Garden Plant Diseases
Plants are considered as diseased when there is any disturbance that prevents the normal growth of a plant and decreases its economic or aesthetic value.
Plants suffer from various diseases, which can harm them. Diseases can attack all types of plants, such as annuals, biennials, perennials. Therefore, knowledge of early signs of diseases is of great advantage in order to take care of plants.
There are new varieties of plants produced by various methods of selection and inbreeding. However, highly bred plants are not necessarily resistant to disease.
The term plant diseases refer to the foreign organisms, which may check the growth of a plant, cause abnormal growth or death.
Plant diseases are divided into two main groups such as parasitic diseases, which are infectious and non-parasitic diseases, which are not infectious.
Garden plant diseases can be viral, bacterial and fungal. In most of the cases the growth and health of the plant is affected and in few cases, the plant may die. Powdery mildew is an example of fungal disease; tobacco mosaic virus is an example of a viral plant disease and crown gall diseases is an example of bacterial diseases.
Plant diseases can also be caused by pests or by nutritional imbalances. However, there is no need of a plant doctor to cure the plant diseases. Instead, you need to know its symptoms in order to control the diseases.
Good gardening habits and a keen eye can avoid most of the problems before they get out of control. Do not just use chemical pesticides whenever you notice a problem in the garden. Instead, take some time to study the problem and then take steps to solve it safely and organically.
In case, you see damage on a plant, first find out the actual cause of it. Remove the diseased parts of the plant as soon as possible and throw them out with your garbage. If the disease is fungal, spray the plant with fungicide according to the instructions given on the package.
Study the symptoms of plant damage every time you survey your garden. The most common plant diseases are discussed here. Few control measures for the plant diseases are also provided. Read further to know more about each disease.