Pests & Problems covers common garden issues such as insects, diseases and plant damage. Articles offer practical, UK-appropriate solutions to identify problems and deal with them safely and effectively.
Share this Facebook Pinterest WhatsApp X Email Tomato leaves curling is one of the most alarming-looking tomato problems, but in UK gardens it is usually one of the least serious. The great majority of leaf curl is physiological, meaning it is the plant reacting to its conditions rather than any disease, most often to swings … Read more
Share this Facebook Pinterest WhatsApp X Email Powdery mildew is that white, dusty coating you see spreading across the leaves of courgettes, cucumbers, squash, and many other plants in late summer, and in UK gardens it is one of the most common problems going. It is a fungal disease, but not the dramatic, plant-killing kind. … Read more
Share this Facebook Pinterest WhatsApp X Email Why are my tomatoes splitting? Tomatoes split when they take up water faster than their skins can stretch, and in UK gardens the usual trigger is a spell of dry weather followed by heavy rain or a big watering. The fruit swells suddenly on the inside, the skin … Read more
Share this Facebook Pinterest WhatsApp X Email Blossom end rot on tomatoes shows up as a sunken, dark, leathery patch on the bottom of the fruit, and in UK gardens it is almost always caused by uneven watering rather than by any disease or pest. Despite the alarming name, it is not a rot you … Read more
Share this Facebook Pinterest WhatsApp X Email How to ripen green tomatoes, the quickest method is to pick them and put them in a bowl or paper bag with a ripe banana, somewhere warm and dark, and they will turn red in a week or two. On the plant, you speed things up by removing … Read more
Greenfly and blackfly are both aphids, sap-sucking insects that cluster on the softest new growth of roses, broad beans, tomatoes and almost anything else, weakening plants and coating leaves in sticky honeydew. The good news is that you almost never need to buy anything. Squash the colonies between finger and thumb, blast the rest off … Read more
Cabbage white caterpillars are the green and yellow-black caterpillars that strip cabbages, kale, broccoli and other brassicas to bare stalks in high summer, hatched from eggs laid by the two cabbage white butterflies. The only reliable way to stop them is to keep the butterflies off the plants in the first place, with fine insect … Read more
Potato blight is a fast-moving disease that turns potato foliage brown and collapsing within days, usually in the warm, humid weather of July and August, and it can rot the tubers underground afterwards. The single most useful thing to know is this: the moment you see it, cut all the foliage off at ground level … Read more
Tomato blight is a fast-moving disease that turns healthy plants into brown, collapsing mush within days, usually striking outdoor tomatoes in the warm, wet weather of July and August. It is the same disease that hits potatoes, which are often the first crop to show it. The hard truth first, because it is the thing … Read more
Tomato leaves turning yellow is one of the most common worries for UK gardeners, especially once plants start growing well and then suddenly begin looking less healthy than expected. In many cases, yellow leaves do not mean the plant is failing. Tomatoes often lose some older lower leaves as they grow, and a small amount … Read more