As Iowa growers and gardeners move along through this summer, it’s important to remember that the COVID-19 precautions continue to alter operations at Iowa State University Plant & Insect Diagnostic Clinic.

PIDC continues to provide diagnosis of plant problems through emailed digital submissions and still must be contacted before you send in a physical submission. That’s so the clinic technicians can ensure they get any plant samples into the cooler as soon as possible; samples left at room temperature or higher deteriorate quickly. 

In addition, the PDIC building on the ISU campus at Ames remains locked. The clinic can only accept in-person sample drop offs if you arrange ahead to have someone from PDIC meet you. They maintain social distancing during drop-offs.  

If you want to submit a digital submission to PIDC or have questions about submitting, send it to [email protected] along with photos or video of the plant problem, while keeping to the following guidelines to help with the proper diagnosis. Include all relevant information along with photos or video of the problem. Put the nature of the problem in the email subject line and include: 

Include clear photos, attached to the email (not in email body). Include the general landscape, spacing to other plants and structures like buildings, as well as close-ups of the problem. View more digital photography guidelines in detail here. 

Trouble getting that photo or video from your phone to an email? Here are links to steps for Apple and Android phones: Apple and Android. Photos should be in a .jpg or .tiff format. If you need to share a photo from a cloud service, verify the proper permissions are in place.  

PIDC is a joint effort of ISU Extension and the plant pathology, entomology, horticulture and agronomy departments at Iowa State. The mission is to promote plant health and economic success of plant-related enterprises through diagnostic information and ecologically sound plant disease and insect management information. 

Source: ISU, which is solely responsible for the information provided and is wholly owned by the source. Informa Business Media and all its subsidiaries are not responsible for any of the content in this information asset.