss diagnosed, the Extension plant pathologist recommends growers contact their County Extension Educator and send a sample to the Purdue Plant and Pest Diagnostic Lab.

In 2009 late blight infected plants in 39 Indiana counties.