Thinking deeper on the disease triangle
Elementary discussions of plant pathology describe the disease triangle almost without fail. It has become a standard inclusion in many presentations, and a quick image search will find hundreds of graphical designs that have been developed to describe the idea. The foundational idea appears quite simple at first glance. For a 'dise-ease' to express itself requires a combination of three elements: a susceptible host, a potentially pathogenic organism, the proper environment, This seems like an obvious and simple explanation. We accept it without much question and move on to the next part of the discussion, which usually revolves around controlling 'pathogens' when the combination of these three elements is met. Rather than moving immediately to the control conversation, and assuming an infection has occurred that we have no influence over, we might dig a bit more deeply into each of the three elements. When we understand these three elements fully, they will give us all the information we need to prevent any 'dis-ease' from expressing in the first place. Prevention is often easier and more effective than a cure. Read the full article














