Attacking fungal diseases in the garden

摘要

Ladmit to a certain affinity for some fungi (those delectable mushrooms and truffles), but many of these primitive, largely microscopic, nonflowering plants can be highly troublesome to the gardener in me. We're all familiar with common fungal diseases such as powdery mildew on phlox and bee balm, black spot on roses, and rust on hollyhocks. Did you also know that fungi cause many wilts, rots, molds, scabs, cankers, needle casts, blights, smuts, and some witches'-brooms? The good news is that controlling common fungal diseases on ornamental plants is not as challenging as you might think. Store shelves are stocked with a multitude of products designed for this purpose. These run the gamut from natural and organically based products to traditional chemical fungicides. Many of these products kill the fungi, while others render the plants inhospitable for fungal spore germination. Always read the label; few fungicides will control all fungal diseases.