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Plant Disease

Plant Disease Identifier — What's Wrong With My Plant?

Upload a photo of the affected leaves and our free AI diagnoses the disease, pest, or nutrient deficiency in seconds — with a concrete treatment plan and whether the plant can be saved.

🔬Plant Pathologist AI
💊Treatment Plan Included
🆓Free — No App Needed

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How to Identify Plant Disease

Check these features before you rely on any single one — the combination is what confirms the ID.

Photograph the Symptom, Not the Plant

Fill the frame with the affected leaves. Include both the top and underside — many pests, including spider mites and aphids, hide beneath the leaf, and rust pustules form there first.

Spots, Rings, and Halos

Distinct round spots with concentric rings suggest fungal leaf spot or early blight. Spots with a yellow halo often indicate bacterial infection. Note whether spots cross leaf veins or stop at them.

White or Grey Coating

A dusty white film on upper leaf surfaces is classic powdery mildew, which thrives in humid air with dry leaves. Fuzzy grey growth on the undersides is downy mildew — a different pathogen needing a different treatment.

Yellowing Pattern Tells You the Cause

Yellowing between green veins points to iron or magnesium deficiency. Uniform yellowing of the oldest lower leaves usually means nitrogen deficiency. Yellowing with wilting despite moist soil often means root rot.

Wilting With Wet Soil

A plant that wilts while its soil is damp is the signature of root rot or vascular wilt, not thirst. Watering more will kill it faster. Check the roots — healthy roots are firm and pale; rotted roots are brown, soft, and smell sour.

Look for the Pest Itself

Fine webbing means spider mites. Sticky honeydew and sooty black mould mean aphids, scale, or mealybugs. Silvery stippling means thrips. Chewed leaf margins mean caterpillars or beetles. Photograph any insect you find.

Commonly Confused Diagnoses

Overwatering vs Underwatering

Caution

Both cause wilting and yellow leaves. The difference is the soil and the leaf feel: overwatered plants have damp soil with soft, limp, yellowing leaves and possibly a sour smell. Underwatered plants have dry soil with crisp, brown, brittle leaf edges.

Powdery Mildew vs Downy Mildew

Caution

Powdery mildew is a dusty white coating on the UPPER leaf surface, wipes off with a finger, and thrives in humid air with dry leaves. Downy mildew is fuzzy grey-purple growth on the UNDERSIDE with angular yellow patches above, and needs wet leaves. They require different fungicides.

Spider Mites vs Nutrient Deficiency

Caution

Both cause pale stippling and yellowing. Look for fine webbing between leaves and stems, and tap a leaf over white paper — spider mites appear as moving specks. Deficiency shows a consistent pattern across the plant; mites cluster and spread outward.

Early Blight vs Septoria Leaf Spot

Caution

Both hit tomatoes hard. Early blight makes larger brown spots with concentric bullseye rings, starting on the lowest leaves. Septoria produces many small spots with dark borders and tiny black specks at the center.

Root Rot vs Vascular Wilt

Dangerous

Both wilt a well-watered plant. Root rot shows brown mushy roots. Fusarium and verticillium wilt leave roots intact but discolour the vascular tissue — slice a stem lengthwise and look for brown streaking inside. Vascular wilts persist in soil for years; remove the plant and do not replant susceptible species there.

Sunscald vs Leaf Burn

Harmless

Sunscald appears as bleached white or tan patches on the side facing the sun, often after moving a plant outdoors abruptly. Fertilizer leaf burn shows crisp brown margins all around the leaf, following an over-application.

Not sure what plant it is in the first place? Our free picture identifier names any plant, pest, or garden find from a photo with the same AI.

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