When a plant looks sick
Photograph the problem, get a likely cause, and see treatments that will not cost you the export market.
Crop doctor helps when you can see something is wrong but are not sure what it is. It suggests a likely cause and, importantly, only offers treatments that will not get your produce rejected in Europe.
How to use it
- Photograph the problem — the affected leaf, stem or fruit, close up and in good light.
- Say which crop it is.
- Read the likely causes. You usually get more than one possibility, most likely first.
- Look at the suggested treatments. These have already been checked against the European rules.
Taking a useful photo
- Get close. A photo of a whole field tells it very little.
- Show the affected part clearly — the spots, the discolouration, the damage.
- Take two or three photos of different affected plants if the problem varies.
- Photograph in daylight, but not in harsh direct sun.
- Include a healthy leaf next to a sick one if you can — the contrast helps.
What it can and cannot do
Many plant problems look alike in a photograph. Nutrient deficiency, water stress, root disease and early pest damage can all show as yellowing leaves. Crop doctor narrows down what to investigate — it does not replace an agronomist walking your field.
Get a person to look when:
- The problem is spreading fast.
- It affects a large area rather than a few plants.
- The suggestion does not match what you are seeing on the ground.
- You are about to spend serious money on a treatment.
Why the treatments are worth trusting
Ordinary advice — from a neighbour, a shop, or the internet — is about killing the pest. It does not know or care whether the chemical is accepted in Europe.
Crop doctor's suggestions go through the same compliance check as Input check. So a treatment it offers will not be one that quietly ends your consignment.
Even so: check the actual product you buy. The suggestion names a chemical; the shop sells you a brand. Photograph that brand's label before you pay.
Record what you do about it
Whatever you end up applying, record it as a spray in your records the same day. The diagnosis is not the record — the treatment is.