Confession of a Fake Expert: Google Is My Best Friend

Get ready to lose all respect for me. Do you know how many times a week I use a plant identification app? How many times I Google “Why is my plant doing this?” More often than you might think!

You may think I’m some kind of super expert who knows every plant by heart… well, no! I kill plants I don’t understand, I haven’t harvested a single tomato this year, and while I’m pretty good at identifying our native plants, don’t ask me to name ornamental plants—I’ll just tell you it’s “a little red flower.”

Okay, I’m exaggerating a little, but the truth is that even we, the so-called “experts,” don’t know everything. And that’s okay! The internet has become our best ally, our modern tool, whereas books were our references in the past. (Don’t get me wrong, I still love and use books!)

The Truth About Expertise

I have to tell you an embarrassing story. Last week, someone sent me a photo of a plant and asked me to identify it. In my infinite wisdom, I forwarded the photo to PlantNet, got my answer, and replied confidently, “It’s a rudbeckia.” The person wrote back: “Wow, you’re really brilliant!”

Uh… well, no! I just forwarded the photo in an app! I felt like a fraud…

But you know what? Thinking back, I realized it wasn’t cheating. It’s my tool! Think about it: even today’s lumberjacks use chainsaws instead of chopping trees with axes for three hours.

Does that make them worse lumberjacks? No! They’re just more efficient!

The reality is that there are nearly 400,000 known plant species in the world, not counting subspecies, cultivars, hybrids, etc. And we discover about 2,000 new ones every year! Even if I spent my entire life memorizing plant names, I would never be able to know them all. And you know what? It’s the same for ALL botanists on the planet!

What’s more, I’m not a plant specialist: I’m a specialist in ecosystems in general… Do you think I’m going to bother studying all the Latin names of animals, fungi, bacteria, etc.? If your answer is “yes,” I have only one thing to say to you:

My Secret Apps

Bon, puisque je me confesse, aussi bien vous dire toute la vérité! Voici les applications d’identification que j’utilise régulièrement (et sans gêne maintenant!):

PlantNet

PlantNet is my absolute favorite. What I like about this app is that it gives you a percentage of certainty for each identification. For example, it will tell me, “85% certain it’s a sugar maple.” I love that because it forces me to use my brain too! If it tells me it’s only 30% certain, I dig deeper, add more photos, or look elsewhere.

In my example above, the percentage is quite low (51%), but all the other possibilities were rudbeckia. I may not know exactly which one it is, but it’s enough to know that it’s not a plant to pull up when weeding. I would be more meticulous if I were trying to identify an edible plant, for example.

In three steps: take the photo, choose what it is, and get an answer. Platycodon or bellflower? Looking at the family, we see that both are in the bellflower group, even though one of them has a fancy common name.

iNaturalist

iNaturalist to confirm my identifications and see what other users have found in my area. It’s handy because the community can correct identification errors. What’s more, it covers EVERYTHING that lives: plants, animals, and fungi. And you can select the region where you live.

If Ginette tells you that you have X pest in your plants, iNaturalist will show you pictures of the suspect, as well as tell you where the photos were taken. If you’ve never seen this insect in your plants, or if there are no identifications from the region, maybe Ginette is wrong!

What’s handy is that you can search in French, English, Latin, whatever you want. iNaturalist is still very good at common names. What’s more, you can search for a specific species or a group. Are you in Jamaica and see a hummingbird you’ve never seen before? Do a general search for hummingbird and identify the region you’re interested in on the map. You will then see only the observations from that specific region in the grid section. It’s a fantastic tool, I tell you!

BirdNet

BirdNet when I want to identify… bird songs. You record and it tells you the most likely species. You need a fairly sensitive phone and a listening spot away from roads and protected from the wind, but it’s pretty impressive! Early morning gardeners, I’m sure you’ve wondered who was whistling while you worked: the answer is at your fingertips!

Step 1: Launch the app, which will start recording. Step 2: When you hear a song, you can usually see it on the sound diagram. Pause the recording and select the section that contains the song you want to identify (this is useful if you have several birds singing at the same time!). Step 3: Click analyze… And that’s it!

The best part: these tools are all FREE. (I’ve told you before that I’m cheap!) Learn how to use them, it’s really worth it. The proof: this isn’t the first time I’ve mentioned them!

Be careful, though: sometimes the apps crash (pun intended!). Common sense still applies: there are no pelicans where I live in Quebec!

The Art of Googling Well in Gardening

Now, let’s talk about the elephant in the room: Google. Yes, I Google gardening stuff. REGULARLY. And you know what? You should too!

But be careful: you have to know how to search properly. Here are my pro tips:

Use Specific Keywords

Instead of searching for “my plant is sick,” try “yellow leaves brown spots tomato.” The more specific you are, the better your chances of getting a useful answer.

Rely on Good Sources

I usually avoid blogs (ironic, I know!), except for those that are reliable sources. Here, for example, I know that there is a high level of rigor and that all the writers are specialists. Larry taught me last week that I didn’t have any tomatoes in my greenhouse because the plants need to be stirred a little to allow for pollinisation. No wind in the greenhouse = no tomatoes. Since I’ve been stirring them, I’m already seeing mini fruits!

Government websites (such as Agriculture Canada), botanical gardens, universities, or scientific journals (not super easy to read, I know)… that’s solid stuff!

Beware of Confirmation Bias!

CIt’s the classic trap: when we think that X is true and we search for “X is true” on Google, we inevitably come across THE source that confirms our impression, and we overlook the 10 other sources that say that X is false.

And here’s my golden rule: ANYONE CAN WRITE ANYTHING ON THE WEB. The proof? I could write that nitroglycerin is an excellent fertilizer for making your flowers explode, but if they get too big, dilute a little Ozempic in it to make them shrink. See? It’s nonsense, and no web police have stepped in to remove this meaningless sentence.

So, choose and cross-reference your sources. If three different reliable sites say the same thing, you’re probably on the right track. If an obscure blog says something revolutionary… maybe it’s too good to be true.

Pitfalls to Avoid Online

Ah, gardening myths on the internet! It’s worse than when a new K-pop movie goes viral… (Yes, I too shake my hips to Soda Pop!)

Let me give you a few examples of these misconceptions that are so persistent that they spark debate every year:

“Eggshells keep slugs away.” FALSE! Not only are eggshells not sharp, but the smell of eggs attracts slugs! I’ve seen videos of slugs happily crossing barriers of eggshells to feast on lettuce. Oops!

“Coffee grounds acidify the soil.” FALSE too! Coffee grounds are practically neutral. They’re an excellent organic amendment, but they won’t turn your alkaline soil into acidic soil.

“You have to remove all the suckers from tomatoes.” FALSE again! These famous secondary shoots aren’t really “suckers”—they flower and bear fruit, and can even double your harvest!

How can you avoid these pitfalls? Simple: check your sources. Remember that Ginette on Facebook is not a good source. (I have nothing against you, Ginette!) Gardening rarely involves magic solutions. It involves patience, observation, and… yes, often, Google searches. Is it time-consuming? Yes, but it will prevent you from fertilizing your begonia with grape juice!

Stop Feeling Guilty!

Listen to me carefully: using tools does not diminish your expertise, quite the contrary! Having a good toolkit is the basis of any profession. The lumberjack used to have an axe, now he has a chainsaw, but he has never cut down a tree with his teeth!

I fully embrace the fact that I use my apps and Google. It makes me more efficient, helps me learn faster, and allows me to give you better answers. A true expert is someone who knows how to use all the tools at their disposal to give the most accurate answer possible. Not someone who is arrogant and says what they think without validating their information.

The difference between an amateur and an expert is not that one knows everything and the other knows nothing. It’s that the expert knows how to find the right answers quickly, how to verify their information, and how to distinguish reliable sources from dubious ones. I’m the first to tell you in my articles that I haven’t found THE answer, or that scientists don’t have a consensus.

Doubt is the driving force behind discovery, and humility is the beginning of learning.

Wow, did I really write that sentence? I’m just too amazing!! (Great example of doubt and humility here!)

And now that I’ve confessed all my technological secrets… will you continue to read my blog? I hope so! Because even though Google and my apps help me, I still have a few years of experience in the field, and I’ve developed an eye for detecting fake news… Plus, I’m told I’m a pretty good writer!

In fact, I have a question for you: what are YOUR secret apps? Your search tips? Your reliable sources? Tell me in the comments, and we’ll help each other out! After all, we’re all in the same boat: we just want our plants to be happy!