Garden Tips & Resources

Disease is one of the most worrying things for the greenhouse gardener. How do you fix the problem without destroying the balance you are so carefully trying to maintain, and how do you determine what the root cause of the problrem is?.

Apart from the diseases specific to the plants you are growing in your greenhouse, there are six main diseases that are general.

Greenhouse supply companies, nurseries, and garden centers will always give advice about specific problems you may be having

Damping Off In The Greenhouse

If you are new to Greenhouse gardening, this is the most likely problem you are first going to face. Young plants, usually seedlings, just topple over and die, though sometimes this fungal disease shows itself as a blackened area at the base of the stem. This may be the first symptom you see. Your nice healthy seedings suddenly died. There is no cure, since your plants are already dead. Prevention, however, is possible. Sometimes the disease is carried in the soil and you should steralize the soil by heating to kill it. Clean and steralise your trays and pots after use. Sow seeds more thinly, water less and raise the temperature of you greenhouse.If the disease seems to be spreading, try watering with copper fungicide.

Botrytis In The Greenhouse

The more common name for this disease is grey mould. Symptoms for this common Fungal disease are a grey-brown or dirty white mould on stems and leaves. This often also occurs in garden plants, so you may well have encountered it before.Poor Ventilation and low temperature are common causes of botrytis. Affected parts should be removed, since they will not recocer.Infected parts should be burned and never put on the compost. You should the improve the greenhouse ventilation, and turn up the heat.

Mildew In The Greenhouse

Mildew causes distotion of leaves, and shows as a powdery white coating. Affected leaves should be removed, and burned, since they will not recover. Leaving them on or around the plant will encourage the disease to spread. Unlike Damping Off and Botrytis, mildew is most likely to occur if the soil is to dry, so make sure your plants never go short of water. Adding dispersible sulpfer or copper fungicide when watering will help to contain any widespread mildew infection.

Blight In The Greenhouse

Blight is shown as brown marks on fruit and leaves. The marks may spread and turn black. Remove and burn affected parts of the plant immediately. If the disease persists, spray with copper fungicide.

Leaf Mould In The Greenhouse

Leaf Mould causes yellow spots and a brown mould to appear on the leaves. Poor ventilation is the most likely caise. Improve ventilation by adjusting vents, and give your plants much more space.

Virus Diseases In The Greenhouse

Many plants, such as cucumber and tomato can be affected by virus diseases. They exhibit a number of symptoms including a “fern-like” appearance, or yellow mottling of the leaves. Sometimes leaves will appear to wilt, then recover and do it again regularly. Loss of vigour and poor cropping will occur.
There is no cure! Affected plants should be removed and burned. If virus attacks tomatoes, grow them in grow bags the next year. You need to be extra vigilant about hygene, since virus diseases are spred by insects, garden tools and also by hand.

Diseases in the Greenhouse may seem daunting, and most of us will sufer from them from time to time. But, If you regularly check over your plants,keeping an eye out for symptoms, you should be able to take early action to stop a widespread infection. Most of these diseases are preventable by the right watering and ventilation and this really only comes with experience. So don’t be too concerned. Enjoy your greenhouse gardening and deal with problems as they come.

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