Remove infected crop residues and regularly disinfect tools and machinery to reduce inoculum spread. Pull out diseased plants with their roots and dispose of them away from production fields. For irrigation systems, use chlorination or other approved water treatment methods to prevent Fusarium wilt spread.
Water your plants more regularly during the dry period and consider adding mulch to the base of stems to reduce water loss. Consider moving your plants to a shadier area or build shade netting over the plant during particularly hot periods.
Preventing bacterial wilt
Use the following control measures to help prevent bacterial wilt: Rotate crops with pastures, cereals and non-solanaceous crops for periods of more than 5 years. Use certified seed from reliable sources. Plant in areas where bacterial wilt hasn't occurred previously.
There is no effective fungicide or other cure for Fusarium wilt. The pathogen nearly always kills infected hosts. Prevention and exclusion are the only effective management strategies. Avoid this problem by replanting at that site using species from different genera than plants previously infected there by Fusarium.
You can reduce the spread of Fusarium wilt by limiting overhead watering, sanitizing equipment and planting resistant cultivars. Infected seeds and transplants are also common vectors of the disease, so know your sources or take proactive measures to sterilize plants before introducing them into the growing area.
Wilt diseases are controlled primarily by protection of susceptible trees against insect vectors, by eradication of infected hosts to minimize disease spread, and by prevention of infection by root grafts.
» Bacterial wilt causes a rapid wilt and eventual collapse of tomato plants, resulting in substantial yield losses. » Using disease-free transplants, cultural practices, and resistant rootstocks can help manage bacterial wilt of tomato.
Once bacterial wilt infects a plant, there is no way to control the disease. The bacteria cannot transmit in seed, does not survive in soil, and only survives in plant debris for a short period.
You can often get rid of the verticillium wilt fungus in the soil by solarization. Soil solarization heats up the top 6 inches (15 cm.) or so of soil to temperatures high enough to kill the fungus. Prepare the soil by tilling or digging and then wetting it down.
Chemical Control
Prothioconazole is the only commercially available fungicide with proven efficacy. Azoxystrobin, prothioconazole and thiophanate-methyl led to the highest values for reduction of Fusarium wilt and did not cause phytotoxicity in watermelons.
Treatment and control
If wilting is due to a lack of water at the roots, carefully re-water the soil or compost. Overwatering and flooding the growing medium can cause further root damage, which then leads to further wilting. If it is due to damage to the stems, prune out all those parts that are affected.
Externally, the first obvious signs of disease in most varieties are wilting and a light yellow colouring of the lower leaves, most prominent around the margins. They eventually turn a bright yellow colour with dead leaf margins (Figure 1). As the disease advances, more of the leaves become yellow and die.
Wilting can be caused by drought or waterlogged soil
Sometimes a plant wilts on a hot day because moisture is evaporating from the leaves faster than the roots can take it up. If there is ample soil moisture, the plant will absorb water in the evening to restore turgor to the stems and leaves.
It is important to note that there is no cure for bacterial wilt, and infected plants will need to be removed and destroyed.
Infected plants cannot be cured and should be removed from the garden. Use resistant tomato varieties in gardens with a history of this disease.
Pesticides such as algicide (3-[3-indolyl] butanoic acid), fumigants (metam sodium, 1,3-dichloropropene, and chloropicrin), and plant activators generating systemic resistance on the tomato (validamycin A and validoxylamine) have been used to control bacterial wilt.
Amistar top is world's leading fungicide powered with Proven Amistar® Technology...
In general, however, Fusarium wilt diseases are best controlled by using resistant or tolerant cultivars, not by using soil applied fungicides. Liming soils and using nitrate nitrogen fertilizer have been effective for management of F. oxysporum on chrysanthemum, aster, gladiolus, cucumber, tomato, and watermelon.
Plant disease-resistant varieties of cucumber; Avoid crowding plants too closely; allow for good air circulation so leaves dry faster after rain; avoid watering leaves and stems; Clean up and dispose of symptomatic leaves and stems; and. Plant seeds or transplants multiple times during the growing season.
Western striped cucumber beetles (on right in image) are deadly to cucumbers. They are referred to as 'plant-wounding insects' and also transmit bacterial wilt. Feeding on blossoms and leaves, they also spread it among squash, melons, and pumpkins which in turn spread it to nearby tomatoes.
Proper plant spacing and trellising are essential for maximizing yields and preventing overcrowding and disease. In hydroponic systems, cucumbers can be trained to grow vertically using trellising systems, while in substrate systems, a more bushy growth habit may be encouraged.