Home Vegetable Gardening: Taking Care Of Root Rot

By Author: Michael Podlesny
Total Articles: 174
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Root rot can affect just about every plant you can think of growing in your home vegetable garden.

Various organisms can cause root rot but the results are basically the same. The plant will begin to wilt and look like it is about to die and the leaves begin to turn yellow.

This process will speed up when the ground is extremely moist or becomes too wet.

Here are some steps you can take to tackle root rot head on and potentially save your harvest.

As soon as you notice a plant has been infected with root rot remove that plant immediately. Failure to do so can result in the condition spreading to other plants.

Get to know the process of brewing your own compost tea. Compost tea is filled with loads of helpful bacteria, enzymes and micro-organisms that will ward off the bad bacteria and micro-organisms. Just remember to start with good quality compost that can be made by allowing organic matter to biodegrade. Once you have compost tea make sure you spray your vegetable garden at the start of the growing season and then every two weeks thereafter.

Before your growing season begins, ...
... solarize your soil. This is the process of covering your garden with a large sheet of plastic like a plastic tarp. Leave this on for one month prior to the growing season beginning. The heat generated will help kill off weed needs and other harmful organisms.

Remember to rotate your vegetable plants yearly and add compost to your garden throughout the entire growing season.

All of these steps combined will help reduce your chances of root rot. Keeping root rot out of your garden will lead to bigger, better and tastier harvests.
About the Author
Mike is the author of the book Vegetable Gardening for the Average Person: A Guide to Vegetable Gardening for the Rest of Us, available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and where ever gardening books are sold. For more tips on vegetable gardening, Mike can be reached at his website: AveragePersonGardening.com.