Leaf Spot
Round brown or black spots, often with a yellow halo, scattered across leaves that eventually yellow and drop — tomatoes lose their lower leaves first and the disease climbs. Dozens of fungi and bacteria produce the same signature.
Disease checklist
Four things to look for. If most of them match what you are holding, you are in the right place.
What gets rid of it
Gentlest option first. For most backyard cases the first one is enough, so try these in order and stop as soon as it works. If you do spray something, the product label tells you how — please read the notice further down.
1Remove spotted leaves early
Start at the bottom of tomatoes the moment spots show; slow the climb all season.
Try this first2Mulch the soil line
Most leaf-spot fungi overwinter in soil and splash up in rain; two inches of mulch is a rain shield.
straw mulch garden3Rotate and clean up in fall
Same family in the same bed feeds the cycle; infected debris left over winter restarts it.
4Copper fungicide in wet years
Protective coverage on the label's schedule when weather keeps leaves wet.
copper fungicide spray garden
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Which plants get leaf spot
Every plant we cover that gets leaf spot, grouped by type — tap any one to open its page. A note beside a plant came from that plant’s own entry, because the same disease can be a minor nuisance on one plant and a serious problem on another. Plenty of plants we do not cover get it too.
trees4
shrubs10
CranberryVaccinium macrocarpon
Mountain LaurelKalmia latifolia
Oregon GrapeMahonia aquifolium
OsmanthusOsmanthus fragrans
Pieris (Andromeda)Pieris japonica
Redtwig DogwoodCornus sericea
Rose of SharonHibiscus syriacus
SpireaSpiraea japonica / × vanhoutteiminor
Winterberry HollyIlex verticillataminor
Yaupon HollyIlex vomitoriaminor
perennials4
biennial1
Plant families hit hardest
Related plants often share the same problems, so if one plant in a family has it, check the others. The largest group here is Aquifoliaceae, with 3 of the 24 affected plants.
- Aquifoliaceae3 plants
- Ericaceae3 plants
- Asteraceae2 plants
- Malvaceae2 plants
- Rosaceae2 plants
When to treat
Treat it when you see it, and clear fallen leaves so it cannot overwinter.
Timing only — the label is the law
This page tells you when to watch for leaf spot and when treating is worth considering. It is not a recommendation to apply any particular product. Read and follow the product label before you spray — under federal law the label is the legal instruction, and using a pesticide against it is illegal.
- Check the pre-harvest interval. Every product that’s cleared for an edible crop sets a minimum number of days between spraying and picking. Find it on the label before you spray anything you intend to eat.
- Check the re-entry interval before you or anyone else works in the treated area again, and use the protective equipment the label names.
- Confirm the product is registered for your crop in your state. This page groups many different crops together, and a product legal on one of them is not legal on all of them — state registrations differ too. Your state pesticide agency or local extension office can confirm both.
- Rates and mixing instructions come from the label, never from us. We don’t publish them because they differ by product and formulation.
Other problems on the same plants
If a plant gets leaf spot, these are the problems it most often gets as well, so they are worth checking for while you are out there. They tend to appear together; one does not cause another.