Free plant problem diagrams
These are the 21 leaf drawings we use to show plant problems on Root Cause Garden. You are welcome to use them in handouts, slides, club newsletters, lessons or your own website, for free, including commercial use.
How to use them
The diagrams are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0). Use, share or adapt them; just credit us, with a link where you can.
They are illustrations, not photos: each is drawn to show the typical pattern of a problem. Each file names the problem it shows.
All diagrams
Every drawing comes in three leaf shapes: heart-shaped (pothos, philodendron, monstera), lance-shaped (peace lily), strap-shaped (moth orchid).
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Healthy leaf
An even, green leaf for comparison.
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Overwatering
The whole leaf yellowing, with a darkened tip.
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Old leaf yellowing
A single leaf turning evenly yellow.
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Sun scorch
A bleached area with brown scorched patches.
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Too little water
A yellowing leaf with a crisp brown edge.
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Low fertility
A pale yellow-green leaf.
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Fertilizer burn
A dark, burned tip and edges.
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Cold damage
Scattered brown patches near the center of the leaf.
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Spider mites
A faded leaf covered in fine pale speckles.
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Mealybugs
White cottony clumps at the leaf base and along the midrib.
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Too little light
A pale, washed-out leaf.
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Shriveled leaf
Wrinkles across a limp, yellowing leaf.
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Red leaf edges
Pink to reddish edges on a yellow-green leaf.
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Brown tips
A green leaf with a dry brown tip and thin brown edges.
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Fungal leaf spot
Brown spots with yellow edges, rings and tiny black dots.
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Bacterial leaf spot
Dark, water-soaked spots ringed by yellow halos.
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Wilting
A limp leaf with its sides folding in.
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Cold-water spots
White to straw-colored blotches where cold water landed.
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Yellow between the veins
A yellow leaf whose veins stay green, as in iron chlorosis.
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Rust
Many small yellow flecks merging into angular brown patches.
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Leaf scorch
Dry brown edges and brown patches between the veins.
Want a drawing we don’t have yet, or a different leaf shape? Email hello@rootcausegarden.com and tell us how you’ll use it.