Home Vegetable Garden Disease Management
bacteria, nematodes and viruses. Your issues with fungi or bacteria happen more when you have more rain or heavy dew along with warm temperatures. Your virus problems are more problematic during the summer when insects that carry the diseases are more active. Nematodes can be a problem when temperatures are warm, but they can be a problem all year. I will be sharing information from a revised UGA publication by UGA Home Garden/ Small Farm Plant Pathologist, Elizabeth Little.
For starters, you may not be able to totally eliminate disease issues, but you can reduce the problems by following certain gardening tips. The first step of selecting the gardening site may be as important as any other decision. You need a sunny spot that can provide good ventilation, along with that spot having great soil drainage. A spot that stays too wet can lead to seedling, root and crowd diseases. Shady garden sites can lead to more humidity in that spot thus a better growing environment for pathogens. Sunny areas will help keep plant foliage dry and can help reduce disease issues, too.
Our information states to not forget crop rotation in your management. If you continue to plant vegetables of the same plant family year after year in the same spot, you can be helping pathogen buildup. It is suggested to only grow the same type of vegetable or close related vegetables in the same soil once every 3- 5 years. Crop rotation can reduce most pathogens that can start stem and leaf diseases. I will add if you have issues with some of the soil- borne diseases such as root and crown, vascular wilts and even rootknot nematodes, the rotation may have to be longer and you may have to incorporate other measures. I can email anyone a chart that will breakdown the common garden vegetables and their plant families.
We also suggest to use disease- free seed and transplants. Little states that many plant diseases can be seedborne. If seeds are to be saved, study seed saving guides for info on which plant species or cultivars are appropriate. Also, only keep the seeds from healthy appearing plants. There are some diseases that can contaminate seed of the host plant. If contaminated seed is planted the next year, the new plant is susceptible to infection from this additional source of disease. Again, if you keep seed, make sure the host plant is healthy or buy the seed from a reputable company. Seed companies will often treat seed with fungicides that will protect seeds and seedling, but will not provide much help after the seedling stage. I will also add to take advantage of disease resistant varieties to help reduce chance of some problem diseases. Resistance is a term that means some plants can have total immunity or partial resistance depending on the disease in question and the plant variety.
When you plant can be an important step in disease management. Our information adds that planting seed when the soil is the wrong temperature for good seed germination can increase seed and seedling diseases. Also, warm season crops are more susceptible to damage from cold temperatures and cool season seed may not germinate if the temperatures are hot. Another tip is proper spacing and trellising to help reduce disease. The key here is to help provide good air circulation. If the plants are crowded, wet conditions in that spot can hang around for a while, thus a greater chance for disease.
Proper irrigation can be a tool, also. Plants need deep irrigation events in absence of rainfall. This will help encourage healthy root systems if you water deeply of 1- inch equivalent of water when needed, no more than once per week if possible based on rainfall numbers. Soaker hoses are better in efficiently watering as compared to sprinklers.
Finally, I would suggest to study up on other tips such as proper mulching, correct fertilization and organic matter and even weed control in the garden in order to reduce disease issues. Sanitation and how to use pesticides correctly are also disease management considerations.
For more information, contact UGA Extension- Gordon County at 706- 629- 8685 or email gbowman@ uga. edu.