Did you know that abiotic disorders are the entities that affect plants besides bacteria? Abiotic disorders encompass moisture extremes, chemical toxicity, physical injuries, unfavourable soil properties, and other factors that can reduce plants and lead to possible death. Some abiotic disorders can predispose plant diseases caused by infectious microbes.
Soil factors determine how plants hold nutrients and oxygen. Inadequate soil structure can result in poor root growth.
Plants can get sunburned. Abiotic disorders like sunburn can appear on plants like brown patches, fruit, or foliage. Other conditions like sunscald, involve damage to the bark of trees, causing the trees to ‘prematurely’ weak up and become vulnerable to other diseases and insects. Over-watering is another factor that results in the extra water filling the air space in soil, preventing the roots of the plant from absorbing oxygen, which suffocates the plant.
Another abiotic disorder is under-water which results in brown leaf tips, thinning canopy, leaf drops, and wilted leaves. Lastly, is allelopathy which is the beneficial or harmful effects of one plant on another plant.
Plant health is important and abiotic disorders must be prevented to preserve plants. Promoting plant health is vital for the sustainability of agriculture. Currently, the Caribbean Plant Health Director’s Forum has since been helping to enhance safe intra and extra-regional trade of agricultural products, which has improved the health and lives of Caribbean people.
Learn more from our sources below!
Source:
Apsnet – Introduction to Abiotic Disorders in Plants
UF IFAS – If Not Disease, Then What? Abiotic Vegetable Disorders
GrowOrganic – 7 Common Environmental Problems for Plants & Trees
CPHD Forum – The Caribbean Plant Health Directors (CPHD) Forum – Protecting Plants, Protecting Life for the past 15 years
