Fungus or Bacterial Problem on My Tomatoes

Question

Each year my tomato plant’s leaves get brown spots and then the leaf and stem turn yellow and die. I remove these and discard, but not in my compost. I have used a copper spray on the plants but each year they seem to get worse. Is there anything I can use to get rid of this in my soil? I will not plant tomatoes in the garden next year.

Answer 1

It sounds like Early Blight. Here is an article on that: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/vegetables/tomato/early-blight-alternaria-tomato-leaf-spots-yellow-leaves.htm

We recommend not planting tomatoes, peppers or eggplant in the area for at least a year and also consider solarizing the soil. Here is an article on solarizing: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/projects/how-to-solarize-garden-beds-to-eliminate-garden-pests-in-the-soil.htm