🎯 Target Spot

Corynespora cassiicola
It draws bullseyes on leaves — and sunken craters on fruit. That sunken part is the tell.

Signs and symptoms

Leaf spots with concentric rings — the “target” — that enlarge, yellow, and drop from the bottom of the plant upward. They can look like early blight or bacterial spot, so use the fruit test: target spot fruit lesions are sunken, while bacterial spot fruit lesions are raised and scabby. Stem lesions are also possible. UF/IFAS lists target spot as a recognised Florida tomato disease.

Target spot (Corynespora cassiicola) on cucumber leaf — small, light-colored spots.
Target spot (Corynespora cassiicola) on cucumber leaf — small, light-colored spots. Photo: Dr. Jan Hinrichs-Berger, Landwirtschaftliches Technologiezentrum Augustenberg, Karlsruhe., CC BY-SA 4.0.
Target spot (Corynespora cassiicola) on a leaf.
Target spot (Corynespora cassiicola) on a leaf. Photo: Jerzy Opioła, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Target spot (Corynespora cassiicola) on a leaf.
Target spot (Corynespora cassiicola) on a leaf. Photo: Jerzy Opioła, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Plants it attacks

Tomato is the primary Florida garden host, with cucumber, soybean, and many ornamentals also affected. If your tomato’s fruit spots are raised and scabby rather than sunken, check bacterial spot instead; for target rings with fruit lesions near the stem end on tomato, see early blight.

What to do

  • Remove affected lower leaves promptly; do not compost diseased material.
  • Stake and prune for air flow, and mulch to reduce soil splash.
  • Avoid overhead watering and keep foliage dry where you can.
  • Rotate to a non-host crop.
  • A labelled fungicide is only a later option, used per label.

Prevention

Rotate crops, space for air flow, water at the base, mulch, use clean transplants, and clean up debris at season’s end.

Nerdy fact: Target spot’s rings are a classic case of convergent symptoms: three different tomato diseases can all paint circles on a leaf. The fruit is the tiebreaker — sunken means target spot is on the suspect list, raised and scabby points the other way.

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