Plant Diagnosis

Plant Problems

Start with the symptom you can see. Compare likely causes before changing water, fertilizer, light, or treatment.

Triage First

Observe before you treat

A useful diagnosis starts with location, timing, and the pattern of damage.

1

Locate the damage

Check whether symptoms begin on old leaves, new growth, roots, or one side of the plant.

2

Check recent changes

Note weather, watering, repotting, feeding, pruning, and any new treatment.

3

Compare evidence

Look for insects, residue, soft tissue, dry edges, odor, and soil moisture.

Problem Library

Search by visible symptom

85 matching guides

Search and filter problems

Search checks problem names, descriptions, and summaries. Plant group uses the category saved on each problem; sorting uses the update date or problem name.

Shrubs

Arborvitae Winter Burn

Winter burn browns arborvitae from the tip down on whichever face meets the wind and sun, and the honest answer to the question…

Diagnosis + recovery

Shrubs

Azalea No Blooms

An azalea decides this spring's flowers during last summer, so a bare shrub is almost always reporting something that happened months…

Diagnosis + recovery

Shrubs

Azalea Yellow Leaves

Yellow leaves on an azalea are a symptom shared by causes that need opposite treatments, and the pattern tells them apart. This page…

Diagnosis + recovery

Lawn

Bahia Grass Thin Lawn

A thin bahiagrass lawn is sometimes a failing lawn and sometimes just bahiagrass, which grows in a coarse open habit by design. This…

Diagnosis + recovery

Vegetables

Blossom End Rot on Zucchini

Most zucchini that rot at the tip do not have blossom end rot, and one question sorts it out, which is whether the fruit is still…

Diagnosis + recovery

Vegetables

Blossom-End Rot on Tomato

A flat or sunken leathery patch centered opposite the stem on a green tomato fits blossom-end rot. The fruit ran short of calcium…

Diagnosis + recovery