Identifying problems in your garden

You can prevent most disasters in the garden by simply spending time in the garden and observing the changes that occur.  On a daily or weekly basis you should be spending some time in the garden.  It may be as little as 10 – 30 minutes or an afternoon cutting flowers.  Spending time in the garden will call to attention issues that will arise and need attention. An added benefit of spending time in your garden can be keeping you fit, relaxing your soul, and making your neighbors jealous.

OK, so you identified a problem, what do you do?  Instinct may be to cut off a chunk of the plant and race to the nearest nursery.  That trip may be unnecessary and a little premature.  There are two variables you will need to consider, is it an internal or external problem.  Internal problems like diseases usually start towards the center of the plant and move out.  Whereas external issues such as bugs or humans begin at the edges of the plant and move their way inward.

Internal problems usually refer to disease.  Diseases can come from soil but more often it comes from air borne disease that blows in the wind.  Soil borne diseases in general are more dangerous and usually result in removing the plant and soil to eliminate the problem.  You will want to make sure you have a soil borne disease before you start removing your plant.  This can require lots of effort and expense in replacement cost, and to do it unnecessarily is just a waste.  Technology has come a long way in developing sprays and soil drenches to deal with soil borne disease.  These sprays usually are systemic and synthetic which means they work from the inside of the plant out.  These are not safe for editable crops.  Synthetic means it is not organic or human made, something you will want to keep in mind if you practice organic gardening.  

Wind carried disease are usually managed with sprays or removing a portion of the plant.  The weather can help or hurt you when dealing with wind borne diseases.  Wind borne disease usually sit on top of the leaves and branches and can be wiped away in some cases, this will not fix the problem though.  One of the most common wind borne diseases is powdery mildew.  Powdery mildew is a white powdery mold that forms on the leaves of infected plants.  There are as many cures for powdery mildew as you can think of.  There are even some home remedies that may help.  There are many organic and synthetic remedies for wind borne diseases, check with your local nursery for the best product.  Once you have identified the disease you can seek a cure.

If you don’t know what the disease is, place a portion of the infected plant into a sealed plastic bag and take it to your local garden center.  It is very important that you place it into a sealed plastic bag.  Your garden store may want to help you fix your ailing plant; they don’t want to share in its illness.  Also note do not mistake the hardware store or big box store for a garden store.  Garden stores are stores not departments!!!

External issues refer to bug, animal, and human damage.  Identifying which external predator is ailing your plant can be difficult.  You will want to take in as much information about your problem as you can to get the best remedy.  Identify where on the plant the damage has occurred, how much damage has occurred, and how fast it happened.  Bugs will often eat parts of leaves or sections of your plant.  Animals work much faster taking a larger share of the plant.  Deer can completely deplete a plant of its leaves in a mater of minutes.  Gophers can kill a plant without you ever suspecting there is a problem.  A gopher kill is easily recognized by the plant dying often over night and the plant is easily pulled out of the ground.  This is because the gopher has eaten all the roots.  If you are unsure contact your local nursery.  Again if you bring a portion of your plant to a nursery please place it into a plastic bag before you leave your home.  Explain all the data you can to an educated nursery employee.  Remember to check your pride at the door.  The fact is 90% of external plant issues are in part human caused.  You can prevent most plant issues by watering properly.  Check with your local nursery for your plants water needs.