Symptoms, Signs, and Situations
Thursday, June 28, 2012 8:18 AM
Plants react to their environment much differently than people do. When it is hot, they can't move to the shade, and when it's cold, they can't come inside. Plant reactions to the environment are slow and methodical, while people can react just as quickly as the weather changes.
Plants have a limited tolerance to environmental stress. Many of them just can't take too much abuse. If we ignore their needs, they may suffer stress and eventually die.
A large tree has stored water in it's tissue and this can help it survive a period of drought. But after it has depleted the reserve supply of water, the tree is too far gone to respond to rainfall or irrigation. No amount of water will save it.
Summer problems are arising that seem to have their origins in previous years of drought. The plants that are weakened will be more susceptible to damage from diseases and insects. Ignoring signs of stress will hurt your chances of protecting plants. Assuming that all plants in an area will respond in exactly the same way to stress is not accurate.
Plants are no different than other living things -- some live, some die and sometimes there's no explanation. But if a plant sends signals indicating that something is wrong, you should learn to recognize these signals.
The first step is learning how to recognize a healthy plant. Step two is observing your plants so that problems will be noticed early. Step three is examining the plant in detail to find the damage. It could be in need of water, starving for nutrients, diseased, insect infested, wind battered or burned. To make a correct diagnosis of a plant problem, you must look at a variety of things. Careful observation is critical.
A symptom is any change in the appearance of a plant. External symptoms include malformations, discoloration or other variations that are unnatural. Look for symptoms on a regular basis as you care for plants.
A sign is any visible part of an attacking organism. Signs include insects, insect parts, disease pathogens, stuff they leave behind or any evidence of their presence. Signs are the surest method of plant problem diagnosis.
A situation is the circumstances surrounding the development of the problem. A situation will include weather conditions (over a very long period for some plants), previous care and growth, soil conditions, time of year, pollution and chemicals.
Keep these tips in mind when you see plant problems:
Determine what part or parts of the plant are affected.
Determine how many of these plants are affected and whether the distribution shows any pattern.
Determine whether the plants affected are the same species or of different species.
Look at the lay of the land. Look for differences -- in soil type, soil drainage, amount of sunlight, etc.
Consider the plant history. Plants do not always respond to stress immediately so try to find out what it has been going through.
Contact the Central Kansas Extension Office for advice on plant health care. Samples and pictures are often useful in diagnosing the problem.
Determine whether intervention is necessary. It is often more prudent to make the plant less susceptible and the environment less favorable for the development of problems. Chemicals simply won't solve every problem.