Articles

Narrower than the guides and published as they are written. The guides are the evergreen reference; this is where the more specific questions go.

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  Seedlings Falling Over at Soil Level: Damping Off

  A seedling that topples with a pinched, water-soaked stem has damping off. It is not treatable once it starts, and everything useful happens before sowing.

  3 min read

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  Tiny Flies Around a Houseplant: Fungus Gnats, and the Two Impostors

  Fungus gnats breed in the top few centimetres of wet soil. Which is why the fix is the watering, not the spray — and why sprays reliably fail.

  3 min read

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  Drooping After Repotting: What Is Normal and What Is Not

  Transplant shock has a shape and a timescale. Most intervention makes it worse — here is what recovery looks like and when to actually worry.

  3 min read

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  Black Spots and Black Leaves: Six Different Problems

  Black on a leaf can be fungal, bacterial, an insect by-product, cold damage or sunburn. The halo, the shape and whether it rubs off separate them.

  3 min read

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  Blossom End Rot Is Not a Calcium Deficiency

  The soil almost always has enough calcium. The problem is getting it to the fruit, which is a watering problem — and that is why the sprays and tablets fail.

  3 min read

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  Crispy Brown Leaf Tips, and What They Are Not

  Brown tips are almost always humidity, salt build-up or tap water chemistry. They are almost never disease, and the pattern of browning says which.

  3 min read

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  Why Are My Plant's Leaves Turning Yellow? Start With Where

  Yellow leaves have at least seven common causes. Which leaves yellowed — oldest or newest — and whether the veins stayed green narrows it to one or two immediately.

  3 min read

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  When Not to Spray: Most Plant Problems Fix Themselves

  Fungicides do nothing against pests, nutrients or watering faults — and most garden damage is cosmetic. A short guide to when treatment helps and when it just costs money.

  4 min read