Why Is My Plant Dying?

Do you have a plant that is dying in your garden? Figuring out plant problems can really be frustrating and you may feel like you’ve failed. Don’t worry. Even seasoned gardeners lose plants. This blog will give you a light introduction into diagnosing your growing issues.

In order to understand why your plant may be struggling, you need to assess its quality of life. Start by running a web search without quotation marks for “requirements for growing [insert plant name].” This should lead you to knowledge on the basic needs of your plant.

After reading a bit about your plant,  take a look at the plant and its surroundings. Put your fingers in the soil and observe the leaves and stem.  Ask yourself the following questions:

  • Is the soil too wet or too dry?
  • Are the leaves wilting, falling off or changing colors?
  • Am I giving the plant too much or too little sun?
  • Is the temperature too hot or too cold for this plant?
  • Are there bugs crawling on the plant? If so, does it look like they’ve chewed holes in the leaves or fruit?
  • Has anyone sprayed anything recently near the plant that could have damaged it?

Once you run a quick diagnosis with the questions above, you may be able to understand a bit more about why your plant is suffering and can run a web search on possible remedies. If you find yourself stuck and in need of assistance, post a question on our Facebook page and we can walk you through suggestions on solving your issues. You can also contact your local agricultural extension office. Diagnosing plant problems can be really hard, as there are a lot of variables. Extension offices most likely will have the ability to test soil (for a fee) and experts that may be able to make a diagnosis from a photo or sample of your plant.

Cheryl Hughey (on behalf of Mr. Stacky)