Extension Search / Diagnostic Labs / Mississippi
Mississippi State University Plant Diagnostic Laboratory
The Plant Diagnostic Laboratory at Mississippi State University is Mississippi’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
Mississippi State University
Mississippi State, Mississippi
- Disease diagnosis
- Nematodes
- Turfgrass
- Hemp
- Photo diagnosis
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.
- Turfgrass. Diagnoses lawn and turf samples.
- Hemp. Takes industrial hemp samples. Most labs ask for your state hemp license number, and none take marijuana.
- Photo diagnosis. Looks at photos you send first, and asks for a physical sample if the photos aren't enough.
- Nematodes are identified to genus and counted.
- Insect ID is a separate MSU Extension lab, and is free for Mississippi residents.
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 Mississippi Extension office can often look at a sample free first.
Other Labs
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