Damping off
Damping Off (Pythium aphanidermatum): This is one of the worst diseases of tomato occurring in the nursery. Damping off of tomato occurs in two stages, i.e. the pre-emergence and the post-emergence phase. In the pre-emergence the phase the seedlings are killed just before they reach the soil surface. The young radical and the plumule are killed and there is complete rotting of the seedlings. The post-emergence phase is characterized by the infection of the young, juvenile tissues of the collar at the ground level. The infected tissues become soft and water soaked. The seedlings topple over or collapse.
Control: Seed treatment with fungal culture Trichoderma viride (4 g/kg of seed) or Thiram (3 g/kg of seed) is the only preventive measure to control the pre-emergence damping off. Soil drenching of the affected seedlings with Dithane M45 (3 g/litre of water) helps to reduce the disease incidence.
