Verticillium wilt is a byproduct of fungus. It occurs most often in soil that is either overly rich or not properly drained.
Other conditions can cause verticillium wilt to thrive, including excess plant stress. Woody plants with ‘stressed-out roots’ are what attract fungi the most. Because of this, it’s important to be able to identify some of the most elementary of symptoms of a verticillium wilt outbreak. You also need to know, should it occur, how to best address it. Below, you will discover how to do just that.
Signs of verticillium wilt
Here are some of the most common symptoms of a verticillium wilt infiltration:
Leaf symptoms:
- Yellowing between veins
- Yellowing of outer margins
- Gray-brown coloring
Plant symptoms:
- Wilting
- Browning stem near soil line
- Clogging of xylem root vessels
One of the earliest signs of verticillium wilt is when leaves closest to the base of your plant start yellowing. This first starts happening between the leaves’ veins, and along their outside margins.
Although yellowing is an expected early sign of disease, as it progresses, the leaves assume more of a grayish brown color, and your plant will begin to wilt. Once this happens, the stem itself will begin to brown at its base closest to the soil line.
If you’re an experienced grower, then you might be familiar with fusarium wilt. Some of the symptoms most commonly associated with fusarium wilt are virtually the same as verticillium wilt. And much like a fusarium wilt, once verticillium wilt has infiltrated a plant’s roots, their xylem vessels clog up. When this happens, your plant can only take in water or nutrients through either its stems or leaves. More on how to recognize verticillium wilt in my free grow bible.
How to fix the problem
Clearly if at all possible, you want to prevent verticillium wilt whenever you can. One of perhaps the simplest and healthiest ways to prevent the significant spread of this infection is to add some properly aged compost
A second option is to grow your marijuana plant using a hydroponic system, as opposed to a soil system. If you must use a soil system, then you will want to use compost as your soil, and make sure to sterilize it by the sun first. This is critical because, once properly cured and sterilized, compost serves as a way to naturally give your plants the proper nutrients they need to thrive.
In addition to using compost as your plant’s soil, you also want to pay special attention to your plant’s soil drainage. Ensuring that it is adequate is the most effective way to prevent verticillium wilt. Excess moisture encourages the growth of verticillium wilt and not ridding your plant of excess moisture will easily plague its root systems.
Another option for preventing your plant from being infected by verticillium wilt is through crop rotation or deep plowing of your grow site. If you do either one of these before you plant or transplant your seedlings, you want to make sure to add sterilized compost as support to keep the disease at bay.
Final things to consider
It’s important that once an outbreak of verticillium wilt is suspected, that you take immediate measures to remedy it. This includes removing every bit of plant matter that was affected by the infection. And you need to take extreme caution while doing so, as spores can travel. In taking immediate action upon noticing the earliest of symptoms, and ridding your garden of early infestations, you stand a strong chance of ensuring that the infestation doesn’t spread to the whole garden.
When verticillium wilt infiltrates your garden, it remains in your soil for years, making it unsuitable for growing additional plants. Even more, there are currently no products on the market that heal plants infected by verticillium wilt. Because of these concerns, it’s important to do one’s due diligence in following the preventative measures mentioned above when growing your marijuana plants from the start.
Thanks for reading. Please leave comments or questions below and don’t forget to download my free grow bible.