Plant Aid

Although the indoor hydroponic environment can be perfectly tailored to supply all the natural elements necessary for optimum health, plants, like humans, are living organisms that are susceptible to disease and ill health as a consequence of external factors.

Three Counties Hydroponics supply a wide range of products to bring poorly plants back to health. As with human medicine there are products for both prevention and cure.

Plant Health

Pathogens can come in the form of either viruses or bacteria. Fungal diseases are most common in plants but both types of infection will do major harm to your plants.

Bacteria can be spread by water, insects, infected soil, or contaminated tools. The bacteria usually enters the plant through wounds or an area of dead or dying tissue but can enter through natural openings, like the stomata of the leaves. Once inside, the bacteria plug up the plant's vascular system (the vessels that carry water and nutrients) and cause the plant to wilt. Other common symptoms of bacterial disease include rotting and swollen plant tissues.

Plants infected by viruses may show a range of symptoms depending on the disease but often there is leaf yellowing (either of the whole leaf or in a pattern of stripes or blotches), leaf distortion (e.g. curling) and/or other growth distortions (e.g. stunting of the whole plant, abnormalities in flower or fruit formation). Most plant viruses are transmitted by insects that feed on the plant or are introduced through wounds made, for example, during pruning. For this reason, it is very important to check your plants regularly for signs of damage from insects and other predation, as well as physical cuts and scratches. Once inside the plant they live within the cells and are unable to be killed without destroying the plant.

Pest Control

About 80% of plant diseases can be traced to fungi. Fungi can grow on living or dead plant tissue and can survive in a dormant stage until conditions become favourable for their proliferation. They can penetrate plant tissue or grow on the plant's surface. Fungal spores, which act like seeds, are spread by wind, water, soil, and animals to other plants. Warm, humid conditions promote fungal growth. While many fungi play useful roles in plant growth, especially by forming mycorrhizal associations with the plant's roots, others cause such common plant diseases as anthracnose, Leaf Spot Fungus, apple scab, club root, black spot, damping off, and powdery mildew. Fungi in general tend to attach to the outside of the plant and use root like structures to penetrate the plant and steal its nutrients.

The best defences against plant disease are creating favourable environmental growing conditions, destroying all diseased plants and debris, sterilization of all equipment and surfaces when planting new plants and meticulous hygiene. If you grow and maintain healthy plants they are more likely to stay healthy as healthy plants are more resistant against pests and diseases than sickly plants. Allow as much free air between your plants as possible. This cuts down on the transmission of fungal infections.