Moringa Root Rot - See it up close and learn to avoid it!
https://www.ahealthyleaf.com/product/...
Moringa Root Rot - See it up close and learn to avoid it!
Root rot is a common waterborne disease. Root rot can infect and kill a Moringa tree very quickly. Thankfully there are some steps you can take to guard against it.
Know your soil type
Heavy clay soils with poor drainage are the worst planting sites for Moringa. This is due to the fact that root rot thrives in oxygen deficient soil. When the soil is waterlogged most of the oxygen has been displaced by the water. The roots can’t breathe and root rot can set it. Moringa is extremely susceptible to root rot and so prefers a well-drained sandy or loamy soil.
For a great explanation of soil types and directions to compete a soil type test visit: Soil Type Test
Complete a Soil Drainage Test
If you determine you have predominately clay or silt based soil you will likely need to amend you soil. You may want to conduct a soil drainage test to confirm.
For a great set of instruction to compete the soil drainage test visit: Soil Drainage Test
Take Appropriate Action
If your soil drains less than 1 inch per hour than you need to find a different site or amend the soil both in and surrounding the planting site to increase drainage.
While it will be additional work to amend the soil don’t risk planting Moringa in poor draining soil. The first heavy rain you get you risk your tree dying in only a matter of days
One approach to increasing soil drainage involves amending the soil with both compost and sand. The compost helps build the soil structure (as well as increasing leaf production) and the large particles of sand help to increase drainage.
Watch the video below to see Moringa Root Rot up close.
Transcript:
Well you have probably heard it before but I wanted to re-emphasis it in this video. Moringa needs to be planted in very well draining soil. If you have a heavy soil, clay based soil, you are going to want to prepare your planting site by digging out the soil, adding in sand to increase drainage and then planting in that site. If you are not sure about how well draining your soil has to be, there is a test you can take. Go to the website at ahealthyleaf.com and under the blog section search for soil drainage test and you will see a link there of a test you can do to see if your soil drains well enough or not.
What happens if your soil is holding the water and gets saturated with water, that water surrounds the tap root and causes root rot within really a matter of days and it kills the tree. It doesn't matter if it's just a small seedling or a very large tree, root rot has a detrimental effects. I wanted to show you up close what that looks like and so if you look at that root, as I squeeze it between my fingers you can really just see that the root turns to almost like foam or for lack of a better word, the root goes to mush. This video is really just to re-emphasis the fact to take care and prepare your planting site appropriately. Might be fine maybe through a dry summer period but if you have wet winters you want to prepare your site so your tree can be healthy year round.
Again thanks for watching and if you would like to order root stock to plant your Moringa from, go to the website: ahealthyleaf.com and you can order root stock there to get your Moringa oleifera tree growing as fast as possible.