by johnah on November 7, 2020
Crown Rot Identification And Tips For Crown Rot Treatment
What Is Crown Rot?
Crown rot is a fungal disease caused by Rhizoctonia solani (the same fungus responsible for potato blight). It affects many different types of plants including but not limited to: azaleas, boxwood, cabbage, chrysanthemums, dogwoods, elms, ferns, fig trees and roses. There are several varieties of fungi that cause crown rot. They include:
Rhizoctonia solani (Potato Blight)
Rhus toxicodendron (Yellow Leaf Spot)
Agaricus bisporus (Broom Thorn Apple Bloom Disease)
The two most common causes of crown rot are R. solani and A. bisporus. Both of these fungi produce spores that are carried by wind and rain. These spores can infect plants when they land on them during their growth cycle.
Once inside the plant, the spores begin to grow and multiply rapidly until they reach a certain point where they stop growing and die off. At this point, the fungus dies out leaving behind a brown spot that looks like a bruise on the leaf surface.
How Do You Diagnose Crown Rot?
In order to properly diagnose the cause of your plants’ infection, you will need to access the plant’s history. Get to know when the plant was first infected through detailed questioning and know what conditions were like at that time. If you can narrow down the time where the infection must have occurred then you might be able to find a suspect. Have someone else help you with this process so that they can take notes and conduct interviews themselves.
When you think you have a good idea of when the infection occurred, inspect the plant for symptoms that are common to several different types of fungus. For example, all types of crown rot cause spots and discoloration on the leaves and roots, white fluffy mold on the topsoil and a dull color showing through on the bottom of infected leaves.
Crown rot can be confused with several other types of fungal infection so it is important to eliminate other possible causes first. This is where your expert knowledge and experience come in handy. By looking at the plant and comparing it to other plants with similar symptoms, you should be able to make a good guess as to whether or not it’s crown rot.
How To Prevent Crown Rot
There are several things that you can do in order to prevent crown rot from infecting your plants in the first place. The first thing that you can do is quarantine any new plants for about three weeks. Don’t put them in the same area that you grow your other plants and don’t water them with water that the other plants have been in contact with. This will help prevent the spread of any potential diseases.
The next thing that you can do is make sure to inspect any incoming plants for symptoms of disease. If you find anything suspicious, do not accept the plant. It is much better to be safe than sorry since it can cost you a lot of money to dispose of plants that are infected.
The final thing that you can do is make sure to only buy plant stock from reputable places. This means your local nursery as well as big box stores. If possible, try to buy locally since this will cut down on shipping costs and time which can both lead to plant stress and susceptibility to disease.
How To Treat Crown Rot
The best way to treat crown rot is to prevent it from spreading in the first place. As soon as you notice any symptoms, remove ALL infected plants and dispose of them immediately. Do not put them in the compost pile because the spores can live in the soil for years and cause ongoing infections.
The next thing that you should do is remove ALL of the topsoil. If possible, put a layer of sand or gravel down before you add new topsoil. This will help prevent excess moisture from accumulating in the soil and provide something for the plants’ roots to grow into.
You can try using an antibacterial soap or bleach to sanitize any tools, pots or other items that might have come into contact with the infected soil. Be very careful when using these products however. They can be dangerous if you over-apply them. Read the labels carefully and follow the instructions.
Once you have sanitized everything that might have come into contact with the infected soil, you should be able to introduce healthy plants into the area without worrying about infecting them as well.
The final thing that you can do is try treating the plant itself if it has already been infected but hasn’t shown any symptoms yet. If you catch it in time, you can use products like Talstar P and Bayer Lawn Disease Control to prevent the infection from spreading. Both of these are widely available at most home improvement and gardening stores. Follow the instructions on the labels and repeat applications every seven to ten days as needed.
These products are widely available and fairly cheap so it’s worth trying them as a preventative measure if you have a large garden or grow a lot of marijuana.
QUALITY HYDROMETER: A Quality Hydrometer Is Essential To Making Top-Shelf Cannabis Oil.
How To Make Cannabis Oil With A Hydrometer
Learning how to make cannabis oil with a hydrometer can be tricky if you don’t have the right tools. One of the most important tools that you’re going to need is a high quality hydrometer. You can’t exactly make cannabis oil without knowing the percentages of THC and other cannabinoids as well as the other essentials oils and elements that are going to make your oil effective.
At the very least, you’re going to need a hydrometer that can tell you the density of what you’re mixing. In this case, we’ll be mixing alcohol and cannabis oil. The density meter will measure how dense the mixture is so that you know when you’ve achieved the highest level of potency possible.
Sources & references used in this article:
Fusarium species associated with crown rot of alfalfa in Nevada by C Snyder, HN Hans, F sambucinum Fuckel – Plant disease, 1991 – apsnet.org
Isolation and identification of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria from cucumber rhizosphere and their effect on plant growth promotion and disease … by S Islam, AM Akanda, A Prova, MT Islam… – Frontiers in …, 2016 – frontiersin.org
The incidence of crown rot of boxed bananas in relation to microbial populations of the crown tissue by FL Lukezic, WJ Kaiser… – Canadian Journal of …, 1967 – NRC Research Press
Phytophthora crown rot of apple trees: Sources of Phytophthora cactorum and P. cambivora as primary inoculum. by SN Jeffers, HS Aldwinckle – Phytopathology, 1988 – apsnet.org
Identity and pathogenicity of fungi associated with root and crown rot of soft red winter wheat grown on the upper coastal plain land resource area of Mississippi by MS Gonzalez, LE Trevathan – Journal of Phytopathology, 2000 – Wiley Online Library
Crown rot of bananas: preharvest factors involved in postharvest disease development and integrated control methods by L Lassois, MH Jijakli, M Chillet… – Plant …, 2010 – Am Phytopath Society
Induction of systemic resistance by mixtures of antagonist bacteria for the management of crown rot complex on banana by G Sangeetha, R Thangavelu, SU Rani… – Acta physiologiae …, 2010 – Springer
An integrated method to control postharvest diseases of banana using a member of the Burkholderia cepacia complex by DM De Costa, H Erabadupitiya – Postharvest Biology and Technology, 2005 – Elsevier
Fusarium root and crown rot: a disease of container-grown hostas by B Wang, SN Jeffers – Plant disease, 2000 – Am Phytopath Society
Categories:
Tags:
No Tag
Post navigation
Previous post Crabapple Trees For Landscapes: A Guide To Common Crabapple Varieties
Post navigation
Next post Different Lettuce Types: Varieties Of Lettuce For The Garden