Plants & gardening21 categories
Diagnose a plant problem from symptoms
Something is wrong with a plant and the internet says it is either too much or too little water.
Diagnose my plant from the symptoms below. Work like a clinician, not a search engine. 1. **Questions first.** Ask me up to six questions whose answers would most narrow this down: where the damage started, whether it spread, what the roots look like, watering habits, light, recent changes, undersides of leaves. Ask them all in one go. 2. **Differential.** Once I answer, give three or four possible causes ranked by likelihood, and for each, the distinguishing sign that confirms or rules it out. 3. **The check.** One thing to physically do or look at right now that separates the top two candidates. 4. **Treatment** for the most likely cause, as steps, with what improvement to expect and by when. 5. **What is already lost.** Which damaged parts will never recover and should be removed, versus which will grow out. Do not guess a cause from a vague description. If the symptoms are genuinely ambiguous, say so and tell me what to photograph or inspect. Plant: Symptoms and when they started: Conditions:
Making it yours
- Paste your own material where the prompt asks for it. Everything above that line is instruction, not content.
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Diagnosis and rescue. Working out what is wrong with a plant, what is eating it, and whether it is worth saving at all.
Related prompts
Identify a pest and respond without reaching for poisonSomething is eating a plant and you would like to know what before you spray anything.Full check-up on a struggling houseplantAn indoor plant has been slowly declining and you cannot pin down which thing is wrong.Revive a neglected plant, or decide not toYou came back from three weeks away, or inherited something badly treated.Tell me which plants to give up onToo many struggling plants and not enough attention to go round.Why is this plant unhappy?A plant looks wrong and you want questions before a guess.What is eating this?Holes in the leaves and no culprit in sight.
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