Preventing and Treating Buckeye Rot in Tomatoes

What is Buckeye Rot, and why is it attacking my tomatoes?

Buckeye Rot is a fairly common tomato disease that attacks the fruit. It is caused by a common fungus that spreads on the tomato causing gray/green or brown spots to form on fruit that is growing near the base of your plant, particularly those fruits that are touching the ground.

The fungus that causes Buckeye Rot attaches to the fruit through pathogens in the soil and spreads when conditions are right. As with many fungi, it will spread most prolifically in soil that is wet, warm and not properly drained. Damp, humid climates will see more cases of Buckeye Rot and other vegetable rots than other parts of the country, although it can be found in any climate where fruit touches the ground and conditions are suitable for fungal growth.

What can I do to control my Buckeye Rot problem?

As with many tomato diseases, Buckeye Rot is far easier to prevent than it is to treat once established. Choosing a tomato that is resistant to common tomato diseases, such as the Italian Gold Tomato, is essential along with properly rotating the planting locations of your tomato plants each year and using either plant stakes or tomato cages to keep your plant growing upright and keep fruit from touching the soil.

Using a plastic or rubber based mulch, available at most gardening centers, can also help you to keep your fruit from touching the soil directly and further reduce the spread of spores from the soil to your tomatoes. Staking or caging the plant and pulling low-growing blooms before fruit is produced will encourage production higher up on the plant, keeping heavy rains or watering from inadvertently splashing soil up onto low-hanging fruit.

If you still find that Buckeye Rot has somehow taken hold of your tomato plant, make sure to remove any affected fruit from your garden and check any neighboring plants to see if the fungus has spread. Make sure that you quickly destroy any affected fruit, stems or plants and do not add them to your compost bin as the fungal spores will spread within the compost and affect future plantings.

What products do I need to combat buckeye rot?

• Tomato Stake / Cage: these can be found in any nursery or home improvement center. Inexpensive and effective, stakes and cages will help your plants to grow upright not only allowing you to avoid many tomato diseases but also making fruit easier to harvest from all sides.
• Soaker Hose: these slow-watering hoses are becoming increasingly popular and can be found not only at nurseries and home improvement centers, but also at many of the more general big-box stores such as Kroeger family stores, Target and Wal-Mart. Extremely versatile, snake your soaker hose through your garden and water without fear of burning leaves in the summer sun.

Tip: Because Buckeye Rot is most commonly found in gardens with poor drainage, make sure that you are properly irrigating your vegetables. Avoid using a sprinkler system to water plants as the high pressure of most sprinklers will throw bits of soil up onto plants. Instead, dig shallow trenches between rows of plants to assist with drainage and use soaker hoses to seep water directly into the soil.

Want to learn more about Buckeye Rot and other tomato diseases? Information for this article was not only found in Denise's garden, but also in The Great Tomato Book by Sheila Buff and the wetsite www.avrdc.org/pdf/tomato/buckeye.pdf.