Extension Search / Diagnostic Labs / Pennsylvania

Penn State University Plant Disease Clinic

The Plant Disease Clinic at Penn State University is Pennsylvania’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

Penn State University

University Park, Pennsylvania

Disease diagnosis
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.
Photo diagnosis. Looks at photos you send first, and asks for a physical sample if the photos aren't enough.

Penn State runs separate labs for insect ID, nematodes, and golf course turf.
Samples can't be received on weekends, so ship early in the week.

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

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