UConn’s Plant Diagnostic Lab services are available for  professional growers, homeowners with pest and plant problems, members of the green industry, and everyone else.

The UConn PDL is funded, in part, by grants awarded by the USDA. While we appreciate this funding, it doesn’t cover all of what we do! We’ve established a cost-recovery system for submitted samples in an attempt to ensure employment for our part-time staff and “break-even” for time and materials spent processing samples. We hope to keep our submission fee at $20.00 for as long as we can, but inflation has made this harder. Have we saved you money/time/stress with our diagnoses? Please write to us and let us know!

Free services: 

  • Image identification & Horticultural Advice
    • Send images with a description of the host plant, symptoms you’re seeing, and any relevant site history (date of your last soil test, number of affected plants, planting date, etc.) to ladybug@uconn.edu.
    • Master Gardeners  provide additional free consultation and staff every UConn County Extension Office and the Bartlett Arboretum in Stamford. Contact your local UConn Extension Center for more information.

Fee-based services:

  • Disease and pathogen identification (fungi, bacteria, nematodes, insects, many viruses, some phytoplasmas)
  • Customized management recommendations
  • The standard fee for all samples submitted to the diagnostic lab is $20.00 per sample.
  • October – May response time is 5-7 business days after the sample has arrived in the lab. June – September (peak season) response time may take up to 12 business days after the sample has arrived in the lab. Samples must be cultured and the corresponding pathogens identified.
  • Some samples may take more or less time than others, depending on the pathogen and the level of staffing we have at the time. Samples are processed in the order in which they are received.
  • A few tests require additional fees (i.e. certain tests for viruses and nematodes).  You will be contacted for approval prior to any tests requiring extra fees being performed.