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Plants are susceptible to disease when these 3 conditions are met:
In home gardens, old plant material should be disposed of because it has the potential to harbor insects or disease. Old plant leaves can be removed by hand, removed by raking into a garbage bag, or the old plant material can be burned. If plant material is left on the ground, it will provide a place for insects to over winter, and your crops could be attacked next season. Insects can be a disease vector, meaning they transmit diseases to your plants during feeding.
A good practice to avoid plant disease is to rotate crops in your garden. Crop rotation means avoiding planting the same plant families year after year. For example, in the spring plant tomatoes, then in the fall plant carrots in the same spot the tomatoes were growing. Another example is to plant bell peppers in the spring, then plant beets in the fall where the peppers were growing. Crop rotation ensures that soil pathogens feeding on a certain plant family will likely die off if their food source is removed.
If action is needed to combat plant disease, consult with your county agent before applying fungicides. Correct identification of the plant disease is needed before choosing a fungicide. Read the label before applying pesticides. Often repeat fungicide applications are needed to fully treat the disease; the label will indicate how often to apply.
