A little advice on plant problems: You wake up one day, make yourself a cuppa, and go for a wander to admire your garden. Suddenly you see something ugly on one of your precious fruit or veg. You immediately start looking at the rest of your crop and notice other things that dont quite look right... In a state of concern you begin to examine the plant itself and before you know it, you have noticed that the entire thing is looking very different from the lush green growth of a few weeks ago. There are dead leaves here and there.... Odd markings, something has been eating it... You begin to panic.... Before you go rushing off to Google hideous plant killing diseases: Breathe in... Breathe out. Relax. That mark is, in all likelihood, JUST a bug bite of some kind. The dead leaves or yellowing are very probably just a result of the horribly hot weather we always get at this time of year. Sunburn, windburn, even heat stress. Maybe not quite as much water as it would like. And sometimes it can be a normal disorder or disease that that particular plant is always prone to, but the side effect of which you wont normally notice, unless the plant is also under an bit of stress as in summer. But the actual cause is likely to be something very simple and common. It is very RARE to discover some evil disease come to tear your entire crop away from you.... Now, whenever we find some sort of mark or some damage or a discoloured leaf or anything like that, on any plant, our first temptation is to jump on the computer and Google for it. But what we type IN determines whether we get any actual useful answers back. If you automatically assume it is a DISEASE and you type in, for instance, Tomato diseases, you will get an immediate list of all the potential horrid things that can go wrong. And human nature being what it is we immediately assume the worst... But think- it is a little like being a garden hypochondriac. If we get a bit of indigestion, or a rash, and we type in that symptom to our Search, it is the nature of the internet that we will come up with all of the worst possible causes of anything remotely resembling a rash or stomach disorder, and before we know it we are convinced we have cancer or some permanent disorder of the intestine requiring a special diet for the rest of our life. But, USUALLY, its just indigestion... Or a simple contact allergy rash. Same with plants. USUALLY its JUST a simple ordinary run of the mill explanation. Sometimes there is a disease, sure, but 99% of the time it is NOT anything serious enough to kill the plant and can be easily dealt with, sometimes by using a treatment, sometimes just by feeding and watering the plant to keep it as healthy as it can be - remember that most plants we grow are RESISTANT to MOST of the common diseases and thats why we grow them. We humans catch colds, and other things, but we get better. So can plants. And sometimes we have a permanent issue such as an allergy or sensitivity, that requires us to be aware of it and treat as required. So can plants. Here are some tips for telling the difference between a minor issue and a major problem in the garden: 1. Is the plant OBVIOUSLY sick? Does the whole plant have a stunted, disfigured and unhealthy appearance? If the answer is yes,it may be better to remove it and start again. It might be a disease, or it could be just a dud plant. Sometimes you just one that is already ill or damaged in some way. If the answer is no, then: 2. Does whatever is worrying you LOOK serious? Does it appear to be bothering the plant, or is it just an ugly blemish or a few discoloured leaves? Is the rest of the plant looking green and otherwise healthy and does it have good colour on the newer growth? If so, it could simply be that what ever you are seeing is part of the normal aging process or a response to the weather, maybe even a lack of nutrition or water. Or insects... Next: 3. Is the object of your concern isolated to a single fruit/branch or section of plant? If so, then it can be assumed that either it is not caused by something serious, or else it can be fixed fairly simply. 4. Does the problem present a problem to the actual reason you have grown the plant- the bit you want to use or eat? Is it damaged beyond repair or simply a cosmetic issue? Frutlfy in some things causes premature ripening and the fruit rots on the tree before falling, so thats a pretty serious issue and we need to prevent that. Stone fruit rust can severely damage an entire crop without killing the tree, but it does need to be treated. Many other issues are simply a matter of cutting off the bad bits. This is just a beginning guide, but those three questions are ones you should always ask BEFORE you get too worried. And then of course number 4. Ask on Jettos!! Like first time parents when we begin gardening we fuss and we fidget and we overcompensate for things we should ignore and we worry about stuff that is actually perfectly normal. With later kids we get very good at spotting immediately whether they are just a bit off or actually have something that needs urgent attention. Same for your plants. You get better at knowing what is ok and what to actually worry about. But there is enough stuff in life that we worry about. 90% of the things we stress about are never going to happen. Of the remaining 10% at least half of those are going to be things we could never have you predicted. So basically only one in twenty things we worry about is actually something we can do something about. So to sum it up, there is not much point worrying about most things!! All you can do is do your best to be proactive about the things you actually KNOW you can prevent or protect against. In a garden, as in life, if we go by the approach that it is ALWAYS something simple and that can be fixed, UNTIL and UNLESS it is proven otherwise, life will be a lot less stressful!! And for all of the times when you are new and dont yet know, or when have never seen a thing before, or just dont have the garden confidence yet to make a judgment call on a problem, we are always here to help. 😉
Posted on: Wed, 21 Jan 2015 02:01:36 +0000