For those who have started a vegetable garden, you may be pleased by the fruits of your labor. However, you should note that disease is a common hot spot to be on the look out for. You need to have a level of control over possible diseases to keep your vegetables healthy.There are a few tips that will help you.
With any type of gardening, it all begins with good soil preparation and choosing the right seeds. Choose the hardiest looking vegetable when transplanting. Immediate removal of diseased plants will protect your other vegetables as well.
Proper watering practices will help as well. Water early in the day to allow your plants to dry before cooler evening air rolls in. Careful watering can benefit your plants in a number of ways. If a plant is diseased, and water splashes from it to another plant, it could spread that disease. Think about how a cold is spread from a sneezing person to someone else. Ensuring that there is proper distance between vegetables can help with this.
Viruses can be spread from plant to plant in many ways. Some are spread by insects, so controlling them will aid you in disease control. Other animals, as well as humans can spread harmful diseases among your plants as well. Tobacco mosaic virus is an example and it is transmitted through animals that venture through your vegetable plot or even from contact with your garden gloves.
Keeping weeds under control will also reduce the risk of disease. It makes your garden look nicer while keeping it healthy. Different types of microbes can be transferred from the weeds to your vegetable plot. In addition to this, they can also be carried by water, wind, and insects.
Knowing which diseases to look for on certain plants will give you a head start.
When you notice that there is a damp, rotting spot at the base of the lettuce where it meets the ground, that is lettuce mold. The white mold is called Sclerotinia, and the gray is Botrytis. Remove the affected areas, or if it's too bad, take out the entire plant.
Lettuce is also susceptible to the spinach mosaic virus. They begin by showing blotchy leaves that yellow over time. It begins to look limp and will droop. Some varieties are more resistant to this disease than others, so keep that in mind.
Wilting or rotting of asparagus may be caused by something called Fusarium. The shoots will begin to turn yellow and the spears will be spindly. Discolored and rotted roots may also show up. Remove the affected plants as necessary. The Puccinia fungus will cause another problem with asparagus called rust. This problem will result in reddish spots appearing on the shoots and spears. Excess watering is sometimes the cause of this.
Blight and leaf spots commonly affect tomatoes. Especially in cool summers, these diseases will usually show up by mid August. Certain soil fungi are common to only tomatoes. The roots of walnut trees sometimes carry a toxin that is potentially dangerous to nearby tomatoes. Making sure the leaves are dry before nightfall will help reduce this.
Knowing what to look for and how to avoid it will help you produce large and healthy crops.
