Master Gardener Decision Support Guide

FAQ's, keys, and resources that help gardeners, Master Gardener Volunteers, and horticultural professionals answer clients questions. Created by North Carolina Cooperative Extension Agents.

Submitting a sample

Other information by David Goforth including 270 News articles on horticulture.

Disclaimer

Recommendations for the use of agricultural chemicals are included in the Master Gardener Decision Support Guide as a convenience to the reader. The use of brand names and any mention or listing of commercial products or services in the Master Gardener Decision Support Guide does not imply endorsement by North Carolina State University nor discrimination against similar products or services not mentioned. Individuals who use agricultural chemicals are responsible for ensuring that the intended use complies with current regulations and conforms to the product label. Be sure to obtain current information about usage regulations and examine a current product label before applying any chemical. For assistance contact your county North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service Agent.

Recommendations of specific chemicals are based upon information on the manufacturer's label and performance in a limited number of trials. Because environmental conditions and methods of application may vary widely, performance of the chemical will not always conform to the safety and pest control standards indicated by experimental data.

Employment and program opportunities are offered to all people regardless of race, color, national origin, sex, age or handicap. North Carolina State University, North Carolina A&T State University, US Department of Agriculture and local governments cooperating.

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Introduction to the Master Gardener Decision Support Guide

What is it?   

• a comprehensive, current guide to information in a keyed format for effective diagnosis of horticultural problems and standard control answers.
• provided by the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service.
• developed for Master Gardener Volunteers, Cooperative Extension Service Horticulture Agents, retail garden center employees and other greens industry professionals who are expected to answer client's questions about plant insects and diseases.

How can it help you?

• Allow professionals and volunteers to use several strategies to answer clients questions.
• Save time for clients, volunteers, professionals and their supervisors
• Save the cost of expensive reference materials which may not be readily available.
• Ensure access to the most up-to-date research and information
• Increase the volunteer or professional's morale
• Increase customer confidence
• Provide access to references on both insect and disease problems
• Cross referenced diagnosis of problems
• Reference designed specifically for North Carolina without extraneos information that slows response time

The Master Gardener Decision Support Guide is designed to be accurate, comprehensive, keyed, and easy to use. It is an effective strategy for diagnosing plant problems.

Comments on the Master Gardener Decision Support Guide can be sent to David Goforth, Horticulture Agent, North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service, Cabarrus County Center

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Helpful User Hints

• The Master Gardener Decision Support Guide is primarily designed for Master Gardener Volunteers answering questions over the telephone. It also is useful for new Extension Agents, retail garden center employees and other horticulture consultants.
• It will not be as accurate as a home visit, but will generally serve the needs for Master Gardener Volunteers.
• was designed for North Carolina. It may not be as accurate outside of North Carolina.

The program offers a series of choices. The user is asked to move the pointer and "click" or signal when the pointer is on the correct answer. When choosing plant names one may have many choices. When the choices get more difficult they will be limited to 5 or less. As long as one keeps making choices, they will continue to progress through the system.

The user may be instructed to ask the caller to submit a sample. This reflects the fact that many problems can not be accurately diagnosed over the phone. There are no set standards for agents or volunteers. Samples may need to be submitted for 40 to 50% of the calls. The fact that samples have to be submitted is not an indication that the guide is not working.

When the caller first describes the problem, they often list a series of facts. They may provide information needed later in the key. If the caller has already given the information once, the user may not need to ask the question again.

On most categories of plants there will be two lists. The list that automatically appears will be the very common plants. The second list can be accessed by choosing additional plants at the bottom of the first list.

Some plants are presented in more than one category. For example, crapemyrtle can be accessed from woody ornamentals or from trees. In these cases the diagnosis key is identical.

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References

Web References

Other References

1. Sinclair, W., Lyon H., and Johnson, W., 1987, Diseases of Trees and Shrubs, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, N.Y.
2. Smith, M., 1984, The Ortho Problem Solver Second Edition, Chevron Chemical Company, San Francisco.
3. Dirr, M., 1990, Manual Of Woody Landscape Plants, Stipes Publishing Company, Champaign, Il.
4. Johnson W. and Lyon H., 1991, Insects That Feed on Trees and Shrubs, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, N.Y.
5. Bass, L., 1993, The North Carolina Master Gardener Manual, NCSU, Raleigh, NC.
6. Lucus, L.T., 1997, 1997 North Carolina Agricultural Chemical Manual, NCSU Raleigh, NC.
7. Kriz, R., 1996, Personal Communication. Computer extract of all the problems diagnosed in the North Carolina Plant And Insect Clinic during 1995.
8. Cook, A., 1997, Personal Communications, List of current problems for Moore County.
9. Baker, J. R., 1997, Personal Communications, Insect descriptions and control measures.

Contents updated by David Goforth on April 13, 1998

I would like to thank the following people:

Dr. Katie Perry, Advisory committee chair
Dr. Jim Baker, Advisory committee member
Dr. Ted Bilderback, Advisory committee member
Dr. Alice Russell, Advisory committee member
The two people who told me it couldn't be done
Weston McCorkle, The first person who told me how it could be done
Shane Bost, High school intern, Typing/Encoding
Susan Lackey, Master Gardener Volunteer, Encoding
P. K. Donson, Master Gardener Volunteer, Encoding
Wayne Manahan, Master Gardener Volunteer, Encoding
Jim Canter, Master Gardener Volunteer, Informal review
Al Cooke, Moore County Agriculture Extension Agent, Informal Review
Dr Tom Creswell, Plant Disease and Insect Clinic (PDIC) Review
Mike Munster, (PDIC) Informal review
Cynthia Lauderdale, Wilson County Agriculture Extension Agent, Informal review
Hope Hunt, Mecklenburg County Extension Agent, Family and Consumer Education, Encoding, Review

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Written by David Goforth.

Final design by Hope Hunt.

Comments on the Master Gardener Decision Support Guide can be sent to David Goforth, Horticulture Agent, North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service, Cabarrus County Center