Fungus Gnat Predators Our Nematode Friends
These little guys are your best friends, for fungus gnats but also a bunch of others pests, counting ants and caterpillars. On top of that, they keep your soil alive and help return nutrients, that are then available for your babies You can buy them online or at a garden store easily, it will be a bag with what looks like yellowish powder that power is the little nematodes.
Look Out For Aphids And Powdery Mildew
Aphids can carry powdery mildew, therefore, especially woolly aphids. So, these tiny insects can be an indicator of a possible future powdery mildew infestation.
If you have an aphid problem, keep alert because even after they have gone, the spores may open and infest your plants with powdery mildew.
Signs And Symptoms Of Plant Disease: Is It Fungal Viral Or Bacterial
Familiarity with the way plant diseases are visually identified can help you diagnose problems.
Most plant diseases around 85 percent are caused by fungal or fungal-like organisms. However, other serious diseases of food and feed crops are caused by viral and bacterial organisms. Certain nematodes also cause plant disease. Some plant diseases are classified as abiotic, or diseases that are non-infectious and include damage from air pollution, nutritional deficiencies or toxicities, and grow under less than optimal conditions. For now, well look at diseases caused by the three main pathogenic microbes: fungus, bacteria and virus. If plant disease is suspected, careful attention to plant appearance can give a good clue regarding the type of pathogen involved.
A sign of plant disease is physical evidence of the pathogen. For example, fungal fruiting bodies are a sign of disease. When you look at powdery mildew on a lilac leaf, youre actually looking at the parasitic fungal disease organism itself . Bacterial canker of stone fruits causes gummosis, a bacterial exudate emerging from the cankers. The thick, liquid exudate is primarily composed of bacteria and is a sign of the disease, although the canker itself is composed of plant tissue and is a symptom.
Here are a few examples of common signs and symptoms of fungal, bacterial and viral plant diseases:
Fungal disease signs:
- Leaf rust
- Stem rust
- Sclerotinia
Bacterial disease signs :
Bacterial disease symptoms:
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Crop Diseases Caused By Bacteria
Among the most common infections in agriculture are crop diseases caused by bacteria. In this regard, the prevention and control of this kind of disease are pretty tricky.
To infect the causal agent needs to get into the cultures tissue. It occurs mainly through damaged areas, such as caused by agricultural tools, insects , or simply unfavorable weather conditions . But bacteria can also infect plants through natural holes or glands .
Another feature of bacterial crop diseases is that causal agents, once in a plant or soil, can remain dormant for a long time until favorable conditions arise for them. First of all, significant temperature fluctuations and high levels of humidity act as catalysts for bacterial activity.
How To Get Rid Of Pests From Plants Indoors
Aphids are notoriously tricky to get rid of from plants. Usually, a good spray of water can dislodge most of the bugs. You should then wash the plants leaves and stems with mild soapy water.
To make an aphid-destroying natural spray, mix 1 tsp. of organic mild liquid soap with 33 fl. oz. of warm water. Put in a spray bottle and apply daily until the aphids have gone.
Other ways of getting rid of aphids in houseplants include neem oil and rubbing alcohol.
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How To Get Rid Of Mealybugs In Houseplants
It is essential to get rid of mealybugs on indoor plants at the first sign of an infestation. You can use rubbing alcohol to kill the white bugs on contact. Apply the alcohol daily with a cotton bud and treat the plant. Then continue using until all signs of mealybugs on your plant have gone for good.
Crop Diseases Caused By Virus
The most minor but most critical plant enemies are viruses and viroids . After infection, it is almost impossible to save a plant. Therefore the effect of plant diseases on crop production is of critical importance throughout the world. In most cases, the infection spreads as a result of healthy plants with sick contact. Viruses can also spread through vegetative reproduction, through seeds, pollen, and insects. But viruses most often spread through the soil.
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Challenges And Upcoming Outlooks
Accurate diagnostic methods that can be used in situ to detect plant disease must be developed, tested, and perfected in the near future. New fungal leaf disease identification technologies designed for field use may incorporate DNA sequencing. However, sampling and the use of this technology in the form of transportable biosensors may be logistically challenging. Moreover, onsite DNA sequencing expertise may be difficult to acquire as plant leaves have large and complex genomes . For data mining and analysis, high-throughput computational biology and informatics will be essential. At this time, there are no initiatives being undertaken to improve transportable DNA sequencing biosensors that effectively identify fungal plant pathogens. Sequencing with microfluidic devices will facilitate the recognition of numerous fungal plant pathogens in the future. The application of biosensors in fungal diagnostics will enable the development of miniaturized, cost-effective, accurate, simple, and rapid apparatus that can readily be used on-site and in the field even by untrained personnel .
Tips To Keep Your Cannabis Products Free Of Mold
And even gummies seem to be prone to developing mold!
cannabismd.com, Heres How To Tell If Your Cannabis Has Mold, Ed Weinberg, May 2, 2019
greenhealthdocs.com, How To Spot and Avoid Marijuana Mold, April 13, 2020
merryjane.com, Are You Smoking Moldy Weed? Heres How To Check, April 2, 2019, Randy Robinson
weedmaps.com, How To Identify and Avoid Buying Moldy Weed
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Disease Identification And Treatment
The eight most common diseases that afflict houseplants are listed below along with the identifying symptoms and a suggested treatment. If you’re having problems with something different or struggling with the identification, then let us know in the comments and we’ll try and help you out.
Sometimes your plant will have a pest problem rather than a disease in which case you will need to head on over to our pest guide .
Symptoms Of Nematode Crop Diseases
Essentially, nematodes feed by sucking juices from plants. Because of this, plants affected by these parasites often appear dried out, as if they are suffering from drought. Other symptoms are also similar:
- yellowing
- lack of response to fertilizers and water
- the gradual general decline of a plant
- reduction or even destruction of root systems.
Although nematodes need a long period to cause significant damage to a plant, they spread exceptionally rapidly. Therefore, farmers should identify crop disease in field to save the affected plants timely and prevent the disease from spreading.
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How Do Nematodes Kill Fungus Gnats
To put it simply, nematodes are able to go through fungus gnat eggs and larvae skin and penetrate into them. From there they feed on its organs and grows.As the nematodes grow the larvae weakens until it dies. The nematodes grow, reproduce and once and too packed within the host, break out of the skin and return to the soil in order to find a new place to feed on.
If you want to check out how it all happens check out this video, you will see the whole process under the scope, with explanations preeetty informative
Video credit to our friend Bannana_bin, check out her insta account for more knowledge about bugs
General Disease Management Strategies In The Landscape
Numerous diseases caused by fungi, bacteria, viruses and nematodes affect ornamental landscape plants and lawns. Some are fairly benign in that they may cause unsightly leaf spots, but they will not significantly harm or kill the plant. Others may be very damaging and result in plant death. Several well known examples of this are the tree diseases, oak wilt and Dutch elm disease.
Just because a plant is susceptible to a disease does not necessarily mean it will become diseased. In order for disease to occur on a particular plant, three important factors must be present at the same time: 1) a plant must be susceptible to the disease, 2) the disease-causing agent must be present and able to infect the plant, and 3) the environment must be favorable for disease development. If one of these components is missing from the “disease triangle,” then disease will not occur.
Several key practices can help minimize potential disease problems on landscape plants.
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Gray Box Of Plant Disease Plague Mechanisms
Rapid and prompt crop disease prediction, recognition, and analysis are essential. Molecular methods are currently being used to characterize and analyze plant pathogenesis. Despite the availability of these techniques, they are not universally applied here as the agricultural industry may still rely upon agronomists with traditional knowledge using conventional research methods. Accurate and effective crop disease assessment requires an in-depth understanding of the pathogenesis, pathogenenvironment intercommunication, and influential biotic and abiotic factors involved. In view of these complexities, with a few notable exceptions, accurate, timely crop disease forecasting remains imperfect .
Common Houseplant Diseases: Identification And Treatment
The last thing you want to see is your previously healthy houseplant showing signs of disease. With all the possible causes, identifying and treating the problem can seem daunting. However, dont stress, because this article will cover how to recognize common houseplant diseases as well as what you can do regarding treatment and prevention.
Common Houseplant Diseases: Houseplants can be afflicted with many different bacterial, fungal and viral diseases. Identification can often be done through inspection of the plant and the growing conditions. Being able to identify the disease helps you to treat your plant correctly and take steps to prevent further problems.
Read on to learn everything you need to know about common houseplant diseases and how to identify, treat and prevent them, to keep your houseplants thriving.
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How To Identify Powdery Mildew
- White to gray powdery spots, blotches or felt-like mats form on leaves, green stems and buds. Infected plants may appear to be sprinkled with baby powder or covered in cobwebs.
- Young leaves, water sprouts and green shoots are often most severely affected.
- Infected leaves may be cupped or twisted at the site of the infection.
- When severely infected, leaves may turn yellow and fall prematurely during the growing season.
- In some plants, leaves turn purple to red around the infection.
- In late summer or early fall, tiny round orange to black balls form within white fungal mats.
- Powdery mildew thrives in humid conditions but does not do well if leaves are wet from frequent rain or irrigation.
- In Minnesota, powdery mildew increases in the spring and fall, when cool nighttime temperatures are followed by warm daytime temperatures.
- It can be often found throughout the growing season.
- The disease is worse on shaded plants or plant parts with little air movement such as interior or lower branches.
There are many species of powdery mildew fungi and they affect thousands of plant species. In Minnesota, powdery mildew has been observed on the following trees and shrubs.
- Viburnum
Introducing Nematodes Into Your Soil
- Bag of 5 million nematodes, enough to cover between 10 and 30m²
- Pouring some of the nematodes into a water sprayer
- Nematodes stuck together in the water, shake to even them out within the mix.
- Spraying soil in order to introduce the Nematodes
Make sure you :
If you see adults show up days, or up to a week or 2, after introducing the nematodes dont worry. It doesnt mean theyre not working, just that nature takes time and you probably had a large number of individuals.
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Most Affected Parts Of Plants By Powdery Mildew
Leaves are by far the parts of plants that powdery mildew affects most. Also check on the back of leaves, which are very easily infested by powdery mildew.
But there are other parts, like stems, especially green and young ones, that can be affected quite frequently. The whole aerial part of the plant can be affected, to be correct, but other parts are not as common as these.
When the infestation starts, usually it is the lower leaves that are affected.
How To Identify Aphids On Houseplants
Aphids are tiny pests that only measure 1/8 long. They are commonly a green color, which makes them hard to spot on plants. But these tiny plump insects can be almost any colorblack, yellow, red, brown, or blue. There are even fluffy white woolly aphids that are sap-sucking plant pests.
If you have an aphid houseplant infestation, you may see clusters of these minuscule fat insects on young stems and leaves. You may also notice a sticky substance on leave along with black sooty mold fungus. Leaves may appear to be wilting.
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How To Prevent Root Rot In Marijuana Plants
You can lessen the risk of root rot with some preventative measures:
- Have healthy soil with beneficial microbe and bacteria populations. These populations help keep the fungus responsible for root rot under control.
- Water your plants correctly. This means measuring the amount of water given each plant and observing day to day how plants respond. Its better to see a plant begin to wilt than to overwater plants.
- Have breathable soil. Growing in smart pots and adding perlite to soil are two ways to help facilitate oxygen flow and allow soil to drain properly.
Spider Mite Identification On House Plants
The most common way to identify spider mites is by checking for silky spider webs on your plant. Individual bugs are challenging to spot because they are so tiny. When you notice spider mites crawling around plants, it usually means that the infestation is large.
When buying plants from a garden center, always check for signs of spider webs before buying.
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Identifying Aphids Or Greenflies On Plants
One of the most common household pests is the aphid which is also know as greenfly, whitefly and more. There are a variety of species of aphid and they come in an assortment of colors. Green- and whitefly are the most common, but different species can appear black, brown, yellow, and even pink… Some species can also feed specifically on certain plants.
Guy Barter explains more, ‘Aphids suck sap weakening plants, cause foliage to curl, form unsightly colonies and may also spread virus diseases. Soap or oil base insecticides that leave no residues are highly effective if the plant is well covered with spray. Predators can be bought and are very effective in greenhouses and conservatories.’
We’ll run through a little about the damage they cause and what the little blighters look like.
- Plant damage: Misshapen, curling, stunted, or yellowing leaves and a sticky substance on stems and leaves left after they been sipping sap. This sticky substance can turn into a black, sooty fungal growth.
- What aphids look like: They are tiny with adults measuring under a ¼-inch, with pear-shaped bodies and long antennae. Most species have two short tubes coming out from their back end.
- Have an aphid problem? Consult our how to get rid of aphids guide and rid yourself of them for good.
How To Get Rid Of Bugs From Plants
There are several methods to get rid of these minuscule whiteflies from plants. For example, you can trap them with yellow sticky traps to reduce their numbers.
You can also use the neem oil spray for houseplant pests mentioned in the article. However, because whiteflies fly away when the plant is disturbed, neem oil is only effective on the eggs and larvae. Spray regularly to disrupt the whitefly lifecycle to control these houseplant pests.
If some leaves are heavily infested, trim them off and put them in the outdoors garbage.
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How To Prevent And Treat Powdery Mildew On Cannabis
- Spray plants with organic fungicides
- Prune plants to remove foliage and increase airflow
- Spray compost tea or solutions with varying pH levels to disrupt the spread of the disease
- Note which strains are susceptible to PM and grow a different one next time
If your cannabis garden does become infected with powdery mildew, a solution of 3% hydrogen peroxide and water can sterilize harvested plants and remove the mildew. This is a painstaking process, but it can save a crop.