Did you know that the world loses about 20% of its crops to crop disease annually on average? It’s a staggeringly high amount that’s lowered over the years and thankfully continues to lower. But as crop diseases continue, how can you make sure that you’re growing healthy crops?
If you’re curious about how to grow crops while avoiding plant diseases, we’re here to help. Read on for seven quick tips on ensuring that your farm is full of thriving crops.
1. Stay Proactive
The first thing that you need to do to fight crop disease is to stay proactive in the job. It’s important to make sure that you’re catching a disease before it happens rather than reacting to it.
If you don’t catch plant diseases early, then it may already be too late. Crops can fail quickly, so failing to spot a growing crop disease can lose a huge portion of your yield before you’ve even acted.
2. Identify Problems
Part of staying proactive is being able to identify problems. You might notice wilting leaves, smaller crops, or plants growing slower than usual.
These signs and many more are often hints that there’s a crop disease beginning to spread. You also should sight anything that might encourage the spread of disease. Unhealthy soil, an abundance of still water, and pests can all be signs.
3. Know Your Crops
Third, make sure you know what you’re growing! Different plants are afflicted with different crop diseases. Know what’s the most common diseases to defend against for your crops so you know what you’re looking for.
4. High-Quality Substrates
Soil and fertilizer are vital to growing healthy crops. Ensure that your conditions are as good as possible for your plants to grow healthily. Not only will this fight disease, but it also encourages better crops as a whole.
5. Plan Ahead
In order to stay proactive, you need to anticipate issues before they occur. For example, if the harvest season is coming in, you may want to stock up on Kinze planter parts in case of a malfunction. Your equipment failing on you can ruin your harvest, so always stay one step ahead!
6. Proper Sanitation
There are countless sources that can introduce a crop disease. Pests, foreign plants, and low-quality fertilizers can all bring trouble.
Make sure you’re sanitizing your gear and any new plants. Doing so can help cut down on the risk of introducing plant diseases to your healthy crops.
7. Plan For the Worst
Ultimately, there’s a high chance you may deal with a crop disease. While being proactive is best, make sure that you have a plan in case a disease begins to spread. That way, if your farm is afflicted with serious plant diseases, you can get back on your feet quickly.
Fighting Crop Disease
Crop disease is common, and while you can work to prevent it, it’s unlikely you’ll be able to completely stop it from ever occurring. Stay proactive in preventing it and have a plan to lessen its impact so that your thriving crops stay healthy.
For more information on a healthy, happy farm, feel free to browse our website to learn more.
