Plant Diseases
There are literally hundreds upon hundreds of plant diseases. Some broadly
affect many types of plants- trees flowers, vegetables, shrubbery and anything
else. Yes, disease even affects weeds. Other diseases affect more specific
types of plants or classes.
Here are some things which will help you should overcome or at the least
help to manage your disease problems.
Types of Disease:
Causes of Disease:
In the plant world as in the animal world, disease occurs when a plant is
exposed to a virus or a bacteria . Exposure can occur in a variety of ways
as described below. And also like the animal world, there is a lot you can
do to help avoid disease, and to help your plant to fight and overcome an
illness. Once infected, early treatment may help your plant to overcome the
disease. But not all diseases are curable.
Spreading Disease:
Most often diseases are either airborne or transmitted by insects and other
animals. In the case of airborne disease, the only way to stop it is to take
away it's breeding ground or treat it with chemical fungicides.
For transmitted diseases, much can be done. Insects often pick up disease
and spread them as they move from plant to plant. Often, the easiest way
of controlling a plant disease is to control the insects.
Disease can also harbor in your soil ,and especially in mulch and compost.
Plowing or tilling infected plants into your garden can cause the disease
to overwinter in your soil. Crop rotation is an important part of your disease
prevention program. Make sure you do not plant the same plant family in the
same spot year after year. Putting diseased plants into your compost pile
can also helps diseases to spread from year to year. The control method here
is quite simple: throw away any diseased plants.
Controlling the Spread:
Remember: An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
There is a lot you can do to control the spread of plant disease. Fundamentally,
this starts with understanding the cause of plant disease and how they spread.
(as discussed above) It equally important to understand the environment that
nurtures diseases and to take their environment away.
Here are some things that will minimize the environment that diseases thrive
in:
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Proper air circulation cuts down disease. Do not space plants too closely.
-
Do not water at night. Water, heat and humidity promotes diseases. Water
at the roots if at all possible.
-
Rotate your crop. Disease can overwinter in your soil and in the remains
of diseased plant tilled into the soil.
-
Discard diseased plants. Do not put them into the compost pile as you could
infect next years' crop.
-
Select disease resistant varieties. The inexperienced grower will benefit
most by selecting varieties that are resistant to a variety of plant diseases.
-
Promote healthy plants. A healthy plant is more able to ward off disease.
Treating Plant Disease:
If disease strikes your plants, do not wait. Treat them immediately
with a fungicide. If the plant does not respond to treatment, remove and
destroy it. Not all plant diseases are curable. As mentioned above, do not
throw diseased plants on the compost pile.
In future years, look for varieties that are disease resistant, even if it
costs a little more. Rotate your crops each year. Proper rotation is a three
to five year cycle.
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