A "Common Problems" addition?

I have a feeling that I am not the only one who came upon Dave's Garden while researching a particular plant to see what was wrong with it, and how to fix that problem. The Plant Files are a great resourse for identification, but to find out what to do with problems for that plant usually involves wading through pages and pages of chatty threads, and is extremely time consuming. Usually this is solved by a person posting the question, and then the great folks in DG repeat themselves yet again by posting the answer. Now, don't get me wrong...I love the chatty threads, and I certainly add my share, but when I'm trying to help an ailing plant, good hard data would be more beneficial.

Does anyone else think that a "Common Problems" field in Plant Files would be a good idea? All these wonderful folks could post the responses that they give the most often, and then when someone finds a solution that isn't posted yet, they could add it. It would probably take some time initially - but after a while it would be a time saver for both the searcher and the responders.

Definitely!! What an awesome idea.

Love that idea Shari. I came to Dave's searching out about a specific plant too. I feel like this goes hand in hand with "what on earth is a zipcode report good for'?? Like yesterday I was looking up moonflower vine and noticed that the vine had a report for my area and I know for a fact that it doesn't do well here. But it would help if there were more info attached to the zipcode report such as good growth conditions. Eh, that's another subject all together.
I really like your idea though!

Hi there you two! Thanks for the support, I really think it would be of benefit. Susanne, how's the weather in the Springs? We had some snow while I was there, just enough to make it feel like winter, but the Love Lights the Tree ceremony at the Broadmoor was sooooo cold!!!! Glad to be back in my little island warmth!

Three - got any idea how often you look for "cures" in DG? I was trying to come up with some kind of data like that...I probably look at least once a week for more specific info than what the PF list.

It would be a great idea - would be a lot more user friendly.

Right, Mitch! And save us all time for chat or.....

Easily once a week, often more. I don't like to keep asking things I know have been asked a dozen times already, so I search, it would be nice if there was some kind of data base about plant problems, attached somehow to plant files.

example, when I'm looking in plant files at, say, hoya, there could be a link with pictures of common problems occuring in hoya ( I know these pics exist on the site somewhere in the threads), and ways to combat the problem.

That is it and a lot of those threads just are skipped by some really smart members who could do it once and point people there.

Yes! Exactly what I had in mind, but just didn't say it quite right!

It needs to be done better than the current info in PF though...for example, there are how many dozen pages of Hibiscus? It would be silly to repeat it on every single page, and some good info is there, but maybe only on one of them, 10 pages in...it would need to be linked to the family, or genus, or something to make it easier to find.

right... maybe even a new data base that works with plantfiles.

exactly!! Like the new propagation data base.

right !

Definitely-- I really like this idea! I agree it shouldn't be on each cultivar -- too much repetition. It might be easy to have a completely separate list of plants with their ills/fixes , though I guess it would make sense to have it connected to PF. As it is now, really popular plants with lots of cultivars have a "common" entry, where people can post a picture/comment about the general like this one http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/160/
Maybe that's where the info could be.

Shari it is quite chilly today!! A surprise front blew in yesterday with 3" of snow and another one today that's supposed to drop 2-5". We've got our fingers crossed for a snow day (DH and I are teachers) and are doing our snow dances.

We discussed something similar a few years ago, (almost 6!). Nothing ever came to fruit, but lots of pros and cons were contemplated. http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/253988/

I think that would be a great idea Shari!! I know I am always wondering about problems a plant may have.

Ahhh, yes I remember the snow day dance! We would cuddle up with the kids, hot chocolate and popcorn and watch a great movie that we hadn't seen in a while. Then outside for snowmen!

So, friends, where do we go from here...just wait to see how much interest this gets?

Looks like we still have the same needs today.

Joan, thanks for the link! It was fascinating...I can't imagine why it just sort of fell through the cracks, other than the fact that Dave et al are just about the busiest folks on the planet! As mentioned in that thread, I don't think another DB is needed... just an additional "catagory" in which people could find common problems found for that plant, and the suggested cures. eg: I look up "spider plant", and in PF there is a "common problems" link. I am trying to find out why mine has brown tips....well lookie there! Brown tip is a very common problem for this plant, and all these folks have very kindly posted their cures. I'm not "Botanical Thyphoid Mary" after all!

How do we revive the interest Joan?

I agree it would be really hard to accuratly identify diseases from photos...but things as simple as browning of the leaves, leaf drop, wilting, etc. could certainly be addressed. If members provide a variety of cures for each ailment, who's to say what's acurate really- someone in desperate need to save their plant might try everything. Also I was thinking about organic vs. chemical cures -- that might become an issue for some readers. Hmm maybe there could be a rating system of posted cures, people agree or disagree with posted cures with experience to back up their rating. Or something similar to 'props' in the blogging world, just a tick mark to show that someone else agrees. Just thinking out loud here.

yup, and pictures of mealy bugs, and aphids, etc, and how to get rid of them. Doesn't have to be fancy, just general info for the average plant person.

I once had a plant book, had a page with a pic of a plant and each leaf showed different problems, one yellow, a brown one, an aphid covered one...etc, was enough to give one an idea of where to start.

Not to throw a wet blanket on this idea, because I sure think we could use more "common problems" info in PlantFiles, but.... I voraciously read comments posted in PF and find a wealth of info contained in them. Everything from propagation specifics, germination & sowing instructions, diseases, fertilization needs, etc can be in the Comments.

I would encourage everyone to post comments in the PF with regards to their experiences with the plants they grow. I'm always so elated when I see a comment that is in my state or region and full of helpful tips.

That's fine and dandy, and I have found good info too, except in the case of multiple hybrids, ie, hibiscus, african violets, sometimes multiple pages must be read before you find the single plant where someone has posted this wealth of good info :))

I agree about that too-- there is a wealth of information in the comments .. but only sometimes though, sometimes it isn't much at all which I find frustrating. People who don't surf the PF much end up posting really irrelevant things or negatives because they can't grow the plant. The comments section frustrates me more often than not. I do love it though when someone in my zone posts something helpful like you said!

I find that for the most part the comments in PF are about, "this grows well for me blah, blah, blah." It is rare, but always happy!, when I find any actual "prone to xxx so xxx". If the category were there to be filled in, perhaps more people would use it.

I'm hoping that the new "tags" feature will help a lot with this. Whenever you come across a useful thread, you could give it a fairly general tag ("hoya problems" for example) as well as a specific tag ("whitefly cure for hoya" for example).

I don't suppose there's a way to "tag" relevant comments in PF, is there?

I agree, Jill, the tags are going to be wonderful! And will definately help with this problem.

I just tripped on this thread...great IDEA!!!! Personally i think there are awesome growers on DG to discuss problems and offer solutions....even a link to various discussions of the problems would be illuminating!!!!

Sheri...keep thinking!!!! You are doing a super job of stimulating conversations....Look at TG!!!!!

Carol

Carol, when you get back from your adventure, you'll have to check out the "tagging" that we can do now....its awesome! Bon Voyage my friend!!!

Great idea! I would love to see this somehow incorporated into Plant Files, a new catagory added. I never read the comments section ... have scanned through comments at times but it's usually as Shari says "Love this plant, it grows well for me" blah, blah, blah!

I would love to see a new catagory in PF such as: Prone to: mealy bugs, spider mites, nematodes etc.

... I wasn't going to admit this but a couple of months ago I thought about uploading a photo to PF of one of my house plants with mealies! Then figured well, everyone knows what mealy bugs look like so I didn't post the picture! Now, I think there may be many folks who have no idea what mealy bugs look like. We could have a combination of pic's of healthy plant and sickly plant.

plantladylin, if you have a good somewhat close-up photo, you could upload it to bugfiles. http://davesgarden.com/guides/bf/go/1553/

Bug files are also a good source, but what if the problem isn't a bug?

Bug files are also a good source, but what if the problem isn't a bug? For example the brown tips so common on spider plants...

Ooops...sorry for the double post there.

I think it's a great idea, Shari! Sometimes, I read the PF and have to google in another window for that info. It would make it much easier I would think. I think we ALWAYS need to assume that no one has ever seen that bug, that disease before. Lots of newbies on here and those of us who know just skim over that info anyway. I think that would make it a win-win situation. :)

Sorry ... I got rid of the bugs and didn't save the photo! Next time I certainly will post one in Bug Files! I never visit that area of DG ... I don't like looking at bugs! LOL, I know some like to identify them though!

Notice I did say ... next time! I'm sure I will have mealies again at some point! Inevitable!

How cool!!!!! Can't wait to help....

On the surface this sounds like an excellent idea. But....

Plant problems have many possible causes, and solutions. Have you ever looked in a gardening book at pictures of diseases, or insect damage, or cultural problems, and just didn't have the foggiest idea which fitted your plant problem? That is one of the things that DG is good for. I don't mind answering a question over and over and over, because each time, it may lead to a different answer. And it may not. But I won't know until I can ask questions and narrow down the answers.

When did the problem start, how did it progress, are other plants affected, where is it planted, how much sun does it get, how often watered, fertilized, chemicals used, terrain - low or high, drainage, in the ground or in a raised bed, new construction?, etc. It's just not cut and dried.

There are lots of books out there with "answers", but none of them are as helpful as being able to talk about the problem in order to get a correct diagnosis.

And isn't that what DG is all about? Talking to one another?

Example: Today a lady called me stating that her St Augustine lawn was being taken over by clover. She wanted to know how she could get rid of it. Well, I knew that clover was a winter annual and so I could tell her to use a pre-emergent in the fall to keep the seeds from germinating next winter. I could tell her what weed killer to use on the current crop of clover. I could admonish her not to use it when the grass was actively growing or it would damage the grass. And I could advise her how to make her lawn healthy so that the clover wouldn't be a problem in the future. So, all of those things could be in your data base or whatever. But - I could take it one step further, because I was talking with her, and ask her when it started and had she noticed any dead patches of grass before she noticed the clover. Why yes, she had. Now I realize that killing the clover is most likely not the answer at all, and I ask her to bring in a sample of grass so I can test it for Take-All - a fungus that kills grass. And after the grass dies, the weeds fill in - in her case, clover. She thought she wanted to know how to kill clover, when in reality what she needed to know was how to deal with Take-All.

How do you put that in a data base?

Very good point. And of course, talking will never stop...as you noticed I am proposing a "common problems" addition - which may no longer even be necessary with the tags -...some plants are just prone to certain problems...and it is these "common" ailments that I am suggested be covered with the additional category.