Urbana, Illinois, USA
April 26, 2012
"What a fantastic start to the 2012 season!" said University of Illinois plant diagnostic clinic and Integrated Pest Management coordinator Suzanne Bissonnette. Samples have already been arriving this spring here at the U of I Plant Clinic in its thirty seventh year of operation.
The clinic began year-round operation in the fall of 2011, when it moved from a facility on St. Mary's Road to Jonathan Baldwin Turner Hall on the south end of the Urbana campus. During the winter, clinic hours are reduced, but it will resume regular business hours, 8 a.m.-12 p.m. and 1-4:30 p.m., on Monday, April 30.
The unusually warm weather has inspired early field work, growth, and observations of pest issues. Clinic services include plant and insect identification, diagnosis of disease, insect, weed and chemical injury (chemical injury on field crops only), nematode assays, and help with nutrient-related problems, as well as recommendations involving these diagnoses. Microscopic examinations, laboratory culturing, virus assays, and nematode assays are some of the techniques used.
Many samples can be diagnosed within a day or two, although if culturing is necessary, isolates may not be ready for a final reading for as much as two weeks. Nematode processing also requires about one to two weeks, depending on the procedure.
"We send your final diagnoses and invoices to you through both the U.S. mail and email," Bissonnette said. "If you provide your email address on the sample form, you will get your information earlier."
Please refer to the clinic website, http://web.extension.illinois.edu/plantclinic/, for additional details on sampling, sample forms, fees, and services offered. For questions about what, where, or how to sample, call 217-333-0519 during operational hours.
Whenever submitting a sample, provide as much information as possible on the pattern of injury in the planting, the pattern on individual affected plants, and details describing how symptoms have changed over time.
Fees vary depending on the procedure. General diagnosis including culturing is $15, ELISA and immunostrip testing is $25, nematode analysis for SCN or PWN is $20, specialty nematode testing (such as corn) is $40. Payment must accompany the sample for diagnosis to be initiated. Checks should be made payable to the University of Illinois or to the Plant Clinic. Call if you are uncertain of which test is needed.
Samples can be sent to:
University of Illinois Plant Clinic
1102 S. Goodwin, S-417 Turner Hall
Urbana, IL 61801
Samples can also be dropped off at S-417 Turner Hall. Park in the metered lot F28 on the east side of Turner or at the ACES library metered lot on the west side of Turner. Come in the South door. Take the elevator located in the southeast corner of the building. Turn left when exiting the elevator; the clinic is on the southeast corridor of the fourth floor. Please use the green drop box located just outside S-417 if we are temporarily out of the office.
To keep up to date on what is happening at the plant clinic and to learn more about plant and pest issues, follow the U of I Plant Clinic on Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/UofIPlantClinic, follow U of I Plant Clinic's Stephanie Porter on Twitter: http://twitter.com/skporter or follow the U of I Plant Clinic on Blogger http://universityofillinoisplantclinic.blogspot.com.
Illini Plant and Pest podcasts can be found at http://web.extension.illinois.edu/podcasts/plantandpest/.
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