Houseplant care is very important. In an article the other day, root rot and fungus disease were covered. Today three more houseplant diseases will be discussed.

photo credit: Kyknoord

Bacteria

Bacteria are a household plant disease that can do the most damage to a plant. And there are no chemical sprays that can combat bacteria, so the best control is to stop it before it happens.

In bacterial leaf spot, the plant will develop yellow or yellow orange spots. They can be small like a pinhole or as large a 3/8 of an inch. They will grow and eventually cover the leaf.

Erwinia is another form of bacteria. It will appear as spots on the leaves or rot out the main stem. New leaves will turn yellow and wilt away, the plant will have a foul smell and eventually die. The best prevention against bacteria disease is to keep humidity low and moisture off the leaves.

Nematodes

Nematodes are tiny roundworms that can cause plant diseases. They can cause stunted plant growth by weakening the roots. They also can live in the leaves themselves, causing the leaf to die. Nematode disease is rare in house plants, but will occur especially if you bring other plants in from outdoors.

Also, make sure that you do not use garden soil for your indoor plants. Garden soil is free of insects and has a better soil consistency for indoor use. Use a commercial potting soil or a mix of compost and potting soil.

Viruses

Viruses enter the interior of the plant through the cells and live off of the interior structure. A virus will easily spread from one plant to another by insects.

Unfortunately there is no treatment for viruses and the plant should be removed from other plants in order to stop the spread. I usually find I have to get rid of the infected plant so I am very careful to prevent plant virus problems.

The main reason for any plant disease is either lighting or watering problems. Too much or little of either will weaken the plant and make it susceptible to disease.

My advice is read up on your plants and keep a garden or houseplant journal of their needs that you can refer to if needed.

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This entry was posted on Monday, January 4th, 2010 at 12:45 am and is filed under backyard oasis. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.