Plant Health & Disease Troubleshooting Guide

this video covers the most common source of plant illness and disease but does not touch on insect infestation insects and their effects on plants are under an entirely different video heading we will talk about leaf yellowing nutrient deficiencies fungi mold root rot and much more continue watching for an invaluable lesson on how to be your plants doctor and cure more than just the common mold as the name states the roots of the plants rot and this is one of the most common causes of plan illness usually this is the result of over watering and soil environments or low oxygenation and hydroponic systems in soil the excess water makes it very difficult for the roots to get the air that they need causing them to decay to avoid root rot it's best to only water plants when the soil becomes dry and to put the plants in a well-drained pot the addition of perlite or other quick draining and porous materials to heavier soils helps reduce the risk of root rot most cases of root rot are caused by members of the water mold genus fight Offutt Ora so you may have heard it referred to as fight o if you're unsure whether your plant has root rot you may be wondering what does root rot look like if the plan is slowly wilting and the leaves are turning yellow for seemingly unknown reasons you will want to check the roots the roots affected by root rot will look black and will fill mushy effected roots may literally fall off the plant when he touched them healthy roots may be black or pale but they will feel firm and pliable start to treat root rot by removing the plant from the soil and washing the roots under running tap water wash away as much soil and affected roots as possible while being gentle with the plant next use a sharp knife or clean pair of shears or scissors to trim away all the remaining affected roots when you treat root rot you may have to remove a significant amount of the root system if the plant is badly affected continue treating root rot by disposing of the soil in the pot that the plant was in wash the pot thoroughly with a bleach solution using a fungicide or adding a small amount of hydrogen peroxide also helps control the issue as well when working in hydroponic systems simply cut away at dead roots use air stones or another means of oxygenating the water finally at hydrogen peroxide to kill off the organisms causing the disease when it comes to nutrient deficiencies there are many causes and many symptoms this chart helps to show the most common symptoms and the nutrient deficiencies related to each keep in mind that just because a plant shows a certain symptom does not necessarily mean it has a nutrient deficiency at all as each symptom can be attributed to multiple causes for example brittle and Scorch leaves can also be caused by the light source being too close to plants and causing burning at the tips however if that possibility is ruled out it could be a boron or calcium deficiency over fertilization is very common and is usually the result of heavy use of chemical fertilizers the best way to prevent over fertilization is to always use a nutrient testing meter such as a TDS meter perform frequent water changes and follow the directions on the fertilizer bottle for your plat type over fertilization usually causes brown or yellow leaf tips dried tissue in dead root tips when over fertilization occurs it's usually best to fully flush your soil or growing media with fresh tap water for a few days to allow the fertilizer salts to be removed from the media in the case of hydroponic systems simply perform a water change and restart with little to no nutrients for a few days to allow the plant to heal from the stress and eject the stored salts in the tissue back into the hydroponics reservoir you can also use plant tissue repair products such as those shown in the video media section under fertilizer additives we first talked about dangerous fungi and mold when covering the root rot earlier in this video but now we'll cover pathogens that affect the foliage of the plant the most common dangerous fungi in the indoor garden is powdery mildew that appears on the leaves this is usually a sign of excessive humidity and can cause severe plant distress or death if it reaches the plant stem when fungi takes hold it's best to treat with a copper soap solution that usually contains copper octan away you can simply spray it on any signs of fungal disease and it wipes out the problem in a few days and is relatively safe to use note that there are a great many more fungi that can harm your plants such as fuu cerium weld but the one's listed here are the most common viruses affect plants not just people and some viruses can jump from people to plants and back again among the most prevalent viruses are streaked and mosaic viruses the streak virus causes discolored often yellow streaks in the leave the mosaic virus causes swirling white and yellow discoloration on the leaves the discolorations are almost artistic but soon the leaves well there are literally hundreds of other viruses that can affect a wide spectrum of plants but for simplicity sake these are the two major ones to look for in your garden leaf yellowing is one of the most common plant symptoms that show signs of plant stress this chart will help you identify which is the possible cause of leaf yellowing based on a wide array of possible stimuli remember unless you have an expert to help you identify which is the exact cause of the problem you'll be acting as a doctor and working to diagnose the issue it is not always easy to identify the problem at first but with practice it gets much easier wilting is a common occurrence for plants grown in soil it's usually a sign of under watering and general plant dehydration this frequently occurs if you have a very light and fluffy growing media and the water pours through it quickly without being held and absorbed the simple solution is to water more frequently and other instances it can be a sign of over watering as many people forget that the rate of evaporation is usually lower indoors than for an outdoor gardener another common cause of wilting is if the pipe becomes rootbound this occurs when a large plant is kept in too small a plant pot plants may also wilt when stressed by cold temperature diseases and more however this chart here will help identify the seven major causes in conclusion there can be many signs of plant disease and most of the common ones are listed in this video there are however a great many that are less common but may still occur in your garden so be sure to do your research when diagnosing your symptoms so long as you are attentive to any major health changes in your plant you can always ask an expert if you don't see the cause of your problem here we hope this helps you get on your way to better growing and for more information visit us at sunlight sheds calm

Channel: Dealzer .Hydroponics

Views: 308,063

Rating: 4.7136259 out of 5

Keywords: plant, health, troubleshooting, disease, root rot, sickness, illness

Id: Webb1cjen6s

Length: 6min 45sec (405 seconds)

Published: Thu Feb 03 2011