Sometimes, brown spots on basil aren’t due to disease or pests at all. Improve air circulation to remove the moist, dark areas where slugs thrive. Treatments: Use diatomaceous earth or crushed eggshells around the base of plants as a barrier slugs can’t cross.Įncourage toads in your garden-they’re natural slug predators-by adding toad houses. Symptoms of Slug Damage: Ragged holes and bleached or brown spots, coupled with tell-tale slime trails. Soft, large-leaved plants like basil are especially vulnerable to these slimy pests. Make sure your treatment is safe for edible plants, and follow directions carefully. ![]() Treatments: Many insecticides will easily treat aphid infestations, including organic options like insecticidal soaps and neem oil. ![]() Symptoms of Aphid Damage: A sticky black substance on leaves, curled and spotted leaves, stunted growth. AphidsĪphids are tiny soft-bodied insects that suck sap and nutrients from your plants’ leaves and stems. Like most plants, basil is susceptible to plenty of creepy-crawly pests that like to munch on the leaves, causing browning, holes, and other damage. Treatments: Again, there are no good treatments once your plant is infected, but you can help prevent infection by watering at the soil level and improving drainage and air circulation. Symptoms: Brown or black spots on the leaves, as well as brown or black streaks on stems. Bacterial Leaf Spot or Basil Shoot BlightĬaused by the bacterium Pseudomonas cichorii. Though less common than fungal diseases, bacteria can also infect and damage your basil plants. Treatments: There are no good treatments for basil downy mildew, but you can help avoid it by maintaining good airflow around your plants, watering at soil level, growing downy mildew resistant varieties, and buying from reputable growers whose plants are disease-free. Symptoms: Leaves will begin to yellow, brown, and curl, much as they would if nutrient deficient, but the giveaway is the presence of grey or purplish fuzz, like mold, on the bottoms of the leaves. Downy MildewĬaused by the oomycete (a fungus-like parasite) Peronospora belbaharii. You can help avoid introducing fusarium wilt by buying only plants and seeds from reputable growers whose products are certified free of diseases. Remove any potentially infected plants at once. Treatments: Unfortunately, there aren’t any! This is a very difficult disease to treat, and it can linger in the soil for years. Symptoms: Brown streaks on the stems beginning when the plant is eight to ten inches tall, followed by brown spots on leaves, then leaf death, and eventually the complete death of the plant. Join our Facebook Group About Houseplants and Gardening
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