plant health. What factors does competition affect? How do weeds affect competition? Are there any benefits to weeds and what are the drawbacks to allowing weeds to grow among desired plants? How would you control weeds? Element 4 is plant pests and pathogens – you should be able to identify symptoms of these and decide which pest or pathogen might be affecting the plant and give potential solutions including physical, biological, chemical, and cultural controls – the role of IPM in plant health management should be understood. What weeds and pests are notifiable, and which Acts cover these? The fifth element is biosecurity and plant passports. You should be able to discuss these, what they are, how they regulate the travel of plants in the UK, and the laws covering these. Integrating all these is difficult but there are links you can associate such as knowing symptoms helps you distinguish between a pest, pathogen, and potential nutrient shortage. Understanding which nutrients are mobile in the plant really helps us identify the cause of symptoms and knowing what nutrients do helps us to understand how plants might need different ones at different stages in their life cycle. The sixth element is maintaining plant health. You should be able to discuss the relationships between plant health and their resistance to pathogens and pests. You should also know techniques to keep plants healthy such as correct spacing, correct planting depth, nutrition, and observations. So how can the grower, using cultural methods, help keep
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