How can I minimize plant disease problems in my vegetable garden next year?

Question: 

How can I minimize plant disease problems in my vegetable garden next year?

Answer: 

Several steps can be taken to minimize disease problems in your garden next year.

Fall Clean-Up

An important task is to clean up the garden in fall.  Carefully remove and destroy the infected plant debris.  Many of the fungi and bacteria that cause plant diseases survive over the winter in the dead leaves, stems, and other plant parts that are left behind in the garden.  The fungal spores and bacteria that survive in the garden then attack the new vegetable plants next spring.

Rotate the Location on Crops

Also, annually rotate the placement of vegetables in the garden.  Disease problems often increase when the same crop is planted in the same area in successive years.  For crop rotation to be effective, gardeners should not plant vegetables belonging to the same plant family in the same location for three years.

Disease Resistant Plantings

Selecting vegetable varieties that are resistant to specific diseases can also be helpful.  

Links to this article are strongly encouraged, and this article may be republished without further permission if published as written and if credit is given to the author, Horticulture and Home Pest News, and Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. If this article is to be used in any other manner, permission from the author is required. This article was originally published on . The information contained within may not be the most current and accurate depending on when it is accessed.