How to Identify Houseplant Diseases: Learn to Spot the Signs
Most houseplants are prone to diseases that can weaken them or even worse; kill them. Learning to spot the early signs of these diseases can help you save your plant and even prevent future issues. We will help you learn how to identify houseplant diseases to keep your indoor plants healthy and strong. Keep reading to learn more.
How to identify houseplant diseases
Most houseplants often get infected with diseases. When this happens, your plant starts exhibiting signs that can help you identify what kind of disease it is suffering from. Some of these signs include yellow leaves, white blotches, leaf spots, and more. Early houseplant disease identification helps you treat your plant and learn how to prevent future infections.
Common houseplant diseases
Houseplants suffer from various viral, bacterial, or fungal diseases. You can identify these diseases by inspecting your plant. Below are some common indoor houseplant diseases along with houseplant disease identification pictures.
Bacterial Leaf Spot Disease
Bacterial Leaf Spot disease is one of the most common houseplant diseases that can cause serious damage to your plant when left untreated. Leaf spot disease on houseplants can show different signs depending on the type of bacteria causing it. identifying this houseplant disease early is the key to saving your plant.
Causes
This disease is caused by various types of bacteria. Bacterial Leaf Spot disease can sometimes be localized and only affect your plant’s foliage. Other times, the disease can be systemic and affect most parts of your plant from the stems to the leaves.
The Bacteria causing Bacterial Leaf Spot disease often thrives in moist areas with poor air circulation. Placing your plant in locations with high humidity can cause Bacterial Leaf Spot disease. Overwatering your plant might also cause this disease.
Symptoms
Houseplants with Bacterial Leaf Spot disease show several symptoms that can help you easily identify and treat the disease. The disease causes black water-soaked splotches with yellow rings.
When left untreated, Bacterial Leaf Spot disease spreads and covers most parts of the leaves or travels to the stems. Your plant’s stems eventually become mushy causing your plant to collapse and die.
How to treat leaf spot disease on houseplants
You can treat Bacterial Leaf Spot disease by removing the affected areas of your plant and applying fungicide to the remaining parts of the plant. Get rid of infected leaves to prevent the disease from spreading.
In some cases, you might need to discard the entire plant if the disease is severe. Getting rid of the plant prevents the diseases from spreading to other houseplants. To prevent future infections, you can take preventative measures such as:
- Avoid overwatering your plant
- Try to avoid splashing water on your plant’s leaves
- Reduce humidity levels indoors
- Space your indoor plants to improve air circulation
Leafspot houseplant diseases images
Fungal Leaf Spot Disease
Another common houseplant disease you should watch out for is Fungal Leaf Spot disease. This disease damages your plant’s leaves and spreads eventually damaging your plant.
Causes
Fungal Leaf Spot disease is caused by different types of Fungi that flourish in moist conditions. If your plant’s foliage is constantly wet, your plant might develop Fungal Leaf Spot disease. Overwatering your plant also causes this houseplant disease.
Symptoms
Fortunately, you can identify Fungal Leaf Spot disease before it spreads and kills your plant. Watch out for Leaf spots that may appear in different shades including brown, yellow, or black. Detecting this disease early helps you save your plant.
Treatment and prevention
Treating Fungal Leaf Spot disease involves removing the affected leaves to prevent more damage. You can also apply fungicide to get rid of the fungi. Use fungicide that is approved for indoor use. Also, get rid of any debris on the soil. Other additional preventative measures you can take include:
- Watering your plant in the morning to provide enough time for the foliage to dry
- Avoid splashing water on your plant’s leaves when watering
- Space your plants to improve air circulation indoors
- Get rid of infected soil
- Decrease humidity levels indoors
Fungal houseplant diseases pictures
Gray mold/ Botrytis Blight
Gray Mold is a common houseplant disease that can damage your plant when left untreated. This is one of the indoor houseplant diseases that affects most houseplants. Gray Mold can affect your plant’s leaves, stems, and flowers.
Causes
Gray Mold is caused by an airborne fungus called Botrytis cinerea that survives on damaged plant tissue. This fungus releases spores into the air that can infect other houseplants. The spores can also spread to your plant when water splashes on the leaves. The fungus that causes Gray mold thrives in humid conditions indoors.
Symptoms
How do you know your plant is suffering from Gray Mold? Well, this disease manifests itself through grey hairy mold on the leaves and stems. Gray Mold also attacks flowering plants causing brown spots on petals or rotting bulbs. This disease spreads easily and can kill your indoor plants when left to thrive.
Prevention and treatment
You can save your houseplant if the disease is not severe. Like other houseplant diseases, Gray Mold can be treated by removing the infected leaves or flowers and applying fungicide to your plant.
To prevent the disease from attacking your plant in the future, always get rid of vulnerable, dead, or damaged plant debris. You can also prevent this disease by taking precautions such as:
- Try to reduce humidity levels indoors
- Enhance air circulation by spacing your indoor plants
- Avoid overwatering your plant
- Try to avoid splashing water on your plant’s foliage
Gray Mold Houseplant diseases images
Powdery mildew
Most houseplants suffer from Powdery Mildew which is a fungal disease that thrives in cool and humid conditions indoors. You can identify this disease easily and prevent it from spreading to other healthy houseplants.
Causes
Powdery Mildew is caused by different types of fungi that thrive in wet and cool conditions. Unlike other serious houseplant diseases, Powdery Mildew is less severe and rarely causes plant death. However, the disease can affect the health and appearance of your houseplants.
Symptoms
Powdery Mildew causes white powdery splotches on your plant’s foliage. These white spots can merge as the disease spreads. Powdery Mildew weakens your plant and causes leaf drop. When left untreated, Powdery Mildew can spread to your plant’s stems and flowers.
Prevention and treatment
Treating and preventing Powdery Mildew helps restore your plant’s health and keep it looking lovely. If your plant suffers from powdery mildew you can treat it by removing severely infected leaves.
Remove the powdery film using a damp cloth and spray your plant with an appropriate fungicide. You can prevent Powdery Mildew from infecting your houseplants in the future by doing the following.
- Get rid of any fallen plant debris from the soil
- Lightly water your houseplants to prevent overwatering
- Lower humidity levels
- Avoid overhead watering to prevent splashing water on your plant’s leaves
Houseplant diseases identification pictures
Sooty Mold
One of the most common houseplant diseases that can affect your houseplant is Sooty Mold. This disease often indicates another underlying plant issue which is pests. Identifying this disease early can help you restore your plant’s health and get rid of pests.
Causes
Pests such as scale, aphids, mealybugs, and others secrete a substance called honeydew. It is on this substance that the fungus causing Sooty Mold thrives. The fungi spores take hold of the honeydew excrement and spreads on your plant’s foliage.
Symptoms
Honeydew is a clear sticky substance that turns black or dark green once the fungus invades. The fungus causes soot-like spots that cover your plant making it look unappealing.
Sooty Mold blocks the leaves’ spores making it difficult for the plant to absorb enough sunlight. This can weaken your plant when left untreated. Furthermore, the pests secreting honeydew can cause even more damage to your plant when left unaddressed.
Prevention and treatment
You can effectively treat your plant by getting rid of pests and fungal disease. To treat the disease, remove the severely affected leaves and wipe the sticky substance using a damp cloth. You can also wash the leaves with clean water to get rid of both the pests and the disease. If the pest infestation is severe, you can apply pesticides to your plant.
Sooty Mold Houseplant diseases pictures
Root and stem rot
Root rot and stem rot are the most common houseplant diseases that can affect your plant. These diseases are severe and can lead to plant death when left unaddressed.
Causes
Root and stem rot is caused by various fungi that thrive in moist conditions. Overwatering is the most common cause of rot and stem rot.
Symptoms
Wilting leaves can indicate root rot. However, it can be difficult to identify root and stem rot in the early stages. Mushy and black roots and stems indicate stem and root rot.
Prevention and treatment
Unfortunately, houseplants that get rot or stem rot barely survive. However, you can try to salvage your plant by removing the affected roots. Try to avoid overwatering your plant to give it time to recover. You can try to prevent root rot and stem rot in the future with the following precautionary measures.
- Avoid overwatering your houseplant
- Use well-draining soil to pot your plant
- Pick the right size of container to prevent waterlogging
Root and Stem rot houseplant diseases images
Various houseplant diseases show different signs. Learning how to identify these signs is the key to saving your plants. Some houseplant diseases are caused by fungi, and others by bacteria or viruses. Most houseplant diseases can be fatal when left untreated. Some of the most common houseplant diseases include Gray Mold, Powdery Mildew, Sooty Mold, and others. if you require more assistance, contact us today.