Marin IJ Articles

What's wrong with my plant?

• Nanette Londeree

• by Nanette Londeree

  "What's wrong with my plant?" I can’t say how many times I’ve asked myself that question. Sometimes the answer is simple, like the shade loving plant that was a deep dark green when I brought it home and now wears bleached, lima bean green leaves because it got too much sun, or the big bushy Ficus tree that looked great in the dining room for awhile until the leaves began to fall like raindrops. The pot I’d used didn’t have a good drainage hole and the overwatering caused the soil to look like lumpy espresso. Those were the obvious ones. More often, figuring out what’s ailing your plant is not that straightforward. Like your vet determining what’s wrong with your cat, it takes some detective work to diagnose plant problems. And in order to heal a sick plant, it’s important to correctly identify it so you can diagnose and treat it appropriately.

  Diagnosing plant problems is often a difficult task since there can be many different causes. While pests and diseases are often the first thing a gardener may look for, the cause may be due to something physical like soil quality, weather conditions or other environmental conditions, a mechanical injury or a combination of problems. The diagnostic process is like detective work—you need to ask a lot of questions, collect and analyze information and identify a potential suspect.

  The first thing you need to do is not panic, especially if the suffering plant is a prized one. Rather than methodically trying to determine the cause of the problem, many gardeners follow their knee-jerk reaction and treat symptoms without understanding the cause. Have you ever responded to droopy leaves on a plant by dumping a bucket of water on it, or tossed a handful of fertilizer on the plant whose leaves are turning yellow, whether it needs it or not? Don’t do it! Before treating any malady, it’s important to know what the problem is.

  If you’re not able to find the source of what’s ailing your plant, free help is available from the Marin Master Gardener Desk located in the University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) office in Novato. The Desk, staffed by volunteer Master Gardeners, is located at 1682 Novato Blvd., Suite 150B, and is open Monday–Friday, 9 a.m. to noon, and 1 – 4 p.m.   They can help diagnose problems with your lawn, fruit and vegetables, trees, shrubs, perennials, annuals or other landscape plants, even house plants; identify weeds, “mystery plants,” or suspect insects; or provide information on Integrated Pest Management. Additionally, you can bring your problem plant to one of the upcoming Master Gardener Bilingual Clinics for Sick Plants, being held on the second Saturday of the month (July 14, August 11 and September 8) in front of Quezada Market at the corner of South Novato Blvd. and Rowland Way in Novato. Master Gardeners and UC staff will be available to answer questions and help diagnose plant problems from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., in both English and Spanish.   If you want to ask your questions by phone or email, contact the desk at 415-499-4204, sickplantclinic@marinmg.org or helpdesk@marinmg.org. If possible when sending email questions, attach photos relative to your question; we can get back to you either by phone or email, whichever you prefer.

  To facilitate diagnosis, bring a representative sample of the problem, one that is good sized and exhibits typical symptoms of the problem. For trees and shrubs, bring a branch sample as long as your forearm; even better, bring a couple of samples that are at different stages of symptom expression (early and more advanced stage). Totally dead specimens are usually not informative. Turf grass samples should be collected from an area of transition from “good” to “bad” grass. A six-inch square, two-inches deep is usually adequate. When practical, house plants or hanging plants should be brought in their containers. Plants that you’d like to identify should likewise be as representative as possible. If you suspect poison oak, collect the sample with disposable gloves, place in a sealed plastic bag, and tell us your concerns before we go tearing into the bag to inspect it. A weed or grass sample for identification is best with a flower or seed head present. Insects that are feeding on plants can be left on a piece of their host plant and placed in a plastic bag.

  The samples should be as fresh as possible. Collect them soon before leaving for the clinic or store them in a refrigerator until you can bring them in. If there is a delay getting to the clinic, fleshy insects can be preserved in rubbing alcohol while beetles, bugs and butterflies can be placed in a plastic bag and frozen.

  The Marin Master Gardeners are a dedicated, trained group of volunteers with a shared love of gardening and horticulture. Since 1986, they have worked as non-paid staff members of UCCE, answering public inquiries and providing information on all areas of plant health and gardening practices. So, get a sample of that ailing plant, come to the next Clinic for Sick Plants and ask “What’s wrong with my plant?”