ABSTRACT
The term “abiotic disorders” refers to a wide array of plant problems. We use the word “abiotic” to indicate that the symptom is not caused by a biological agent such as an insect, a mite, or a pathogen. Although not technically “abiotic,” damage by mammals and birds is included here as another example of essentially mechanical injury that could be confused with disease symptoms. Abiotic disorders are associated with nonliving causal factors like weather, soils, chemicals, mechanical injuries, cultural practices, and, in some cases, a genetic predisposition within the plant itself. Abiotic disorders may be caused by a single, extreme environmental event (e.g., a sudden springtime freeze), by a complex of interrelated factors, or by chronic conditions such as a prolonged drought or planting an acid-loving species in an alkaline soil.
