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DeficiencyFinder - new resource for diagnosing plant problems.

4512 Views 41 Replies 18 Participants Last post by  roadmaster
While far from finished I want to let everyone know that there is a new free resource available for figuring out plant issues, deficiencies, toxicities and other growth problems. After making a few deficiency diagnosis diagrams and writing a few articles on the subject I decided a database with actual photographs of each individual plant species and each individual deficiency might be more helpful.

My database is called the DeficiencyFinder and is located here: www.DeficiencyFinder.com

I encourage anyone having a plant problem to browse through the site, read descriptions and message me or post on the forum if you need help confirming or figuring out a plant problem.

I'll be adding toxicity sections, and different ways of sorting the entries in time.

If you'd like to help me expand the database I'm always looking for good photos of any kind of plant problem. Send me an email or a PM and I'll give you credit when I use them in a description. I'd also like to thank all hobbyists who have already helped by contributing photos, thank you!

This is what the site looks like:
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Thank you Zapins! :thumbsup:
Nice to see you "officially" announcing the site Zapins!
It took me a while to get the programming fixed and enough entries to be of use.

I'd like to personally thank you TekWarren for hosting the site on your server. You have been really great! Thank you!
Looking good. Gonna have to bookmark this.
It is my pleasure! After you helping me on multiple occasions, doing this for you was a no brainer. The resource you are building is going to be invaluable to a lot of people.

:thumbsup:

It took me a while to get the programming fixed and enough entries to be of use.

I'd like to personally thank you TekWarren for hosting the site on your server. You have been really great! Thank you!
That is a handy resource. Thanks for creating it.
Really neat idea Zapins. This will prove to be an invaluable resource to many hobbyists, especially as it becomes more comprehensive.
Mg deficiency will have a veining on the leaves, Anubias are particularly obvious plants, recovery is rapid, 1-2 days typically.

I've never seen a confirmed Ca++ deficiency.
Maybe pure RO users might run across this.
About the only way I know of.
Looking good .. Great job !!! Thanks for doing this. :proud:
A much needed resource. Since im new to planted tanks im certain i will accidentally contribute to your database a few times. Thanks for your effort on this one. If everyone chips in it can be the " go to" resource for plant issues.

Also id like to suggest people "prove" their solution to a problem. It doesnt help anyone if you think your (insert shotgun approach) helped but didnt control other variables. Specificity is key.
Thanks everyone.

I've added a "light deficiency" category and several more entries to the other categories.

If everyone chips in it can be the " go to" resource for plant issues.
So far people have been very helpful. I'm still on the lookout for more though.

Also id like to suggest people "prove" their solution to a problem. It doesnt help anyone if you think your (insert shotgun approach) helped but didnt control other variables. Specificity is key.
All entries currently on the deficiency finder have been proved with a couple of exceptions (mainly for iron deficiency since nothing else really looks like it).
Michael thanks for making this site, this should be a sticky. if i have any photo i will send it to you.
I wouldn't mind if this thread was made into a sticky. It might be easier to find.
I wonder if having a search box would be helpful? As the list grows it is a lot to scroll through. If you need some help I am willing, but maybe in the WP administration you can find a simple search plugin to add?

Just a thought :)
any plan on adding toxicity of the ferts on that website?
TekWarren - I was thinking about that. Something that would scroll you down the page to the plant species you typed in. I'm not sure how easy that would be to put in, but I can have a look. If you have a plugin in mind I can see about incorporating it in the site. By the way if you hold Ctrl then press F, it will bring up a page search at the bottom of the screen which does much of the same thing.

If I get enough entries I'd like to make a second main page organized by plant genus, so you'd see all rotala problems in one category.

Happi - I definitely will be adding toxcicities! Those should be much easier to do than deficiencies. I've got a few small tanks setup with CO2, a heater and a powerhead for circulation with no substrate or filter so the fertilizer in question cannot be degraded.

Before I add toxicity tests I plan to extensively test plants in CO2 deficient conditions. CO2 addition has been recommended for years on the internet in order to cure basically every plant problem (even those that are clearly major/minor nutrient issues/toxcicites/etc) and it has become somewhat of a general blanket statement. I'm going to investigate what exactly the symptoms of CO2 deficiency are and how the plants react to it over time so we can get a clear picture of what exactly the lack of CO2 does to plants. I'm currently saving up for the supplies I need (they cost about $100 :().
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