GARDEN FIRST AID

If it’s not the insect population or four-legged marsupials, it’s some plant disease or virus attacking your prize edibles and floral delights in the garden.

What are the key problems we have to deal with at this time, and how do we go about eradicating them — or preventing them taking hold in the first place — without using nasty chemicals?

Here are some of the most common fungal diseases that home gardeners often come across in their patch.

ANTHRACNOSE

This disease is a serious problem, requiring both pre- and post-harvest sprays. The main species the home gardener has to worry about is Colletotrichum spp. It will affect mangoes, avocadoes, tomatoes, passionfruit, capsicums, chillies, bananas and a large range of tropical crops.

Symptoms include a variety of black spots: recessed black spots on fruit to raised small clusters of spots, depending on plant species affected, as well as black discolouration on flower buds and spikes, black