ORNAMENTAL

PLANT DISEASES
AND THEIR
MANAGEMENTS

Presented for
FIDI,

CECIRLY G. PUIG USeP, CARS,

Mabini, ComVal

Physiological
Disorders
are those caused by
various environmental
factors, rather than
biological agents

Disorders Include

Too much/little water

Too much/little light
Too little humidity
Bruising
Too much/little
fertilizer
Sudden rise/fall of
temperature
Plant is too big for its
pot

No Pathogen involved

First Aid for Diseased

Ornamental Plants!

Cause: Too much water.

What to do?

Lower leaves turn yellow

Soft stems and dark in
color
Soggy soils and green
scum forms on pots

Cause: Too little water or

too much heat.
What to do?

Leaf edges dry and curl under

Lower leaves turn yellow w/
brown spots and fall
Cacti and succulents become
yellowed

Cause: Too much light;

sunscorch
What to do?

Yellow or brown patches on

the leaves
Leaves on one side turn
brown
Cacti become yellow

Cause: Too little light.

What to do?

Stems stretch toward the light

source and grow very long
Leaves on new stems are palecolored and small
On cacti, the new growth looks
weak

Cause: Too little

humidity.
What to do?

Leaf edges turn brown,

and eventually leaves
die and fall off.

Cause: Bruising
What to do?

Leaf tips turn brown,

especially on ferns
Leaves or stems appear to
be crushed or broken

Cause: Too much

fertilizer.
What to do?

New growth is rapid but weak and

the plant wilts
A white crust of build-up salts
develops on the surface of the
soil/pots

Cause: Too little

fertilizer.
What to do?

Leaves fade to a pale green

Lower leaves turn yellow and drop off
New leaves are small or growth stops

Cause: Sudden rise or fall

in temperature.
What to do?

Leaves turn yellow and fall off

suddenly
Plant tissues appear glassy and
translucent

Cause: Plant is too big for

its pot.
What to do?
Repot the plant in
a
larger
container.

Plants appear crowded

Roots protrude from the drainage hole or
crop out on top of the soil
Plant wilts between waterings
Produces only a few small leaves

Disease
Interaction between
the plant and a
pathogen that disrupts
the normal growth and
appearance of the
plant

Crown Gall

(Agrobacterium

tumefaciens)

Management
Steaming/
solarization
Sanitation
Disinfect tools

Galls at the base of

the stem or root crown
or on other plant parts

Damping-off
(Rhizoctonia solani,
Pythiumspp., etc.)

Seedlings rot at or below

the soil line and are killed.
Pre-emergence/postemergence damping-of
If the problem is caused
byPythium,it usually
begins at the root tips.

Management
Good
drainage (raised
beds, leveled fields)
Careful irrigation
Planting when soil and
air temperatures are
favorable
for
rapid
seedling emergence
Proper
depth
and
spacing of planting
Seed
treatments, and
drenches
of
soil
fungicides

Fusarium Wilt
(Fusarium oxysporum)

Yellowing and stunting of older

plants and yellowing, stunting,
and death of seedlings.
Plants wilt readily, lower leaves
yellow and dry, the xylem tissues
turn brown, and the plant may
die.
early stages: roots are not rotted
carnation and gladiolus: the
symptoms may be one-sided at
first.

Management

Seeds: hot-water treatment;

fungicide-coated
use of resistant cultivars
Liming soils and using nitrate
nitrogen fertilizer have been
efective for management
ofFusarium oxysporumon
chrysanthemum, aster, gladiolus

Phytophthora Root and

Crown Rots
(Phytophthoraspp.)

Plants become stunted, low

in vigor, and appear as if
they were water stressed.
Foliage yellows and the
plant may wilt and die.
Roots rot and stem is
girdled by the fungi at or
below the soil line,
resulting in a dark brown
rot.

Management

providing good drainage and water

management
Clean planting materials
Sanitation
Soil solarization / heat treatment

Phytoplasmas

yellowing and dwarfing, distorted foliage,

and the abnormalproduction of shoots.
Flowers may not develop normally and
are often replaced by green leafy
structures.

Management:
Control the insect vectors
Sanitation

Powdery Mildew
(Erysiphespp.,Leveillula (= Oidiopsis) taurica,
Oidiumsp.,Sphaerothecaspp.)

white, powdery growth

on the surfaces
ofleaves and
sometimesother plant
parts.
Leaves may yellow,
then brown and die.
Infected tissues may
bedistortedand
misshapen.

Management

use of resistant cultivars

increased air movementaround the
plants in the greenhouse/nursery

Pythium Root Rot(Pythiumspp.)

Attacks juvenile tissues such

as the root tip.
Black rot of the entire primary
root and may even move up
into the stem tissue.
Under wet conditionsbrought
about by poor soil drainage or
excess irrigation, more and
morerootsare killed and the
plant may wilt, stop growing,
or evencollapse and die.
Bulbs of susceptible plants
turn black, gradually
desiccate, and form a hard
mummy.

Management

Good drainage
Sanitation
Soil solarization/heat treatment

Rust
(Pucciniaspp. and others)

Rust pustules appear as

powdery masses of
yellow, orange, purple,
black, or brown spores on
leaves and sometimes on
stems.

Pustules are usually

found on the undersides
of leaves.

Management

hot water treatment of cuttings

eliminate alternate hosts if they
occur and prune ofinfected stalks
Avoid overhead irrigation

Blight
(Sclerotium rolfsii, Rhizoctonia solani, etc.)

basal stem rots (cottony

rot)

discoloration of lower
leaves, wilting, plant
collapse, and death.

Management

hot water treatment of planting

materials
Heat treatment or solarization of
potting medium

Black rot

Management

Root Rot

Ascochyta

Ascochyta leaf
symptoms

Ascochyta stem
symptoms

Disease

ASCOCHYTA
RAY BLIGHT

Symptoms

Pathogen/Cause

Flower
development is
retarded on one
side of the bud.
Petals exhibit a
brown
discoloration.
Ascochyta
Browning and
(Mycosphaerella)
blackening extends
down the stem,
causing the flower
to droop. Brown to
black irregularly
shaped spots
develop on leaves.

Management

Avoid overhead
irrigation. Apply
chlorothalonil,
propiconazole,
fludioxonil, copper
hydroxide,
iprodione, or
thiophanate methyl
+ mancozeb as a
foliar spray.

Bacterial Blight

Bacterial blight
(Erwinia).

BACTERIAL
BLIGHT

Cuttings turn dark

brown and
collapse.
Surviving cuttings
may be infected
Erwinia
but have no
chrysanthemi
symptoms.
Established plants
wilt during the day
when infected and
recover at night.

Purchase cultureindexed cuttings

that are free of the
pathogen.
Disinfect
propagation beds
between crops.
Destroy infected
cuttings.

Bacterial Leaf spot

Bacterial leaf spot

(Pseudomonas).

BACTERIAL
LEAF SPOT

Small dark brown

to black spots on
lower leaves
enlarge and become
irregular in shape.
When infected
leaves dry, the
Pseudomonas
spots become
cichorii
brittle and crack.
The disease often
spreads up plants in
one side of the pot,
eventually to the
flowers.

Do not plant
infected cuttings.
Avoid overhead
irrigation. Water in
a manner that keeps
leaf surfaces dry at
all times. Protect
plants grown
outdoors from
splashing.

Foliar nematode

Foliar nematode
symptoms.

Carnation: Alternaria leaf spot

Alternaria leaf spot

ALTERNARIA
LEAF SPOT

Apply
chlorothalonil
,
Small
propiconazol
purplish
e, fludioxonil,
spots form on
copper
Alternaria
leaves. Their
hydroxide,
dianthicola or
centers
iprodione,
Alternaria
become
mancozeb, or
dianthi
brown while
mancozeb +
the leaf
thiophanate
yellows.
methyl to
protect
healthy
plants.

Rust

Rust

RUST

Small blisters
containing
Uromyces
rust-red
dianthi
spores form
on leaves.

Apply
chlorothalonil
,
propiconazol
e,
myclobutanil,
ziram,
mancozeb +
thiophanate
methyl,
triadimefon,
or triforine to
protect
healthy
plants.

Botrytis petal blight

Botrytis petal blight

Symptoms:
Straw-colored to
light brown rot of
the lower, older
portion of the flower
Flower surface
covered with gray,
fuzzy masses of
spores of the fungus

Management:
Sanitation remove
and burn infected
tissues, rotting
plants, other debris
Apply fungicidal
sprays to the
foliage to prevent
colonization of
senescent leaves.

Prevention is Better
than CURE!!!
Cultural Management
should be strictly
followed.
If symptoms persist,
call a plant pathologist.

Your Plant Doctors:

Philippine Phytopathological
Society, Inc.
(Southern Mindanao Division)
CECIRLY G. PUIG
Asst. Professor 3
Registered Agriculturist,
PRC License No. 0012349
Contact: Mobile 09297553619
e-mail address: cecirly_gonzales@hotmail.com
USEP Tagum-Mabini Campus, Mabini, ComVal