How to slow down the spread of tomato mould

Have you looked at your tomato plants and clearly saw that your plants are not doing as they should? Well, chances are that your tomato plants have been attacked by a mould. Unfortunately, this is rather common in our climate. If that is the case, you should know how to prevent mould from spreading. If mould gets to the fruit, you have a very little chance to do something about it and indeed, it is usually too late.

Leaves must go

We all know that you need to clip off suckers and clip the top off, but another important thing is to ger rid of all mouldy leaves because mould on leaves spreads to fruits easily. The best thing is to gradually cut all leaves. There are many gardens where you can see only plants with fruits – no leaves. If the mould gets inside the fruit, you need to harvest the fruit as soon as possible and let it ripen alone on a windowsill for example. If the fruit has already been attacked too much, you will have no chance.

Photo: Radek Štěpán

Avoid moisture

Cutting leaves will allow for better air flow, thereby reducing moisture, but you still need to pay attention to correct watering – do not water too much. High humidity makes things much worse.

Photo: Radek Štěpán

Prevention is very important

Prevention includes few steps.

Add herbs

Plant some herbs together with your tomatoes such as marigold, basil or Calendula officinalis.

Photo: Pixabay

Do not plant tomatoes together with certain plants

No potatoes together with tomatoes and do not plant tomatoes at the same spot for several seasons. Zucchini is not good either.

Garlic

Garlic infusion may work as a great prevention. Cut garlic into small pieces put in a bowl and pour one litre of water in. Let it infuse overnight. Pour the mixture into a spray bottle and apply regularly directly to plants. Horsetail infusion is also worth trying, but you use hot water to make the extract and some people even use a baking powder mixed with water to fight mould.

Source: https://www.ireceptar.cz/zahrada/rajcata-plisen-30000818.html
https://living.iprima.cz/zahrada/napadla-vase-rajcata-seda-plisen-poradime-jak-s-ni-zatocit

Preview photo: Radek Štěpán