![]() Infection spreads rapidly, and plants can succumb quickly, in a matter of days. If spores are present in these conditions, they can infect a plant in about 10 hours. The organism requires humidity above 90 percent to cause infection, and moderate temperatures in the range of 60 to 68☏. Conditions That Favor Late BlightĪgain, there is a reason that this type of pathogen is called a water mold. In cool, wet weather, this disease can cause entire fields of tomatoes to turn brown and wilt as though they have been hit by frost. The spores can spread rapidly to nearby gardens and even into commercial fields. It’s not just your crop that’s at stake, after all. The destructive ability of this pathogen makes it important for gardeners to be able to identify it and take swift action. ![]() In fact, the scientific name Phytophthora translates to “plant destroyer.” This type of water mold readily infects and may quickly kill plants. And each individual sporangium can start a new infection on another plant. ![]() To give you an idea of the scale that we’re talking about, a single lesion can produce as many as 100,000 to 300,000 sporangia per day. The receptacles that hold the spores (sporangia) can survive for up to an hour in dry, sunny conditions – and much longer in wet ones. These spores can travel for miles in the air, and under ideal conditions, they can infect plants on a broad scale. Wet, humid conditions caused by rainfall, dew, fog, or sprinkler irrigation are conducive to the spread of this pathogen. Once the plants have become infected, the organism can produce millions of spores in the right conditions. This disease can easily be introduced into gardens via infected tomato or potato plants. ![]()
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