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greengate garden centres ltd.
14111 Macleod Trail South Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Phone (403) 256 1212

gardenhelp@greengate.ca

Diagnosing Disease

 

Define the problem

• what would a normal plant look like?
• how is this plant different?

Look for patterns

• non-uniform patterns indicate living factors (e.g. insects, fungus, bacteria)
• uniform patterns indicate non-living factors (e.g. chemical, physical, weather)

Identify time of development.

• progressive spreading indicates living organism.
• damage occurring but not spreading to other parts of the plant indicates non-living factor.

Determine cause

• distinguish between living organisms.
• distinguish between non-living organisms.
• the most likely thing for it to be is the most likely thing it will be.

Look around

• what types of plants are affected; all the same or different, how many, same age or some new, some old, damage on same side on different plants.
• wind and sun patterns, driveways soil sterilizer.
• plants in appropriate growing conditions for that plant.

Ask questions

• planted by the same person; some by plant owner, some by developer.
• changes in growing conditions; soil added, construction, watering system installed.
• any spraying done or pesticides used.

Diagnosis

• does it make sense to the plant owner?
• don't be afraid of common sense and trusting your sub-conscious to tell you an answer you already know. If an answer immediately comes to mind, but you wonder if it is right, pay attention to it trust your own judgment. As you learn more, it is stored in retrievable memory, but you have to be able to access it and consider it.
• with experience comes a knowledge of specific symptoms you can't possible know unless you have seen them (e.g. honeysuckle aphid, telial galls)
• there is no law that you can't have more than one problem at the same time