Tomatoes are one of the vegetables that are consumed largely world wide but are affected by many diseases. Tomato bacterial wilt is a major disease of tomato.
When a tomato plant is affected by tomato bacterial wilt, the plant begins to wilt but with green leaves. The stem may appear healthy on the outside but will be rotting from the inside. If a fresh stem of an infected plant is cut and put in a glass of clear water, a milky substance is seen coming out of the stem. This white ooze are bacteria that cause the wilt.
Control of wilt
On noticing wilt, the best thing is to uproot and dispose off the affected plant far away from the field to prevent the affected plant from being a source of inoculum of the bacteria causing wilt.
Sterilizing the soil before planting can help kill the bacteria in the soil that causes tomato wilt.
Nematodes cause lesions on the roots of plants through which the bacteria attack the roots of plants. Applying nematocides to control nematodes helps control bacterial wilt.
