Q&A

Put a photo and what you saw. Crop, region, the look of the field. Posts marked Example are demos of how to write.

Posts marked Example are demos of how to describe a field. Your own posts appear after you sign in and publish.

ExampleRice seedlings are stalling, and the water looks a bit rusty

Rice seedlings are stalling. The next ridge is green. Root tips came up brown with few white tips. Some neighbours say feed it, some say the soil is acid. Do I look at the root first or chase urea?

Farmer 1832 · 2026-03-12 · Acid soil · Answered

ExampleThe soil surface is white; seedlings come up in patches

Wheat in Hebei. A white powder on the soil. After a light watering they wilt more. Drought or salt?

Farmer 2046 · 2026-03-21 · Salty-alkali land · Answered

ExampleAfter rain the soil wears a cap, and the hoe bounces

Maize hasn’t fully come up. After rain the surface sets like a cap and the hoe bounces.

Farmer 1175 · 2026-03-28 · Hard-packed soil · Answered

ExampleNew leaves yellow, veins still green, old leaves still green

Peanut new leaves are yellow with green veins; old leaves still look fine. Neighbours said more nitrogen.

Farmer 3301 · 2026-04-05 · Nutrient shortage · Answered

ExampleOld leaves yellow first, the plant is thin and tall

Maize: lower old leaves evenly yellow, new leaves still green, stalks thin.

Farmer 4418 · 2026-04-11 · Nutrient shortage · Answered

ExampleLeaves wilt, but the soil is wet

Vegetables wilt by day, recover a little at night, roots smell. Someone at home watered as if it were drought.

Farmer 2560 · 2026-04-19 · Waterlogging · Answered

ExampleThe soil gets hungrier every year, fertiliser fades fast

The same compound fertiliser doesn’t last as many days. The soil colour is paler.

Farmer 1789 · 2026-04-27 · Thin organic matter · Answered

ExampleThe seedlings burned right after I fertilised

Seedlings just came up, I dressed them, next day root tips were black.

Farmer 5622 · 2026-05-03 · Fertiliser burn · Answered

ExampleThe greenhouse gets worse; white frost under the film

Same greenhouse vegetables for four years. More dead plants this year, a white film at the mulch edge.

Farmer 3904 · 2026-05-09 · Same crop again · Answered

ExampleSomeone told me to take the tea soil to neutral

pH 4.9. The next county’s grain fields are liming. Someone told me to take the tea garden to 7.

Farmer 2217 · 2026-05-16 · Acid soil · Answered

ExampleThe well water is salty too, the soil is even whiter

The well water tastes bitter. After irrigation the soil is whiter. I bought gypsum and haven’t spread it.

Farmer 6088 · 2026-05-24 · Salty-alkali land · Answered

ExampleA hard lid sits under the rotary-tilled layer

The top is fluffy. A spade hits a floor. We rotary-till every year.

Farmer 1443 · 2026-06-02 · Hard-packed soil · Answered

ExampleBlossom-end rot and splitting after two foliar calcium sprays

Blossom-end rot on tomato. Two foliar calcium sprays, still splitting. Soil a bit acid.

Farmer 4770 · 2026-06-10 · Nutrient shortage · Answered

ExampleRoots black and smelly, no new white roots

Rice roots feel black, they smell, almost no new white tips.

Farmer 3156 · 2026-06-18 · Waterlogging · Answered

ExampleThe black soil is paler, more clods

The black soil at home doesn’t hold a squeeze like it used to. After rain it falls apart more.

Farmer 2891 · 2026-06-26 · Thin organic matter · Answered

ExampleThe more I drip, the more the leaf tips scorch

Greenhouse drip. Recipe unchanged, leaf tips burn, white around the emitters.

Farmer 7012 · 2026-07-04 · Fertiliser burn · Answered

ExampleSeedlings purple and stalled, phosphorus already spread

Wheat dark green with purple, few roots. Basal P already applied. Field a bit acid.

Farmer 1930 · 2026-07-13 · Nutrient shortage · Answered

ExampleOld apple trees gone, the new ones still stall

Old apple out, new tree in the same hole, stalling. I used an inoculant.

Farmer 5544 · 2026-07-21 · Same crop again · Answered

ExampleI can't read pH and EC on the sheet

The sheet arrived. pH 5.2, and an EC number. Which cell do I circle first?

Farmer 8126 · 2026-07-29 · Other · Answered

ExampleI want to flush the salt, but there is no ditch

White soil. People said flood to push the salt down. The field is flat, no drain.

Farmer 4365 · 2026-08-06 · Salty-alkali land · Answered

ExampleCitrus yellowing; someone said huanglongbing

Citrus: new leaves yellow, veins green. Someone said huanglongbing, someone said iron.

Farmer 2677 · 2026-08-14 · Nutrient shortage · Answered

ExampleNothing comes up in the wheel tracks

After a wet spring we drove across. The ruts came up empty.

Farmer 9901 · 2026-08-20 · Hard-packed soil · Answered

ExampleHow not to take soil for a test

Last year’s bag of soil didn’t match what the field did. I dug it at the edge.

Farmer 1288 · 2026-08-28 · Other · Answered