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The Rural Voice, 2001-09, Page 54Gardening How to diagnose your sick plants By Rhea Hamilton -Seeger It has been a wicked summer for rain or rather lack of it. We have been watering new perennials and small shrubs sparingly from the well. but cold well water only helps them exist but not flourish. Aside from the lack of water in our garden this summer, we have been noticing a few discolourations in some of the plants. In nature plants co -exist and the debris composts out and goes back to feed the plants. In our gardens we combine plants that come from different habitats, and have different needs. We try to clean up everything in the garden in order to cut down on diseases and unwanted insects and end up depriving our plants of possible nutrients. To compensate for the tidiness we apply all the compost we can get our hands onto (at least I do). Gardens tbat are supplemented with compost not only have access to the basic plant foods, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, but also gain a few minor nutrients. This past summer has created havoc Bo 0 DB DM • VA 9 6 4 Hours: 10 - 6 Daily Closed Tuesdays The best time to plant was 10 yrs. ago. • The second best is now. 50% OFF on selected nursery stock & flowering shrubs FIELD TOMATOES For canning, freezing & chili sauce, etc. by the pound or by the bushel or anywhere in between - you pick or we pick in your containers. A LARGE SELECTION OF PERENNIALS Goderich Telephone Rd. 1' TE-EM N FARM Huron County 1113 Clinton Bayfield R R. 1, Bayfield, Ontario 519-482-3020 50 THE RURAL VOICE in some of the gardens. Gardens that suffer from discoloration and poor growth may have had too much or too little water, attacks by pests and diseases, build up of salty soils, misuse of poisons, too much or too little shade, or an inappropriate pH reading in the soil. I am an old fashioned gardener (and a bit of a cheap one). I believe that if a plant is struggling you have to learn to read the signs. identify the symptoms and then treat it. Plant nutrition is one of the first areas to look at atter insects have been ruled out. The three main "foods" have very definite jobs to do and when absent can cause problems. Nitrogen is responsible for the basic growth of healthy leaves and if missing the leaves will gradually turn yellow and new growth will be stunted. I remember phosphorus as the nutrient for the "blood of a plant." It aids photosynthesis and helps build roots, shoots and flower buds. Therefore lack of phosphorus will cause stunted spindly growth and blue- green leaves and no flowers. Potassium is for the bones or stem of the plant and regulates and assists the chemical reactions within the plant. A shortage of potassium causes a lusterless grey green colour, perhaps even yellow spots. Affected leaves will tum brown at the edges and die. But for the gardener who uses compost and locates her plants in the sites best suited for their nature and still has problems, then one has to look at the pH level of the soil. An imbalance in the pH level makes it difficult for the plant to access the proper minerals or nutrients. If the majority of plants are 'not thriving then consider a soil test. You can contact your local OMAFRA office for an agency near you. One simple symptom of missing trace elements is yellowing between the veins of younger leaves first and then more mature leaves. It is an indication of manganese deficiency. A simple watering with Epsom salts cures it. Iron also causes young leaves to yellow but the veins remain dark green. A simple dose of water soluble iron chelate helps overcome this. Trace elements are just that, trace, and it only take a very little to do the job. It shows up as a lot of strange discolouration on young leaves especially along the veins or around the leaf margins. Another quick fix is to spray the plant with liquid seaweed or fish emulsion. It contains most of the necessary trace elements. Enough is absorbed through leaf surfaces to give a quick cure. For long-term results apply to the soil. There are some wonderful books on the market that list the symptoms and what you can do to solve the problem. Gardening, a common sense guide, compiled and edited by Geoffrey Burnie and published by Whitecap Books is a wonderful Canadian book that should be beside every gardener's chair. While all this discussion has been around your garden, the same symptoms show up in your house plants. So while the winter winds are howling you can practice your observation skills and have robust houseplants this winter.0 Rhea Hamilton -Seeger and her husband raise two children at their home near Auburn. She is a skilled cook and gardener. PATTI ROBERTSON'S Unique Residential and Commercial Interiors 135 Victoria St., WINGHAM 357-2872 • Custom-made Window Fashions, Bedspreads & Accessories • Fine Domestic & Imported Fabrics • Select Wallcouerings • Furnishings, Lighting & Artwork to suit any interior...