Protecting Plants

Disease, pests, weeds and the weather are all common issues that can have disastrous implications on your  plants. Protection is key and requires a keen eye and a fair few precautionary methods.

“Prevention is much easier than treatment”

Monitor and maintain – simple housekeeping such as regular weeding and clearing of plant debris will reduce competition for space and nutrients, and help to avoid diseases and pests making their way into your garden. Hozelock products such as the Gas Thermal Weeder and Green Power Thermal Weeder can make weeding a quick and easy task, without the need for chemicals, thanks to their innovative designs.

Insects multiply very quickly, having a disastrous effect on plants. Tell-tale signs of insect damage include eaten, distorted or discoloured parts on plants. If left to fester for too long, your plants may become weak and suffer from deadly growth of black sooty moulds.

Some prevention methods include:

• Where possible, elevate stems and leaves off of the soil by using tomato cones or an equivalent.
• Plant select herbs and flowers around the plants you wish to protect. Basil, sunflowers and marigolds have been known to ward off common pests.
• Set out pest traps – the two most common traps are sticky and pheromone traps.
• A natural, humane approach could be to introduce natural predators such as soldier beetles to your garden to ward off unwanted, harmful pests.
• Another approach you may consider is investing in a Hozelock Sprayer which can quickly and effectively apply pesticide treatments.

Diseases can hit plants at any point and some can be extremely difficult to treat. The best advice to help prevent diseases is to introduce good sanitation practices into your gardening routine. This should involve:

• Removing plant debris such as cuttings and fallen fruit and vegetables.
• Trimming away dying/unhealthy stems as soon as you notice them.
• Keeping on top of weeds.

Diseased foliage is best discarded rather than composted as to avoid the same disease/pest reoccurring next year. If you would rather keep it to compost it, then ensure it goes into a ‘hot’ compost bin to kill as much of the infected bacteria and disease as possible.

Weather can play havoc with all plants. Most commonly, plants can be ravaged by frost damage. Signs that your plants have suffered from frost damage include stunted growth, blackened and distorted leaves and tender plant leaves turning translucent. Commonly, plants that face the morning sun appear more damaged due to a quicker defrost process, rupturing their cell walls. Some prevention tips include:

• Avoiding high-nitrogen fertilisers in the run up to and during cold and frosty weather as it encourages leafy growth that is susceptible to damage.
• Bring tender plants inside or into a heated greenhouse during the cold weather.
• Try and leave pruning until the warmer weather returns, plants pruned hard in autumn will be at risk of the new growth being badly damaged by the cold weather. The overgrown foliage should protect the centre of the plant and take most of the brutal weather.
• Protect tender wall climbing plants and plants grown in open ground with fleece-covered frames or similar make-shift covers.

Try our new Natural Gardening range for plant care. Let your garden flourish naturally with our Hozelock Pure products that make it easy to apply natural products to look after your plants.

With the BioMix you can easily make liquid feed or natural insecticide for your garden using plant material. Bee-friendly comfrey makes a highly nutritional natural plant feed or substitute nettles for high nitrogen feed to promote leafy growth.Got a problem with pests? Lavender solution is a great deterrent for ants or try bracken fern to repel aphids.

All kitchen waste can be fermented in the Bokashi Composter, even meat, fish and bones, so your waste goes into your garden, not into landfill. With the Bokashi bran, containing effective microorganisms, your table scraps can deliver a fertiliser liquid in just 5 days to feed your plants. The remaining waste can be dug into the garden to provide a nutrient-rich compost after just 15 days.

The 2L Pure sprayer is specially adapted with high resistance seals for corrosive products such as white vinegar, rubbing alcohol, citric acid etc. The bottle is translucent for accurate dosing the long-reach nozzle works at all angles to spray the underside of leaves. Equipped with a filter for liquid manures and infusions it works perfectly with the BioMix to apply your home made solutions.

Hozelock’s Pure Kit includes a 1.25l pressure sprayer with 360° function to cover all of the plant. There is a fine filter to avoid nozzle blockage and specific seals to be compatible with vinegar, making it suitable for use with your homemade preparations. In addition, the kit comes with a Pure Tank to store your homemade solutions, a dosing spoon for easy preparation and a recipe booklet.