Let’s say, “hypothetically speaking,” that you come home to one of your plants looking like this. A dried up, shriveled mess. And your immediate thought is dang, I totally screwed up and just blasted one of my cherished plants off to plant heaven.
Even though that’d be a totally normal thought, chances are pretty good that you’d be completely wrong! Especially for you newer growers, it’s important to know that a lot of plants can be extremely overdramatic and very moody, like you would not believe! Something like this is basically the equivalent of a one year old throwing a temper tantrum.
You see, your plants can’t verbally communicate with you. They can’t share their needs, tell you what they’re missing or complain about what you are or aren’t doing for them. But, they are “smart enough” to visually communicate with you! You don’t have to be a rocket plant scientist to know this plant is dry and probably could use a drink! Stat! So, give that plant a trip to the botany speakeasy and let it have a drink from the watershine jug!
And guess what? It’s gonna be just fine. That dry, shriveled up mess will soon restore into the beautiful plant that it once was! (Right before you attempted plant murder, you heathen! Oh, wait, was that our plant? No, no…there must be some sort of mistake! You’ve got the wrong plant parent, copper!) Don’t fret, if this happens to you. Your plant will forgive you and eventually make that good old fashioned produce, like nothing ever happened. And, if you continue to ignore your plant’s cry, well…you get what you deserve.
This basic concept is the fundamental basis of diagnosing plant health. Looking at your plants and trying to understand what they are telling you! When they aren’t that glowing, lovely green color and looking like they got hit by a bus, something is off. Now, we’re not going to go through all the possibilities and various diagnoses in this post, as they’re endless. But, remember, when your plant looks “off,” it’s trying to tell you something isn’t right. And in some ways, it is sort of like a language that you can begin to understand.
We’ll have more to say about diagnosing plant health as the season rolls on, I’m sure. But, we figured this was an important one to share in case you’ve been freaking out about your plant’s valiant attempt to take home “Best Actor” award.
