---
name: dubai-plant-care
description: Care for one specific plant in Dubai's climate - watering by season, sun and shade, soil and salt, feeding, pruning, pests, and why it is struggling. Use when someone asks "how do I care for bougainvillea in Dubai", "is X a good plant for a Dubai villa", "my plant is dying in the summer heat", "why are the leaves yellow or brown", "how often should I water my lawn, palm or ghaf", or "can X survive in the UAE". Diagnoses heat, salt, drought and overwatering problems and cites a plant profile for every answer. Read-only, free, no sign-in.
license: CC-BY-4.0
---

# Plant care in Dubai

Give accurate, season-aware care advice for one plant in Dubai's heat, using the Ghaf Gardens plant profiles (ratings, watering in summer and winter, soil, feeding, pruning, pests, common mistakes, advisories) and the monthly garden guides.

## When to use this skill

- A named plant: "How do I look after a frangipani / date palm / pothos / paspalum lawn in Dubai?"
- Suitability: "Will a fiddle-leaf fig / an olive / lantana survive in Dubai?"
- Trouble: "Leaves are scorched / yellow / dropping", "it wilts every afternoon", "it looked fine until July".
- Routine: "How often should I water in summer vs winter?", "When do I prune or feed it?"

For "what should I plant this month", use `dubai-what-to-plant`. For vegetables and herbs as a project, use `dubai-kitchen-garden`.

## Get the data

**Preferred: the MCP server** at `https://plantguide.ae/mcp` (no sign-in, read-only):

1. `get_plant` with `plant` set to a slug (`bougainvillea`) or any common, botanical or Arabic name (`Prosopis cineraria`, `غاف`). An unknown name returns close matches and points at `search_plants`.
2. `search_plants` with `query` if the name is uncertain, or to suggest alternatives with better ratings (`minHeat`, `minSalt`, `minShade`, `water`, `minEase`).
3. `get_planting_calendar` with `slugs` to line the plant's months up against others.
4. `search_guides` (`query: "watering"`, `"summer"`, `"lawn"`) then `get_guide` for the long-form answer, for example `watering-garden-dubai-summer`, `garden-care-while-travelling-summer`, `paspalum-vs-bermuda-grass-dubai`.
5. `get_dubai_climate` for what each month asks of the garden (watering, pests, pool).

**Fallback: Markdown mirrors** (append `.md` to a page URL or send `Accept: text/markdown`):

- `https://plantguide.ae/plants/bougainvillea.md`, `https://plantguide.ae/plants/ghaf.md`, `https://plantguide.ae/plants.md` (index of all plants)
- `https://plantguide.ae/guides/watering-garden-dubai-summer.md`, `https://plantguide.ae/guides/garden-care-while-travelling-summer.md`
- `https://plantguide.ae/garden-care.md` (monthly tasks and what the care plans include)

**Fallback: JSON API** (`GET` query parameters; errors teach):

- `https://plantguide.ae/api/v1/get_plant?plant=bougainvillea`
- `https://plantguide.ae/api/v1/get_plant?plant=Prosopis%20cineraria`
- `https://plantguide.ae/api/v1/search_plants?query=palm&minHeat=4`
- `https://plantguide.ae/api/v1/get_guide?slug=watering-garden-dubai-summer`

## Workflow

### A. "How do I care for X?"

1. `get_plant`. If it is not in the library, say so, name the nearest library plants, and give only general guidance that you label as general. Do not invent a profile.
2. Read the ratings (each 1-5, higher is more tolerant; `easeOfCare` higher is easier): `heat`, `salt`, `drought`, `shade`. They answer "will it cope" faster than prose.
3. Build **care by season** from the profile: establishment, summer and winter watering; the `season` events (`plant`, `prune`, `feed`, `flower`, `new-growth`, `heat-stress`, `dormant`, `pest-watch`) as months; soil, feeding, pruning, pests.
4. Add the profile's `commonMistakes`, `advisory` and `toxicity` (see "Surface advisories" below).
5. Anchor to the current month (Dubai time, UTC+4): say what to do this month and the next, not just in general.

### B. "It is struggling" (diagnose before prescribing)

1. Ask for what changes the diagnosis: pot or ground; how long; what the leaves look like (yellow, brown crisp edges, white powder, webbing, sudden drop); how and when it is watered; last feed; any recent heat spike, move or hard pruning.
2. Ask them to **push a finger or screwdriver 5 cm into the soil** near the roots. This one check separates over- from under-watering better than the leaves do.
3. `get_plant`, then compare the symptom with the profile's `care.watering`, `commonMistakes` and `heat-stress` or `dormant` months.
4. Rank two or three likely causes, say how to tell them apart, and give one next action. Use the table below.

| What you see | Usually means | Check or do |
|---|---|---|
| Yellow leaves, soggy or smelly soil | Overwatering: roots short of oxygen | Let the topsoil dry; check drainage; cut frequency |
| Wilts mid-afternoon, recovers by evening | Normal heat response | Check the soil at 5 cm before adding water |
| Wilted and stays wilted, crisp brown edges | Underwatering, or a blocked drip emitter | Deep soak; walk every drip line and fix the failed emitter that day |
| Fungus gnats or mould on the soil surface | Overwatering plus poor drainage | Reduce watering; improve drainage |
| Sudden leaf drop after a very hot week | Could be either | Soil moisture at root depth first |
| Lawn footprints stay flattened for minutes | Underwatering | Water deeply; read the blades (rolling, dull blue-grey) |
| Scorched leaves after strong afternoon sun | Direct sun, or a dark pot cooking the roots | Shade cloth 30-50% (not touching the leaves); light-coloured pots; move into afternoon shade |
| Bare in winter, new leaves later (frangipani) | Dormancy, not death | Wait for new leaves before pulling anything out |
| Fine webbing, stippled leaves (April, hot and dry) | Spider mites | Inspect beans, cucumbers and ornamentals |
| Stressed plant with sap-sucking insects (July) | Mealybugs or scale | Check leaf undersides and stem joints |
| Crown collapsing or fibrous debris on a palm | Possible red palm weevil | Ask a qualified arborist to check early |

5. Rule out the preventable causes in Dubai: salt build-up (check the plant's `salt` rating and the irrigation source: treated effluent or borehole water can carry more salt and sediment than mains), native sandy or saline ground rather than sweet soil, and a watering schedule left on its summer or winter settings.

## Dubai rules of thumb

From the site's content; temperatures are Dubai International Airport 1991-2020 normals.

- **Overwatering, not heat, kills most summer plants** (local gardeners quoted by The National). Established natives slow down in June: that is normal, not a fault.
- **Water early and deep.** DEWA advises before 8am or after 6pm; our guidance is to finish before about 7am. Deep soaks beat daily sprinkles because roots follow water down to cooler soil.
- **New vs established.** A newly planted tree needs water daily or every other day for the first weeks, tapering over one to two years to deep, less frequent soaks. An established tree often needs only a deep soak every one to two weeks, even in summer (ghaf is the example). Switching a tree back to frequent shallow watering keeps roots near the surface and undermines its drought tolerance.
- **Drip for trees, shrubs, beds and climbers; sprinklers for open lawn.** Lawn needs the most water of anything in the garden; read the grass rather than a fixed timer.
- **Mulch 5-7 cm deep**, a hand's width from trunks and stems. Mulch breaks down quickly in the heat, so check in June.
- **Containers cook.** Pots can run hotter than the air. Use light-coloured pots, group them in shade, check daily in summer; pots dry far faster than beds (for herb and vegetable pots, water when the top 2-3 cm is dry).
- **Soil.** Native ground is dune sand or compacted, often saline, fill. "Sweet soil" is screened low-salinity soil; ask a supplier for its EC (salinity) reading. In August, a long deep irrigation flushes accumulated salts below the root zone: do it before feeding or planting.
- **Feeding and pruning.** Reduce feeding as heat builds (April); no fertiliser or heavy pruning in summer; hold major pruning in May. Heavy pruning in late winter pushes soft growth that the first hot spell scorches. Light formative pruning of young trees (ghaf, sidr) belongs in December to February.
- **Pests follow the weather.** Aphids on soft new growth in cool months (December to February); spider mites in hot dry weather (April); mealybugs and scale on stressed plants (July); powdery mildew on cooler humid nights (November). Check palms for red palm weevil in March.
- **Rain: December to March.** Pause the controller after a shower; February is the wettest month (about 25 mm).
- **Summer peaks:** average highs of 41.5 C in July and 41.9 C in August, nights near 31 C. The midday outdoor work ban (12:30-15:00) runs 15 June to 15 September.
- **Indoors:** air-conditioned rooms dry the air; plants like pothos cope but rot if kept wet and scorch in direct hot afternoon sun. Check the profile for light and watering.
- **Going away in summer:** test every irrigation zone two weeks before; for more than a week add a mid-trip check. The guide `garden-care-while-travelling-summer` has the checklist.

### Surface advisories

Some profiles carry an `advisory` (level `caution` or `not-recommended`): invasive spread (coral vine, fountain grass, pampas grass, parkinsonia, wedelia), toxic sap or seeds (crown of thorns, jatropha, oleander, pencil cactus), aggressive roots (ficus nitida; Damas/Conocarpus is not recommended). Quote the advisory before the care tips, and mention `toxicity` if there are children or pets. Do not soften it.

## Answer format

```
**Bougainvillea in Dubai** ([profile](https://plantguide.ae/plants/bougainvillea))
Heat 5 / Salt 3 / Drought 5 / Ease 5. Full sun, low water, flowers hardest under mild water stress.

| | Watering | Feed | Prune | Watch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Establishing | ... | | | |
| Summer | deep but infrequent | | | heat-stress Jun-Aug |
| Winter | reduce further | | | |

This month (October): ...
Common mistakes: watering and feeding generously for more flowers (it gives leaves instead); pruning hard in late summer or autumn.
Sources: [Bougainvillea](https://plantguide.ae/plants/bougainvillea), [Watering through a Dubai summer](https://plantguide.ae/guides/watering-garden-dubai-summer)
```

- For a diagnosis: most likely cause first, how to confirm it, one action to take today.
- Link the plant and any guide by canonical URL (the `url` in tool results).
- Mark anything that is general advice rather than from the profile.
- End with "Sources".

## When the person wants help

Only if they ask for someone to look at it, a quote, or ongoing garden care, call `get_contact_link` (for example `topic: "plants"`, `plants`: the slug, `note`: the symptom in a sentence) and share the WhatsApp link: the message is pre-filled and nothing is sent until they press send. For regular visits, `estimate_garden_care_price` gives a monthly estimate from area, lawn, pool, complexity and trees. Never offer either unprompted.