Pests & diseases › Anthracnose
Anthracnose
Fungal disease causing sunken dark lesions on fruit, leaves and stems of tomatoes, peppers, beans and cucurbits.
Symptoms
- Circular sunken spots on ripe tomato fruit
- Tan dead spots on bean pods
- Reddish-brown streaks on bean stems
- Dark sunken pits on cucumber and melon fruit
Lifecycle
Splashes from soil onto fruit in wet weather. Worst on overripe fruit.
What to do
- Pick fruit promptly — overripe is most vulnerable
- Remove and bag infected fruit
- Heavy mulch to stop soil splash
- Copper fungicide as protectant
If it's bad
- Chlorothalonil (where registered)
Stop it coming back
- Stake plants to keep fruit off ground
- Mulch under plants
- Three-year rotation
- Avoid working among wet plants
Crops it goes for
Plan the plot, track every sowing, cook the harvest
Sowing reminders and harvest forecasts for your own frost dates, the Seed Tin, Scan Centre for any label or packet, and the Potty Mouth Garden Club. Free to start.