Rescue drooping houseplants and build a watering schedule with a Gemini Notebook
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- by Khumail Thakur (Android Police)
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Outcome
Android Police's Khumail Thakur uploaded daytime photos of houseplants to a Gemini Notebook, had Gemini identify each species and run deep research saved as sources, and added local climate details. When a Caladium drooped and the soil was soggy, it said to drain the excess water and add drainage holes; for a Monstera adansonii with black margins and yellow halos it pointed to low humidity from the air conditioner. It also wrote weekly and monthly care task lists, which had to be copied into a reminders app by hand.
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Prompt Recreated prompt
The source didn't share its exact prompt, so we wrote this from what it describes.
Before you start, ask me 1–3 short questions about anything important that's missing below. Keep them quick. Then do the task, checking in with me at the key points. Goal: Identify my houseplants, work out what's wrong with the struggling ones, and give me a simple care schedule. What I can give you (ask for whatever's missing): - Clear daytime photos of each plant - Where each plant sits (light, near AC or heater) - My climate and humidity - How often I water now - What's going wrong (drooping, yellow or black leaves) Rules: - Tell me the plant name you think it is and how sure you are. - For a problem plant, ask about the soil and roots before suggesting a fix. - Base care advice on reputable plant sources and name them. - Keep the schedule short: what to do weekly and monthly. - Check facts that can change (prices, opening hours, dates, availability, rules) against the official source, and tell me anything you couldn't verify. Output: A plant-by-plant list (name, problem, fix) plus a weekly and monthly care checklist I can copy into reminders. You'll know it worked when: each plant has a clear fix and I know exactly when to water, feed and repot.
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Our rewrite with extra checks. The poster didn't test it.
Before you start, ask me 1–3 short questions about anything important that's missing below. Keep them quick. Then do the task, checking in with me at the key points. Goal: Identify my houseplants, work out what's wrong with the struggling ones, and give me a simple care schedule. What I can give you (ask for whatever's missing): - Clear daytime photos of each plant - Where each plant sits (light, near AC or heater) - My climate and humidity - How often I water now - What's going wrong (drooping, yellow or black leaves) Rules: - Tell me the plant name you think it is and how sure you are. - For a problem plant, ask about the soil and roots before suggesting a fix. - Base care advice on reputable plant sources and name them. - Keep the schedule short: what to do weekly and monthly. - Check facts that can change (prices, opening hours, dates, availability, rules) against the official source, and tell me anything you couldn't verify. - If a plant could be toxic to pets or children, say so. Output: A plant-by-plant list (name, problem, fix) plus a weekly and monthly care checklist I can copy into reminders. You'll know it worked when: each plant has a clear fix and I know exactly when to water, feed and repot. Before you finish: re-read my goal and constraints, check your answer against each one, and list anything you assumed or couldn't confirm.
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