How Will Your Garden Grow? Pesky Plant Diseases to Watch Out For

Having a garden is a great way to get your fill for working outdoors and enjoying the natural world around you. It can also give you a great sense of pride and accomplishment when your neighbors see your expert handiwork. But maintaining a healthy garden takes a steady hand and a quick eye to notice and fix smaller problems before they become garden disasters. Besides the usual insects and critters that would love to wreck havoc on your garden, there are quite a few plant diseases that can be just as damaging if not more. If your garden is just starting to grow, here are a few plant diseases that should be on your watch list.

Disease # 1 Mildew and Leaf Spots

Every once in a while, you'll find a plant where the leaves or stems show spots of discoloration. These mildew spots are most often caused by microscopic fungi that invade the plant tissues, destroy cells, and sap the life giving energy of the leaves and stems.

Just like in your shower, the mildew on plants requires a few things to grow. Time, moisture, and an ample food supply are really all that the fungi need to do their work. Since it is impossible to eliminate time, and you don't want to eliminate the food source (your garden plants). The only other factor that you can control is the amount of moisture. Leaves and stems that have a constant film of moisture on them will easily develop mildew and leaf spots. So, like anything else, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. When watering your plants, try to water in the morning so the sun has time to dry off the leaves, and if you must water at night consider using a soaker hose so the water reaches the ground, and avoids the leaves altogether.

So what happens when you find a plant that has these leaf discolorations or mildew spots? Well, unless you want the rest of your garden to become infected with the fungi, it's best to simply remove the plant or the branches if the plant is too large to remove easily.

Disease # 2: Blight

Blight is actually an umbrella term for a number of species specific diseases the cause dark, circular shaped spots on the plant and causes them to eventually wither up and die. Unfortunately another characteristic of blights is that if the conditions are right they will spread like wildfire. Another unfortunate side effect of blight is that the spores can exist dormant for long periods of time, so chances are if you see it once in your garden, you'll most likely see it again.

So the question becomes how you combat blight. Once again, and ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. A great way for preventing blight to take a foothold in your garden is to make sure that your garden plants have the necessary nutrients and microorganisms to fight off the blight spores and prevent them from taking hold. One great tool for this is the following tonic, which should be applied regularly. Simply mix 1 1/2 gallons of compost and 4 1/2 gallons of warm (not hot!) water. The nutrients from the compost add the nutrients and microorganisms that your plants need for self defense, and the water helps to speed them to the plants in need. If you do find blight in your garden, remove the plants as quickly as possible. Once blight has affected the plant it's not worth saving.

Disease # 3 Fusarium

While the two previous disease types were mainly focused on the leaves and stems of the plant, the Fusarium fungus has an entirely different approach. This is a soil borne disease that sneaks into your plant through breaks in the roots. Once it takes a foothold in the root system, this fungus will quickly spread through the plants vascular system and essentially clog it up, preventing the transport of food and water to the rest of the plant. Essentially the plant will starve and start to wither away, despite your best efforts to the contrary. Fusarium often attacks tomatoes, causing them to turn yellow and wither on the vine. Other plants may change color, but often symptoms of this disease are simply stunted growth or wilted plants.

Once you know that your garden is being affected by Fusarium, the best defense is to grow plants that are resistant to Fusarium. The easiest way to determine if a plant is resistant is to check the label or ask the garden shop. Resistant tomato plants, for example are usually labeled with the letter F. While your initial plants might be lost, subsequent plants will thrive that much more.

These are just a few of the plant diseases that might affect your garden and a few ways to combat and prevent them. If you continue to struggle with making your garden grow, don't hesitate to ask for help from other gardeners or even your local garden shop. Chances are you'll find someone with the know-how that you need.