When I was growing tomatoes last year I felt researching and writing up all that could go wrong was to court certain disaster.
I don’t know if a term exists for a by-proxy plant hypochondriac but when it rained hard overnight I lay awake imagining Billy Blight making his way from plant to plant and a scene of MGM biblical destruction awaiting me come morning.
However as we’re still in wannabe season as far as tomato plants are concerned, now seems like a good time to be brave and look at the horrors which can strike.
Disease and destruction arrive in different ways so before holding the identity parade I thought I’d get straight in my head, the nature of what we’re up against.
Disease
Plant disease results from a band of baddies collectively known as Pathogens: Fungi, Bacteria and Viruses. They spread in different ways often involving pests.
Destruction
Pests also cause damage in their own right. Slugs and snails come into this group.
Disorder
Physiological Disorders are not caused by pests or diseases. They are caused by a problem originating in the environment in which the plant is growing e.g. frost/wind/drought/water logging. They may also be caused by nutritional deficiencies. Or a gardeners neglect.
Depending on what needs addressing there are also different ways of fighting the problem
Cultural control: A traditional, no chemical approach using barriers, traps and intervention by hand to prevent the problem. Crops are protected from pests by appropriate physical barriers and pests are removed from site. (E.g. beer traps for slugs, picking caterpillars off by hand)
Biological control: This refers to the practice of using one organism to limit the population of another. It’s the creation of a hit squad, the drafting in of a pest’s natural enemy to come in and clean up.
Something which occurs all the time in nature but in this instance a gardener introduces a predator/parasite to target a particular problem. For example in a greenhouse, Glasshouse Whitefly can be controlled by the introduction of Encarsia Formosa.
Chemical control: This covers the use of Insecticides/Pesticides and Fungicides.
If used in spray form there are two different ways in which these work, Contact or Systemic.
Contact insecticides are applied so that the chemical either sprays the pest directly or sprays and covers the leaf surface and the pest picks it up from there.
Contact fungicides will kill fungal spores which are present on the surface of the plant.
Systemic insecticides and fungicides move beyond the surface of the plant and are absorbed by it. This means systemic insecticides can kill pests which feeding off the sap of the plant and systemic fungicides can kill fungal spores which are present in the tissue of the plant.
Tomorrow we take our first peek into knowing your enemy ( or your tomatoes enemy).
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
I Think you should know of a brilliant and BEST Slug control method on the market today …I and most gardeners suffer from slugs and snails in this damp weather and in fact now that the climate has changed all over the world we have the slug and snail problem all year round, I have tried beer traps, copper tape after 5 days has no affect as it builds up an anodised coating, also tried salt, egg shells, even throwing them in my neighbours garden ( just kidding ) etc,etc all these methods are not practical long lasting and are harmful to our wildlife. Go to this site http://www.slugbell.com they use both Organic or Normal Metaldehyde bug pellets and that the small amount of pellets needed will last up to 3 months.!!! as they don’t dissolve in the soil and are Child ,Pet i.e. Cat , Dog wildbird and other wildlife Safe Brilliant for pet owners , whilst protecting natures cycle It is also the most attractive. and can Easley be moved around the garden…The Best slug control method on the market today…..try it and see for your self .. Michael