What's Wrong With My Plant? (And How Do I Fix It?): A Visual Guide to Easy Diagnosis and Organic Remedies

by David Deardorff, Kathryn Wadsworth

Dealing with a sick plant is one of the most frustrating situations a gardener can face. More often than not, we have no idea what is causing the problem, or how to fix it. Fortunately, help is at hand. What's Wrong With My Plant? (And How Do I Fix It?) provides an easy system for visually diagnosing any problem, and matching it to the right cure.

This innovative and easy-to-use guide is split into three parts.

Part One presents easy-to-follow, illustrated flow charts—organized by where on the plant the symptoms appear—that allow readers to accurately diagnose the problem. The format is so simple it doesn't even require knowing the name of the plant; all you need to know is whether the problem is affecting its roots, stem, flowers, or leaves. It does not matter whether the plant is a houseplant, perennial, vegetable, tree, or shrub.

Part Two offers a 100% organic way to fix the problem. From improper growing conditions and environmental factors, to molds, pests, and diseases, every problem has a safe, natural solution.

Part Three shows photographs and drawings of stressed, damaged, and diseased plants that help with accurate comparison.

Whether your garden consists of herbs on a kitchen windowsill, a vegetable garden, an elaborate backyard border, or a container on a patio, What's Wrong With My Plant? is an indispensable resource. If you can see it, you can fix it. Curing a sick plant just doesn't get any easier.

Genres: Gardening, Nonfiction, Reference, Plants, Horticulture

452 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2009

Reviews

[Clarke · Rating 1 out of 5]

While I can see what they were going for and why people would like this book it didn't serve my purposes. The idea of starting with the symptoms and then giving the diagnosis (like going to the doctor) is a good one but this book doesn't quite pull it off in an easy to use way. It was both too generic and too specific all at once.

What I wanted is a book that listed each plant (fruit, veggie, and herb) then had pictures of possible problems and then solutions. This book had pictures of generic leaf problems then reference pages for the diagnosis. From there the information got overly detailed. While it was interesting I want something I can use at a glance for reference. For the most part this book is just too advanced for my current garden level needs (and doesn't really include herbs).

[Ann Keller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding book. All of the photographs in this book are the key. If you have an ailing or diseased plant, no amount of words can help you, but this book can! If you have evidence of some kind of boring insect or fungus, you can see the damage. By researching in this book, you can find a match. I found a match for two of my problems - fungus on my pumpkin leaves and an arborvitae that was turning brown. Excellent resource.

[Kit Veerkamp · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a useful resource on a basic level...until you try to look up a specific item, like broccoli. The index is obviously messed up because none of the pages referenced have anything to do with broccoli. Very disappointing.

[Liz De Coster · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would have appreciated a little more intro on plant identification; it's not the main point of the book but it's a big prerequisite.

[Suburbangardener · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must-have reference book. User-friendly, time saving, way to figure out, yes, what's wrong with my plant, and how to fix it.

[William · Rating 3 out of 5]

Profusely illustrated.

Features a "key-it-down" system that allows identification of a lot of problems.

[Davidette · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not really helpful for me

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was very helpful and fairly easy to follow the flow charts and find out what was wrong with my tomatoes and then I fixed it. Helped me diagnose the bug problem on my potatoes too.

[Isabelle · Rating 1 out of 5]

Was never able to find a picture or description that was wrong with my plants. I saw bugs and they were never listed/described in this book. Not helpful at all.

[Kali · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great resource!! It was very helpful for me, being new to gardening. I definitely need a copy to keep in my library to reference when the need arises.