When you spot a plant in your garden that doesn’t look healthy, how do you figure out what’s wrong with it? Plant problems can be caused by insects, mites, vertebrates, environmental conditions, and diseases, but it can sometimes be hard to tell which is causing the problem.
UC IPM's Plant Problem Diagnostic Tool can help you find out what’s wrong with unhealthy-looking plants in the landscape or garden. This tool shows various types of damage for specific plants, and what can cause the damage.
- Start by choosing the plant type: flowers; fruit trees, nuts, berries, and grapevines; ornamental trees and shrubs; or vegetables and melons.
- Next, choose the specific crop or plant species. Many commonly grown plant species are included from Abelia to Zinnia.
3. Your next choice is the part of the plant (leaves, flowers, roots, etc.) that is showing the damage. If multiple parts are damaged, you can choose all of them.
4. Finally, choose from the damage types displayed (leaves curled, fruit deformed, wilting, etc.).
5. View results to get a list of potential causes on the left side of the page. Click through the different options to see photographs and facts about the pest or disorder, and links to more information. If your results don’t seem quite right, start over!