Beginner Gardening: Good Growing Practices - an Overview for Beginners, 1 by tapla

tapla wrote:
In a technical sense, even the best soil won't cure the fungal infection that is root rot, but it will do an excellent job of ensuring root rot can't get a hold in two ways. First, by providing a well-aerated rhizosphere (root zone) that is hostile to the several common damping off fungi. Second, by ensuring cultural conditions favorable to root growth, health, and function, it offers the opportunity for plants to grow stronger; by that, I mean plants have the opportunity to glow at something much closer to their genetic potential compared to their counterparts in soggy soils. Since the bio-compounds that act in the plants' behalf as their defense against insects and disease are a by-product of the plants' metabolism, a more robust metabolism ensures stronger defenses.

We can't see what's going on in the rhizosphere, so we tend to disregard it, but roots are the heart of the plant, and they come first. The first thing to emerge from the seed is the root radical (tap root), followed later by the stem, & cotyledons. If you can't or don't keep the roots happy, there is no chance you can keep the plant happy.

The cultural condition most responsible for the fungal infections that kill roots is to much water and not enough air in your soils. These heavy soils are also largely responsible for the salt build-up that many of you are or will be dealing with this winter. I water freely, and I water on a schedule (gasp). I can honestly say that all I need to do to keep root rot at bay is to use just a little reason. I can't remember the last time I lost a plant to an issue relating to suspected root rot ..... and I grow some plants rather sensitive to wet feet. and I grow them in very shallow containers (bonsai) that would normally seriously compound the problems associated with a heavier soil. The short answer is, it's very unlikely you'd be having a root issue with your plants if you were using a well-aerated soil and watering correctly.

Al