7 Common Plant Diseases And How To Treat Them

While growing plants one can face many difficult challenges such as plant care, maintenance, plant health, plant identification, regular watering, repotting, and pruning of the plant. But the most common and difficult problem is plant disease identification and protection from these plant diseases.

Plant diseases could be the most prominent reason for the unhealthy growth of your beloved plants. Plant diseases are caused by various fungi, bacteria, and viruses and can affect both indoor and outdoor plants.

Though most plant diseases are curable if identified quickly and treated properly but if delayed these diseases can prove fatal to plant health. So here we provide 7 common plant diseases and how to identify and treat them.

Plant Diseases

Powdery Mildew:

Powdery mildew is a fungal disease caused by various species of fungi such as Erysiphe and Sphaerotheca. These plant diseases can affect both indoor and outdoor plants. Powdery Mildew can be identified as a white or gray powdery coating on the surfaces of stems, fruits, and leaves of the plant. Powdery mildew can halt photosynthesis and can weaken plant health.

How to Treat Powdery Mildew?

• Remove and dispose of every infected part of the plant.
• Powdery mildew thrives in humid conditions so it is suggested to increase the air circulation around the plant.
• Reducing humidity and preventing overhead watering is also suggested.
• In severe cases, you can use fungicides labeled for powdery mildew.

Common plants affected by Powdery Mildew:

• Squash
• Cucumbers
• Peas
• Grapes
• Apple trees

Root Rot:

As the name suggests these plant diseases affect the root of the plants and severely affect the plant’s health. It is caused by fungi species such as Pythium, Phytophthora, and Rhizoctonia that thrive in overly-watered soil. Symptoms like stunted growth, wilting, and yellowing leaves are the plant disease identification of root rot. Check on the roots of the plant for any decay, discoloration, and mushy texture as it is caused by root rot.

How to Treat Root Rot?

• Prevent overwatering plants.
• Use well-draining soil.
• Remove the infected plant from the old soil and disinfect the container, use new well-draining soil, and dispose of the previous soil.

Common plants affected by Root Rot:

• Petunias
• Marigolds
• Cacti and Succulents
• Beans and peas

Leaf Spot:

Leaf spot is caused by both fungi and bacteria. This plant disease is easy to identify as it exhibits dark or discolored spots on the surface of the leaves often surrounded by a yellow halo. Over time if not treated properly the infected leaves may develop holes and drop prematurely after turning yellow severely affecting the plant’s health.

How to Treat Leaf Spot?

• • Firstly, remove all the infected leaves to prevent the spread of this plant disease.
  • Improve the air circulation around the plant as the leaf spot thrives in moist conditions.
  • Avoid overhead watering and use fungicides labeled for leaf spots for serious cases.

Common plants affected by Leaf Spot:

• Dogwoods
• Iris
• Lilacs
• Hostas

Rust:

Rust is another plant disease caused by various species of fungi from the Puccinia genus. Plant disease identification for rust is orange, yellow, or reddish-brown pustules on the surface of leaves, fruits, and stems of the plant. These pustules burst and release powdery spores that spread through water and air. Infected plants may show signs of stunted growth, yellowing leaves, premature leaf drop, and an overall decline in plant health.

How to Treat Rust?

• These type of plant diseases thrives in warm and humid conditions so it is recommended to enhance the air circulation around the plants.
• Prune and dispose of any affected parts of the plant.
• Prevent overhead watering and use fungicides labeled for rust control.

Common plants affected by Rust:

• Roses
• Snapdragons
• Raspberries
• Tomatoes

Fusarium Wilt:

This is a soil-borne fungal plant disease that is caused by various species of the Fusarium genus. This disease affects the vascular system of the plant causing wilting, stunting, and yellowing leaves blocking the overall plant health. Fusarium wilt generally spreads through contaminated soil, infected seeds, or infected plant debris.

How to Treat Fusarium Wilt?

• For this plant disease, there are no cures.
• Prevention is the only option.
• To reduce the risk use disease-resistant plant species and practice crop rotation with well-draining soil.

Common plants affected by Fusarium Wilt:

• Melons
• Strawberries
• Eggplants
• Spinach

Botrytis Blight:

Botrytis Blight aka gray mold is caused by a fungus called Botrytis Cinerea. For this plant disease identification check for symptoms like brown or grayish patches on leaves, fruits, and flowers. Botrytis can cause decay, wilting, and rotting of the infected part of the plant. Poor treatment of this disease can be fatal to plant health.

How to Treat Botrytis Blight?

• This plant disease thrives in cool and moist conditions so improve the air circulation around the plant.
• Remove any infected plant parts.
• Avoid overhead watering and apply fungicides labeled for botrytis control.

Common plants affected by Botrytis Blight:

• Geraniums
• Peppers
• Lettuce
• Petunias

Downy Mildew:

This is another plant disease caused by several species of fungi including Peronospora and Plasmopara. The plant disease identification of downy mildew includes yellow or purple patches on the upper surface of leaves while the bottom side develops grayish growth. The infected leaves can turn brown, wilt, and eventually die in time.

How to Treat Downy Mildew?

• Dispose of any infected plant parts.
• Improve the air circulation around the plant and reduce the humidity levels.
• Avoid overhead watering and use appropriate fungicides.

Common plants affected by Downey Mildew:

• Basils
• Veins
• Impatiens
• Sunflowers

Some general Tips for better Disease Prevention:

• Use disease-resistant varieties of plants for your outdoor gardens or indoor gardening.
• Use proper watering methods. Adequate and regular watering can improve plant health and prevent many plant diseases.
• Follow proper hygiene by regularly cleaning the gardening tools and disinfecting the containers.
• Keep a regular check on your plants for any symptoms as it may help you in plant disease identification.
• Use proper placing while creating your garden creating spaces between plants helps in air circulation and prevents clusters. It also avoids diseases from spreading.
• Keep a strict schedule of plant care especially if you are growing edible plants.

Conclusion

Plant diseases and plant disease identification is a big challenge for anyone who is a plant lover whether a beginner or an expert. So it is essential to have proper knowledge about the types of diseases, their prevention, and their cures based on the species of your plant.

It is suggested to seek help if you face any problem while identifying plant diseases and treating them. Various tools like the Plantora app can help you in this task. This app is a great tool for identifying diseases and getting information on how to cure them.