Verdia · Library
How should an unavailable care lookup be recorded without inventing advice?
Preserve an unavailable lookup instead of replacing it with generic care instructions.
Unknown is useful information
A lookup may not contain the name supplied, or the plant’s identity may be uncertain. An unavailable result should remain distinguishable from a source entry with an actual value. Filling the gap with a familiar plant’s instructions can hide the very uncertainty that matters.
Keep the original name and the date of the lookup. If a later identification or source provides more information, add that evidence and its scope. A matching genus alone still does not establish a complete species-specific care profile or the safety of an individual plant for an animal.
A bounded follow-up
- Record “source entry unavailable” rather than “no care needed”.
- Collect identifying observations without inventing a species.
- Use an appropriate source for a confirmed identity and retain the link and date.