Summer is the perfect time for gardening, but the fruits of your labor may be lost due to diseases on the rise in Louisiana vegetables. LSU AgCenter studies show vegetable growers all over Louisiana are facing southern bacterial wilt and a bacterial spot in tomato and pepper production. Southern bacterial wilt (or bacterial wilt) is a destructive disease of tomatoes and plants of the nightshade family, which is known as solanaceous.
In addition to vegetables of the nightshade family, the bacterium can cause disease in ornamentals. Infected plants rapidly wilt due to the loss of turgidity of leaves and stems, giving the plants a limp appearance. “Initially, these plants may recover overnight, but as the disease develops, rapid drying of the foliage occurs, leading to permanent wilting and death of the plant,” said Plant doctor Raj Singh.
Disease prevention through soil fumigation may reduce the incidence of disease early in the season, but it has not provided long-term control. Alternatively, oil solarization of contaminated fields during summer may also help in reducing the initial population of bacterium in the soil, according to LSU Agcenter.
“Initially, these plants may recover overnight,” Singh said. “But as the disease develops, rapid drying of the foliage occurs, leading to permanent wilting and death of the plant.”
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