Customer Reviews

What's Wrong With My Plant? (And How Do I Fix It?): A Visual Guide to Easy Diagnosis and Organic Remedies

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I just received my copy of "What's Wrong with my Plant?" this week, and I cannot tell you how many times I've wished for a resource like this! It's, at once, straight-forward, but detailed and complete. And, I don't have to know the Latin name for my plants or trees (or vegetables, for that matter). There is a caution -- it is 451 pages long, BUT the good news is that you don't really have to read it all for it to work.

The authors combine drawings, photos, and prose with a no-fault process that anyone can use...homeowners, landscapers, lawn maintenance crews, everyone! Nurseries oughta hide one in the back room, so they can return to a questioning customer with brilliant, accurate advice. WalMart and the big box stores, ought to stock the book, too!

I got the hardback verson and I'm glad I did because this is a lifetime resource. And, I'm also giving a few copies away as Christmas presents, knowing full-well that they'll be actually be used by the recipients for a long time hence.

First, the disclaimer. David Deardorff worked for the Extension Office in the county where I was a Master Gardener. That was in the late 90s. Saying that he is knowledgeable is like saying the ocean has some water in it. I was impressed by him then and only have my esteem for him increased by this book.

There are a number of books available that cover plant problems. The problem, until now, is that none of them include a systematic method for nailing down the source. You browse the book until you find a photo that looks like your problem plant then read. If you're lucky the book has a good index that uses the same terms to describe problems that you do. Having spent untold hours in Master Gardener plant clinics helping people diagnose plant problems I would have loved to have had this book back then.

In What's Wrong With My Plant, Deardorff and Wadsworth offer us a straightforward diagnostic *system*. There's a step-by-step flowchart method for figuring out what's wrong. The method is brilliant and what's even better, it's explained well, in easy to understand language. That's the first part of the book. The rest of the book is the typical encyclopedia of photos and descriptions. The photos are clear and the descriptions are in straightforward, plain English. Organic solutions are offered.

Some people may find the solution section a bit limited. You won't find suggestions for toxic chemicals to, say, kill bugs. I won't go into organic solution vs. toxic pesticide debate, other to say that the solutions offered in this book are time tested and do work. They may take a bit more effort than buying a spray, but will leave you with a healthier garden overall. Even if you don't believe that, the diagnostic portion of the book still offers the best system anybody has come up with

This book is wonderful. The information is clear and concise, backed up and explained with clear pictures. You can't go wrong with it. Very user friendly and helpful. A lot of books seem to promise more than they can deliver--not this one. It delivers what it promises, and then some. Without a whole lot of jargon or verbiage, it shows you how to figure out exactly what is bothering your plant and then how to fix it. Brilliant! Highly recommended.

One of the first lessons of gardening that most gardeners learn all too soon is that "bad" things can happen to plants. They can be attacked by insects, or come down with some serious malady which could be a blight or a wilt or a you-name-it that you've never seen before. This book is a great reference to help quickly figure out the problem and determine what the cure is. And all the cures are organic. I'm recommending it for any gardener, regardless of experience.

I appreciate this book for the way it is organized. It refers the reader to a chain of possible problems and solutions for each symptom. I was not able to find a picture of a particular pest that has infected many of my plants, and am still not sure what it is; however, for most everything else, this book has been able to identify the issues my plants have had.

This book is just fantastic. I found that a lot of plant reference books do not transfer to our tropical environment in Hawaii. They are too mainland-centric. But this book helped me diagnose and successfully treat several lingering problems I had been having in my garden - from aphids, to sooty mold, to missing nutrients in my soil. The book is super easy to use, anyone can follow the clear illustrations and concise text. I also love the descriptive opening of each chapter. This book makes me feel like a smart and capable gardener. Plus my garden now looks amazing!

This is a smart, easy to use book no gardener will want to do without from this day forth. Anyone, regardless of experience, can use this book to grow healthier plants. You don't need to know the names of plants or the bugs and diseases that plague them. You just follow the ingenious flowcharts to arrive at effective, natural solutions that are the safest for people, pets, and your surrounding environment. A nationwide standing ovation is in order for Deardorff and Wadsworth. Buy What's Wrong with my Plant for yourself and for every plant lover in your life. A real keeper!

What's Wrong with My Plant? is a great reference for a beginning gardener like me who wants to stop her plants from dying, but doesn't have the time to identify each plant and read up on everything that can go wrong with it. I might not know the name of every plant in my backyard, but I know what a leaf is and that's enough for me to step through the flowcharts and figure out what to do next. I also like the emphasis on organic solutions.

I bought three copies, one for me, and one for my mother and my sister (they're both very experienced garderners and were just as thrilled with it as I was).

Thank you Wadsworth and Deardorff for finally writing a book that I can use!

With so many potential causes for plant problems -- insects, bacteria, fungi, viruses and human damage --, this book does an excellent job of capsulizing the often complicated process of determining what a gardener is dealing with. Through a series of photos and flow charts, this book leads you to what is wrong with a specific plant and offers a series of steps to take to address the problem. It includes not only solutions for the plant being diagnosed, but offers steps on how to prevent future recurrences of the problem. I bought the book from Amazon.com and highly recommend it.

As a Master Gardener, I am often asked to identify "plant problems". What's Wrong With My Plant? (And How Do I fix It) has saved alot of time in identifying the problem. The text is simple to use and easy for the questioner to show me the problem without getting into complicated pathology books.