MySQL 'multiple rows' from two joins challenge - mysql

Question

I have the following MySQL query joining two additional tables..
SELECT plants.plant_id,
plants.scientific_name,
plants_features.features,
plants_features.features_id
FROM plants_features,
plants2features,
plants
WHERE plants_features.features_id = plants2features.features_id
AND plants2features.plant_id = plants.plant_id
and I was happy with the output.
plant_id,scientific_name,features,features_id
3,"Actaea matsumurae 'White Pearl' (Bugbane)","colourful fruit",6
11,"Heuchera 'Beauty Colour' (Coral bells)","salt resistant/coastal",15
18,"Phyllostachys nigra (Black bamboo)","colourful bark",5
26,"Carex morrowii 'Silver Sceptre' (Japanese sedge)","drought tolerant",18
27,"Heuchera 'Obsidian' (Coral bells)","salt resistant/coastal",15
29,"Dianella tasmanica 'Tas Red' (Flax lily)","drought tolerant",18
38,"Stipa tenuissima (Mexican feather grass)","attractive seed-heads",2
38,"Stipa tenuissima (Mexican feather grass)","invasive/self seed/suckering",13
You can see from the plant_id '38' (bottom two rows) that it's outputting more than one row per record.
My question is guys, can you please advise what exactly the new MySQL query needs to be to ensure multiple rows are in one record by 'plant_id'?
Thanks in advance,
Richard.

Answer 1

You need grouping and aggregation functions. You can use GROUP_CONCAT to get comma separated list:
SELECT plants.plant_id,
plants.scientific_name,
GROUP_CONCAT(plants_features.features) AS features,
GROUP_CONCAT(plants_features.features_id) AS feature_ids
FROM plants_features
JOIN plants2features
ON plants_features.features_id = plants2features.features_id
JOIN plants
ON plants2features.plant_id = plants.plant_id
GROUP BY plants.plant_id, plants.scientific_name;
Also use JOIN syntax instead of comma and where.