Extension Search / Diagnostic Labs / Minnesota

University of Minnesota Plant Disease Clinic

The Plant Disease Clinic at University of Minnesota is Minnesota’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 Minnesota

St. Paul, Minnesota

Disease diagnosis
Nematodes
Virus tests
DNA tests
Tree wilts

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.
Nematodes. Extracts and counts plant-parasitic nematodes from soil or roots.
Virus tests. Serological tests such as ELISA that check a plant for specific viruses.
DNA tests. PCR or sequencing to confirm a pathogen that can't be told apart by eye.
Tree wilts. Cultures or tests branch samples for wilt diseases such as Dutch elm disease, oak wilt or Verticillium wilt.

Tree tests cover Dutch elm disease, Verticillium wilt and oak wilt.
Turf disease diagnosis is unavailable right now, and the clinic refers turf samples to the University of Wisconsin.

Not Accepted

Recreational marijuana

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 Minnesota Extension office can often look at a sample free first.

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