Oh no, there are weird things happening in your garden! What to do? Let’s take a look at a few common garden diseases that you might encounter, so you will know how to identify them.
One note, I will be using the word fruit to refer to any product of the plant, just to stay consistent with wording. In this case, it is irrelevant if the plant is a fruit or vegetable plant.
Blossom End Rot
Blossom end rot occurs on, you guessed it, the blossom end of a fruit. My understanding is that this is not caused by a bacteria or a fungus, but rather a nutrient deficiency in your soil. If can be diagnosed by seeing large brown sunken in (rotten) areas on the blossom end of your fruit. Making sure your soil is properly amended can help prevent this.
Powdery Mildew
As you can probably guess from the name, powdery mildew looks like a powder on the leaves of your plants. It can affect many different kinds of plants, but I tend to see it most on squashes and zucchini. It is mostly a cosmetic issue, but if left alone does have the potential to spread to other parts of the plant and affect the fruits.
Blight
This is something that can affect a lot of plants, but I tend to see it on tomatoes mostly. If you notice that your tomato leaves are getting yellow with some circular brown spots, you can be fairly sure that they are being affected by blight. From my experience, this disease can come from several things, but mostly from moist environments harboring the bacteria that causes it. We will want to make sure we are watering at the base of the plant, and not overhead, so that we keep the leaves and fruits as dry as possible.
Did you know about these garden issues? Have you seen any of them before?