Growing tomatoes is a fun and easy process.  However, tomatoes are very susceptible to disease.  These delicate fruit tend to be easily obliterated by common tomato diseases, so if you are growing tomatoes in your garden you need to be on the look out if you want any tomatoes to make it to harvest.

One of the best things about growing tomatoes is that they usually grow in abundance.  Just one plant can service a whole family’s needs all year long.  Most people will plant several plants, though, so they can use the tomatoes to make all sorts of things, like spaghetti sauces and for canning.

The good news about tomato diseases is that they can be managed and will often do minimal damage if caught in time.  

One way to avoid these diseases is to choose the right place to plant.  Some areas are prone to tomato diseases.  It is best to plant them in a sunny area with good drainage.  Avoid places that get a lot of shade or tend to hold in the water.

There are two types of tomato diseases.  One type affects the leaves and the other type effects the fruit.

Blight is one of the biggest tomato diseases that affect the leaves.  There are a few different types of blight that can attack at all times during the growing season.  

Early blight is when leaves start to develop dark spots.  It causes the leaves to die.  It can be transferred from plant to plant.  Infected plants should be removed.  There are also copper or sulfur sprays that can help fight early blight.

Late blight causes a white mold or grey spots on the leaves.  It is a very harsh disease that can kill an entire crop.  Too much moisture is usually the cause of late blight.  

Southern blight causes similar symptoms as late blight.  It can be managed with adding extra calcium to the soil or using a fertilizer with ammonium in it.

Besides blight there are some other leaf diseases to watch out for.  

Gray leaf is a condition that causes dark spots to develop on leaves.  As time goes by these spot become larger and eventually eat holes in the leaves.  This can slow fruit production.  The best way to combat it is to choose plants that are resistant to gray leaf.

Verticillium wilt is a confusing tomato disease.  The leaves will actually turn yellow and die.  Symptoms can include wilting of leaves during the day that goes away at night and yellowing or browning of leaves.  If left untreated it will kill the pant because it stops it form being able to soak up nutrients and water.  To control it infected plants should be removed right away.

Most of the diseases that affect the tomato fruit cause the fruit to rot.  There is anthracnose that is a fungus.  It appears as sunken spots of the fruit which eventually turn into rotting spots.  It can be caused by a fruit having contact with too much moisture.  Copper sprays can help to treat and prevent it.

Bacterial speck is a tomato disease that causes raised dark spots.  It, too, will cause the fruit to rot.  It can also be treated with a copper spray.

Blossom end rot is a tomato disease that starts near the blossom.  It causes dark spots that end up engulfing the fruit and making it rot.  It is often caused by too much fertilization or over watering.  Affected fruit should be removed and watering should be done carefully to avoid it.

Gray wall is a tomato disease that prevents the fruit from ripening.  It causes gray blotches on the fruit when it is still green.  Growing conditions are to blame for gray wall.  It can be controlled by careful watering and loose soil around the plants roots.