Cuttings not rooting in water? Why they rot or stall
Most failed cuttings come down to a short list: the wrong stem, too little light, stale water, a cold glass, or too much hormone. Here is how to tell which.
Article archive
Plant Problems article archive
This is the plain utility list for every published plant problems guide. For the main topic page with curated pathways, featured entry points, and broader context, use the primary hub.
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Plant Problems
Plant problems are usually symptoms of a mismatch somewhere in the system. This hub organizes diagnosis-led guides around symptoms, likely causes, quick fixes, and deeper explanations that connect back to light, roots, and environment.
113 articles
All published plant problems guides
Browse the full set of published guides in Plant Problems. This archive stays intentionally simple so it does not compete with the main hub.
Late blight on tomatoes: how to spot it and what to do
Late blight moves in days, not weeks, and spreads on the wind to other people's plants. Learn the signs that separate it from ordinary leaf spot and how to dispose of the plant.
Squash bugs on zucchini in pots - find the eggs, trap the adults
Squash bugs hide at the base of the plant and lay bronze eggs under the leaves. Hand removal, boards and row cover do most of the work, and sprays only help against young nymphs.
Tomato leaf mold: yellow patches on top, olive fuzz underneath
Leaf mold is the tomato disease of humid, still air: glazed balconies, greenhouses and crowded indoor plants. Turn the leaf over to confirm it, then change the air.
Caterpillars on dill and parsley: black swallowtails, and what to do
A pot of dill reduced to bare stalks and fat banded caterpillars on the stems is a black swallowtail, a butterfly in the making. Here is how to spot it, how much damage to expect, and how to share or relocate.
Cats digging in your potted plants? Barriers, safer herbs and what to avoid
A cat in your pots means loose soil to dig in, leaves to chew, or both. Cover the surface, offer an alternative, and know which herbs are on the toxic list.
Chives turning yellow? Dormancy, rust, wet roots or hunger
Yellow chives are often just the end of the season, but orange pustules, a soggy pot or a crowded clump point to something you can fix.
Why are my cucumbers curled, pointed or fat at one end?
A crooked or pointed cucumber usually means some of the ovules inside were not pollinated; a fat blossom end points to water. Here is how to read the shape in a pot.
Frost-damaged container plants: is it dead, and what to cut
The morning after a frost, a potted plant can look finished and still regrow. Here is how to check, when to cut, and when to give up.
Insecticidal soap on vegetables: which pests, what damage, what the label decides
Soap sprays work on aphids, whiteflies, mealybugs and mites that you wet directly, and fail on caterpillars. Dish soap is a different and riskier thing.
Red and purple spots on strawberry leaves: leaf spot, scorch or something else
Purple, red or brown spots on strawberry leaves are usually fungal leaf spot or leaf scorch. They rarely cut the crop, and the fixes are about cleanliness and water.
Mosaic virus on potted plants: how to spot it and what to do
Mosaic virus has no cure. Here is how to tell it from herbicide, heat and nutrient problems, how it travels between pots, and how to clean up afterwards.
Oregano dying in a pot? Check the roots, the season, and the old centre
Brown, yellow or thinning oregano is usually a wet-root problem, a normal autumn dieback, or an old clump that has run out of steam. Each looks different at the base.
Parsley turning yellow: second year, hunger, water, or roots
Parsley yellows for a handful of reasons that look alike from a distance. Which leaves go first, and what the soil and roots are doing, tells you which one you have.
Pea plants turning yellow? Season's end, wet roots, mildew or virus
Peas yellow for ordinary reasons late in the season, but yellow lower leaves in a soggy pot, a white coating or mottled leaves point to something else.
Plant leaning toward the window: normal bend or a light problem?
Leaning toward the glass is the plant following one-sided light. Whether it is only a bend or a sign of too little light depends on the stem and the leaves.
Do ladybugs help with aphids? What releasing them really does
Purchased lady beetles are adults that disperse fast, so a release rarely clears a pot. Ladybug larvae and other resident predators do the lasting work.
White fuzzy stuff on roots: root mealybugs or something harmless?
Unpot a struggling plant and find white fluff on the roots, several things are possible: root mealybugs, fungus, perlite, or springtails. One check settles it: look for insects.
How to save a potted plant with root rot
Root rot in a pot can sometimes be rescued if only part of the root system is gone. Here is the order of work, and the point where replacing the plant makes more sense.
Seeds not sprouting in pots: temperature, depth, water or old seed
A pot of bare soil after two weeks has several possible causes. Cold mix, burial depth and one dry spell after sowing each leave a clue you can check.
Green stuff on top of potting soil: algae, liverwort, and what to do
A green layer on the soil surface is a sign the top inch stays wet. It rarely harms the plant, but a thick mat can block water and breed gnats.
Bean plants flowering but no pods: heat, water, nitrogen or old pods
A bean plant covered in flowers and bare of pods is rarely sick. Heat, uneven watering, a nitrogen-rich mix or pods left to ripen are the usual reasons, and each has its own fix.
Blueberry leaves turning yellow or red in a pot: pH, iron or just autumn
Yellow, green-veined new leaves usually mean the pot's pH or your tap water is too high for blueberries. Red leaves can be perfectly normal, depending on the month.
Bumps on tomato stems? Usually roots, not disease
Those little knobs along a tomato stem are root starts waiting for soil or a wet spell. Learn how to confirm them and which stem symptoms are different.
Why are my carrots deformed? Forked, stunted and hairy roots
A carrot root takes the shape of whatever it meets on the way down. Read the deformity, find the cause, and fix it before the next sowing.
Why are my garlic bulbs small? Clove, timing, scape, and harvest
Garlic sizes up in a short spring window, and most of what limits it was decided months earlier: which clove you planted, and when. Here is how to work out which cause fits your pot.
Lemon tree dropping fruit: normal shedding or a problem?
How big the dropped fruit is tells you whether your potted lemon is thinning itself normally or reacting to stress.
Small, lumpy strawberries? Pollination, cold or plant bugs
Knobby, lopsided or tiny strawberries have a handful of causes, and the seeds on the surface show which one you have. Here is how to read them and what to change.
Tomatoes with yellow shoulders or blotchy color? Heat, potassium and variety
A tomato that reddens everywhere except the top, or ripens in gray and yellow blotches, has a ripening disorder. Heat, low potassium in the plant and the variety all play a part, and the fruit that is already marked will not recover.
Deformed tomatoes with scarred bottoms? That is catfacing
Puckered, scarred, lumpy tomatoes on the first trusses are usually catfacing, a flower-stage problem tied to cold nights. Here is how to confirm it and what to change.
Seedlings cut off at soil level: it is probably a cutworm
A clean cut at the base, a missing seedling in the morning, nothing in sight. Here is how to confirm cutworms, what to do tonight, and how to stop the next one.
Tiny holes in eggplant, arugula and radish leaves? Flea beetles
Flea beetles riddle the leaves of eggplant, arugula, radish and kale with tiny holes. Seedlings are at risk; established plants usually outgrow it.
Mushrooms growing in a potted plant: harmless to the plant, not to eat
Mushrooms in a pot are the fruiting bodies of a fungus living on the organic matter in your mix. They rarely hurt the plant, but some are poisonous if eaten.
Pepper leaves turning yellow: which leaves, and why
Lower leaves going pale is often hunger, a cold snap or a soggy pot. Spots or yellow new growth point elsewhere. Here is how to sort them.
Why are my peppers not hot? Variety, ripeness, water and weather
Heat in a chile pepper is set by genetics first, then by weather, growing conditions and fruit age. Cross-pollination from a nearby bell pepper does not change this year's fruit.
White powder on zucchini and cucumber leaves: powdery mildew
White powder on zucchini and cucumber leaves is usually powdery mildew. Late in the season it is often a nuisance; early on, act before it spreads.
Sticky leaves on plants: finding the insect behind the honeydew
Tacky leaves, a glossy film, or a black soot-like coating all point to honeydew. Here is how to trace it to aphids, soft scale, mealybugs or whiteflies.
Tomato plant not flowering: young, shaded, overfed, or stalled
Green, healthy and flowerless: the usual causes are age, light, nitrogen and temperature. Here is how to tell them apart and what to change.
White patches on tomatoes? How to spot sunscald and stop it
A tomato or pepper that was shaded by leaves and then suddenly was not can bleach on the exposed side. The damage stays on that fruit, but the next ones are avoidable.
Vine weevil grubs in pots: how to find them and what stops them
Plump white C-shaped grubs in the root ball, and notched leaf edges above, point to vine weevil. Here is how to confirm it, clear the pot, and use nematodes when the compost is warm enough.
Zucchini plant suddenly wilting? Check the stem base first
A healthy-looking zucchini that collapses in days often has a borer in the stem. Heat, soggy roots and bacterial wilt are the other suspects, and the stem base tells them apart.
Basil flowering: pinch it back or let it bloom?
Flower buds on basil are the plant switching from leaves to seed. Pinching them off keeps leaf production going; letting them open trades leaves for pollinator food.
Why are my cucumbers bitter? Stress, genes, and when to bin them
Bitterness comes from cucurbitacin moving into the fruit when the vine is stressed. Learn how to rescue mild cases, keep pot cucumbers sweet, and tell when bitter fruit is not worth eating.
Blossom end rot on tomatoes in pots: why it happens and what fixes it
Potted tomatoes swing between soggy and bone dry faster than garden ones, and that swing is what starves the fruit of calcium. Steady watering fixes most cases.
Brown spots on tomato leaves: early blight, septoria or bacterial spot
Three common diseases cause brown spots on tomato leaves, and each leaves a different mark. Read the spot, then pick the response that fits.
Green caterpillars on kale: which cabbage worm it is and how to stop it
Three look-alike green caterpillars feed on kale, and a white butterfly fluttering round the pot is the early warning. Here is how to tell them apart and what actually protects a container crop you plan to eat.
Caterpillars eating tomato leaves: find them and stop them
Hornworms are green, up to 3 inches long, and nearly invisible among the leaves. The droppings give them away, and hand removal is the first and often only fix a balcony needs.
Citrus leaves turning yellow indoors: iron, nitrogen, water or winter light
Where the yellow starts and whether the veins stay green separate nitrogen, iron, magnesium and wet roots on a potted lemon, lime or orange.
Cucumber leaves turning yellow in pots: which cause fits
Where the yellow starts and what it looks like tells you whether a potted cucumber is hungry, waterlogged, mildewed or infested.
Cucumber only male flowers: normal start or a problem?
Male-only blooms at the start are the usual cucumber pattern. Learn how to spot the first female flower, what delays it, and when to step in.
Earwigs in potted plants: harmless, helpful, or pest?
Earwigs in a pot are usually sheltering, and they eat aphids. They only earn a trap when you can show they are chewing seedlings, lettuce, or soft fruit.
Bumps on the underside of leaves: is it edema?
Raised bumps under the leaves that start clear and turn tan and corky are usually edema, caused by too much water and too little evaporation, not an insect.
Fruit flies vs fungus gnats: which one is in your kitchen?
Fruit flies breed in fermenting food and drains. Fungus gnats breed in damp potting mix. Where the flies gather tells you which one you have, and the fix for each is different.
Green tomatoes not ripening: heat, cold, and what to do
A full-size green tomato that refuses to blush is usually waiting on the weather. Heat above the mid-80s and nights below the mid-50s both stall color, and fruit picked at the right stage will finish indoors.
Lavender dying in a pot: wet roots, winter damp, or old wood
Lavender is built for dry, stony ground, so a pot that holds water kills it faster than neglect does. Work through drainage, winter, light, and pruning in order.
Plants dropping leaves after moving indoors: light, dry air, and what to do
A plant that sheds leaves in the weeks after moving inside is mostly adjusting to much weaker light. Dry winter air, drafts and carried-over watering habits add to it.
Plants scorched after moving outside? What to do
A houseplant or seedling that goes straight into outdoor sun can bleach within hours. The damaged leaves will not heal, but the plant usually does.
Why are my seedlings leggy? Light, heat, crowding, and what to save
A tall, thin, floppy seedling is telling you it is short of light, too warm, crowded, or started too early. Find which, fix the setup, and bury the stems that can take it.
Pepper leaves curling: mites, aphids, heat, or virus
Curling pepper leaves are harmless in a heat wave and a warning when they come with distorted new growth. Here is how to tell the two apart.
Pepper plant not producing: why flowers drop and no fruit forms
Flowers that open and fall without setting fruit point to temperature, nitrogen, water, shade or wind. Work through them in order and match each to what you see.
Pill bugs in plant pots: when they hurt seedlings and how to cut their numbers
Grey, armoured, roll-into-a-ball creatures in your potting mix are usually decomposers. Here is when they threaten seedlings, how to confirm it after dark, and what actually reduces them.
Sage leaves turning brown? Wet roots, old wood, or mildew
Sage is a drought-tolerant Mediterranean shrub, so brown leaves in a pot point to drainage first, age second, and disease or pests after that.
Seedlings turning purple: cold roots, phosphorus, and when it is normal
Purple stems and leaf undersides on seedlings are a stress response, and cold roots are one of the commonest triggers. Often it is a short-lived stress rather than a mix that needs fertilizer. A few checks separate the harmless cases from the ones that need action.
Squirrels and birds digging in pots: barriers that work
Craters in the soil, uprooted seedlings and bare roots on the rim usually mean a squirrel or a dust-bathing bird. Cover the soil surface and the digging loses its payoff.
Strawberry plants not fruiting in pots: type, age, light, and heat
A strawberry pot with leaves and no berries is rarely sick. The variety type, the plant's age, the sun, the heat and an early frost explain most of it.
Tomato flowers falling off: heat, cold nights, and stress
Flowers that yellow and fall without setting fruit are usually reacting to temperature or stress, not disease. Work out which, then change the one thing that applies.
Tomato leaves curling: heat, water swings, herbicide, pests, or virus
Most curling tomato leaves are a harmless response to heat or uneven watering. Twisted new growth, bronzing, or stunting points elsewhere.
Tomato leaves turning yellow in pots: read the pattern first
Which leaves yellow, and in what pattern, tells you whether a potted tomato is hungry, waterlogged, short of magnesium or diseased.
Tomato plant wilting even though you water it: heat, roots, or disease
Midday droop that clears by evening is usually heat. Wilt that stays after watering points to rotting roots or a vascular disease, and a cut stem tells you which.
Why are my tomatoes cracking? Radial vs concentric splits
Cracked tomatoes are almost always a water-swing problem. Learn which split you have, whether the fruit is safe to eat, and how to stop it in pots.
Transplant shock in seedlings: wilting after you plant them out
Wilting after transplanting is common and usually temporary. Prevention is mostly hardening off and watering; recovery is measured in days to a couple of weeks.
Zucchini rotting on the end? Pollination failure vs blossom end rot
Zucchini rotting from the blossom end has three possible causes, and the fruit itself tells you which. Here is how to read it and what to change in a container.
Choosing a pest treatment for plants you are going to eat
Once you know which pest you have, the next question is what you can treat it with without compromising the food. The answer is a ladder of methods, and the label on any product you buy sets the legal limits of the top rung.
Emergency cold snap protection for balcony container plants
A frost or freeze warning lands differently when the only space you have is a balcony, a windowsill, and a flat with no garage to wheel anything into. Here is the version of this response that assumes that.
What a soil moisture meter actually measures
The two-prong dial in most garden centers does not touch water directly. It reads an electrical signal that salts, contact, and depth all distort, and knowing that changes how you should read the dial.
Ants in potted plants: what they mean and how to stop them
A trail of ants on a potted plant is almost always chasing honeydew from another pest, not damaging the plant itself, so the fix starts with finding that pest.
Basil downy mildew: reading the vein-bounded yellowing
Vein-bounded yellowing on top with purplish-gray fuzz underneath means downy mildew, not a feeding problem and not powdery mildew.
Why is my basil stem turning brown and woody?
Where the browning starts, what the stem looks like when you cut into it, and how fast it happened are the three details that tell these apart.
Black spots on herb leaves: fungus, bacteria, or frass
Black spots on herbs can be a fungal disease, a bacterial disease, or just insect droppings sitting on the leaf, and each one calls for something different.
Gray mold on herbs: what botrytis looks like and how to stop it spreading
Gray mold grows on dying or wounded tissue first, not healthy leaves. Remove the source, open up the canopy, and stop watering overhead.
Brown tips on potted herbs: four causes and how to tell them apart
Four different problems produce the same crisped, brown tip. The soil surface, the root zone, and your last feeding date each point at a different one.
Cilantro bolting: why it happens and how to slow it down
Cilantro is an annual that bolts once heat and long daylight hours push it toward flowering, and cooler placement, sowing timing, and succession sowing are what actually slow it down.
Herb leaves curling: heat, pests, or water
Curling herb leaves usually mean one of three things: heat or bright light, a pest on the growing tip, or a root zone that has gone too dry.
What's eating your herbs? Match the signs to the pest
Every common herb pest leaves its own tell before you ever spot the insect itself. Pick out what you are actually seeing, then go straight to the page that treats it.
Why are my herb seedlings dying?
A tray of herb seedlings can fail three or four different ways, and they do not all look the same up close. The stem base and the seed itself tell you which one you have.
Holes in basil leaves: what's actually chewing them
Three insects punch actual holes through a herb leaf: caterpillars, slugs and snails, and earwigs. Each leaves its own clue, and the clue matters more than the shape of the hole.
Leaf miners on basil and greens: reading the tunnels
Leaf miner damage on basil and leafy greens shows up as a pale, winding tunnel inside the leaf tissue itself, and most sprays cannot reach the larva causing it.
Mealybugs on indoor herbs: identify them and stop the spread
Mealybugs show up as white, cottony masses tucked into leaf axils and stem joints, and they keep coming back until every hiding spot and every generation has been treated.
Mint leaves turning yellow: pot size, feeding, or water
Yellow mint leaves have three usual sources: a pot the roots have outgrown, short nitrogen, or soil that stays too wet. The pattern tells you which.
Mint rust: orange leaf pustules with no real cure
Mint rust cannot be treated away once it is on the leaf. The realistic job is removing infected growth, improving airflow, and knowing when to start over.
Neem oil on herbs: what the label decides before you spray
Whether neem oil is safe for a herb depends on the product's label, not on neem oil as an ingredient — and the label also sets the wait time before harvest.
Overwatered vs underwatered: how to tell which one you have
Reading the root zone directly, with a finger test, pot weight, and how the plant responds to being watered, settles what the leaves alone cannot.
Why is parsley growing so slowly?
Some of parsley's slow pace is just how the plant works. Here is how to tell normal first-year growth apart from nitrogen deficiency, a cramped taproot, and cold.
Preventing pests on indoor herbs before they start
Most indoor herb pests arrive on a new plant or one that spent summer outdoors, and most of them are stopped by isolating that plant, checking it on a schedule, and keeping the soil and air from favoring the pest in the first place.
Signs your potted herb is root bound
A root bound herb gives off physical warnings before growth actually stalls. Here is what to look for, why the signs show up together, and how to repot without shocking the plant.
Why is my rosemary dying? A cause-by-cause diagnosis
A dying rosemary looks much the same from a few feet away no matter what caused it, so finding the fix means ruling causes in and out one at a time, not guessing.
Scale insects on rosemary and other woody herbs
Scale on a woody herb often goes unnoticed until the leaves turn sticky or a stem starts to die back, and the right treatment depends on which kind of scale you have.
Slugs and snails in potted plants: barriers that actually work
Smooth-edged holes and a shiny trail on a potted herb point to slugs or snails. A copper barrier, iron phosphate bait, and checking after dark are the responses with evidence behind them.
Tiny bugs in plant soil: springtails or fungus gnats?
If the bugs in your potting soil jump but stay grounded, they are springtails. If they lift off and buzz around the plant, they are fungus gnats. Both are pointing at the same watering habit.
Thrips on herbs: identify the damage and stop it
Thrips leave silvery, stippled leaves and dark specks of excrement rather than webbing or honeydew, and confirming the insect matters more than guessing from the damage alone.
Why is potted thyme dying? Start with the water, not the leaves
Thyme fails indoors far more often from a soggy pot than a dry one. Check the root zone first, then work through light, rot, and pests in that order.
White mold on plant soil: what it means and what to do
A white, fuzzy patch spreading across the soil surface looks alarming, but it is usually a cosmetic fungus feeding on the mix, not the plant.
White spots on basil leaves: mildew, thrips, or sunscald
White spots on basil usually come from one of three different causes, and a hand lens plus a few days of watching tells you which.
Whiteflies on balcony vegetables: identify them and bring the numbers down
Whiteflies on a balcony vegetable plant are easiest to confirm by disturbing the foliage and watching what flies up, then working the population down with sprays, traps, and repeat checks.
Why are my plant leaves turning yellow? Find the likely cause
Yellow leaves have a short list of real causes, and the pattern of the yellowing narrows it fast, once you know what to look for.
Aphids on indoor herbs: identify, isolate, and control them
Aphids are manageable when you find the colony, isolate the plant, remove most insects physically, and repeat inspections through the next generation.
Powdery mildew on container herbs: diagnosis and control
A white mark is not automatically mildew. Confirm whether patches recur and spread on living tissue before changing the entire care routine.
Spider mites on indoor herbs: signs, paper test, and control
Spider mites are easiest to control before webbing is obvious. Look for fine pale stippling and confirm moving specks over white paper.
Why fungus gnats keep coming back in herb pots
Fungus gnats are the absolute bane of indoor gardeners. If a cloud of tiny black flies eradicates your peace every time you walk past your basil plant, you are treating the symptom, not the cause.
Leggy basil indoors: light problem or pruning problem?
A bushy, compact basil plant is the goal of every gardener. If your plant is growing into a ridiculously tall, flimsy vine with only a few leaves at the top, you have 'leggy' basil. Here is how to diagnose and fix it.
Why is my basil wilting indoors? Stop the droop
Basil is famous for being dramatic. If your plant suddenly wilts into a sad green puddle, don't panic. Here is exactly how to diagnose the droop and revive it.
Common potted herb problems: yellow leaves, wilting, and weak growth
Common potted herb problems usually show up as yellow leaves, wilting, or weak growth, but the useful diagnosis starts with light, drainage, and root stress.
Why are basil leaves turning yellow indoors?
Yellow basil rarely has a single universal cause. The pattern of yellowing, the growing medium, and the recent care routine usually tell the story.