How to Treat Diseased Spinach

Spinach diseases come in the form of mildew and fungal infections, as well as viruses. A disease can destroy an entire crop of spinach and can then live on nearby weeds until you plant another crop. Treating diseased spinach may save the unaffected areas of the plants and prevent the disease from spreading throughout the rest of your crop. The best method of preventing spinach disease is to select resistant cultivars for planting,

Garden shears
Rubbing alcohol
Rag
Soaker hose
Fungicide

Instructions

- 1
  Cut off the diseased portion of the spinach with garden shears. Sterilize the shears by wiping them with a rag soaked with rubbing alcohol between cuts. If an entire plant is affected already, pull it out and discard it in the trash. Do not compost diseased spinach or you risk spreading the disease.
- 2
  Water at the ground level. Stop overhead sprinkler watering of the spinach. This will increase the spread of mildew and anthracnose. Install a soaker hose, or water by laying the garden hose on the ground. Do not get the leaves damp.
- 3
  Spray the spinach with a fungicide rated to treat the disease that is affecting your spinach. Use only fungicides specified for the specific disease, and follow all application instructions on the package.
- 4
  Pull out any weeds near the spinach plants. They can house disease-spreading insects, such as the beet leafhopper, which spreads curly top disease. Discard the weeds in the trash.
- 5
  Rotate crops every three years so spinach-affecting diseases in the soil will die. Plant the spinach in another location two years after the initial planting, then return to the original location.

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