How to Prevent Yellow Tomato Leaves

Growing your own tomato plant can be very fulfilling and beneficial but like all endeavors you will encounter problems and challenges. Tomatoes need a lot of looking after if you want them to be healthy, juicy and delicious.

It is unavoidable that at some point your tomato plant will succumb to diseases like fungi, bacteria and viruses. Do not worry though; there are certain measures that can be taken to prevent such things from happening.
If your tomato plant does succumb to fungal diseases, one of the most common symptoms is yellow leaves and wilting. As we all know, all plants need water and this is the root of the problem with wilting. Wilting is caused by insufficient water and without water the plant cannot obtain essential nutrients thus resulting in the yellowing of your tomato leaves.

What the disease does is that it prevents proper circulation of nutrients by attacking the vascular system of the plant. The plants' vascular system is very important since it is the one who distributes the nutrients to all parts of the plant. Without this, food supply for the plant is essentially cut off.
As I have mentioned before, there are certain measures that can be taken to combat these diseases. Here are some basic but important ways to prevent yellowing of tomato leaves:

Proper Watering Practices
Diseases like Fusarium Wilt and Verticulum Wilt and Root rot target the plants' vascular system and prevent it from distributing the nutrients. This is why the plant wilts, goes limp and its leaves turn yellow. To check if your plants have Fusarium Wilt, cut the stem and see if the vascular tissue has a reddish-brown discoloration. For Verticulum Wilt symptoms include midday wilting and then the plant recovers at night, yellowing of leaves, and v-shaped lesion on the lower leaves. Wilting and yellowing of leaves are signs of root rot.
This can be avoided by practicing proper watering of your tomato plants. If you water your plants with the right amount and with regularity then you can avoid these diseases.

Good Soil Drainage
Watering your plant properly will be of no use if you do not have proper soil drainage. Good soil drainage will prevent wilting, yellowing of leaves, and disease like root rot. Your plants may need water but without the proper drainage you will drown them. What you have to do is, before planting, dig a few holes and see how long the water takes to drain. If it takes two hours to drain then you might want to change location or plant raised beds.

Proper Sanitation
If your plant is afflicted with Early Blight or Target Spot then you need to practice good sanitation. Early Blight is a common tomato leaf disease where brown to black, target-like spots form on the leaves or leaves may turn yellow and then drop leaving the fruit exposed to sunburn. For this disease, sanitation is best because the fungus survives on leaf debris so remove all infected leaves from the area to prevent the disease from spreading to your other plants.

Practice Good Crop Rotation
To prevent fungal diseases like Fusarium and Verticulum Wilt, Early Blight and Root rot, crop rotation is best. Crop rotation ensures that the soil is fresh and full of rich nutrients. Rotate your crops with non tomato plants to ensure maximum growth of your plants.