Extension Search / Diagnostic Labs / Massachusetts

University of Massachusetts Amherst Plant Diagnostics Laboratory

The Plant Diagnostics Laboratory at University of Massachusetts Amherst is Massachusetts’s university plant diagnostic lab. Send it a sick plant, an insect or a weed and it tells you what it is and what to do about it, usually for a small fee.

Lab Details

University of Massachusetts Amherst

Amherst, Massachusetts

Disease diagnosis
Plant ID
Hemp

Open the lab's site for fees, forms and the mailing address.

Services

Disease diagnosis. Finds what is making a plant sick, from fungi and bacteria to cold, drought or chemical injury.
Plant ID. Identifies plants and weeds.
Hemp. Takes industrial hemp samples. Most labs ask for your state hemp license number, and none take marijuana.

Weed and invasive plant identification is a separate service at the lab.
Ticks are tested at a separate UMass lab.

Not Accepted

Insects found in the home or on people or animals
Mold or fungi found in the home

Out of State

The lab’s site doesn’t say whether it takes samples from other states. Ask before sending one.

Sample Tips

Call or email the lab before you send anything. What a lab accepts, and what it charges, changes.
Send a plant that is still sick, not one that has died. Include the edge where sick tissue meets healthy tissue.
Bag the roots and soil and tie the bag off at the stem, so soil stays off the leaves. Wrap leaves in dry paper and don’t add water.
Mail early in the week so the box doesn’t sit in a warehouse over the weekend.
Fill in the lab’s form completely: the plant, what you see, when it started and what has been sprayed or applied.

Not sure it’s worth a lab fee? The plant health key narrows a problem down from what you see, and your county Massachusetts Extension office can often look at a sample free first.

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