A note from Diane Plewa, Director of the UIUC Plant and Pest Diagnostic lab:

“The Plant Clinic is currently accepting samples. We are closed to the public, and our building is locked. We are operating with a skeleton crew, with no more than one person working in the lab on any given day.

We are having a difficult time replying to phone messages. Please email plantclinic@illinois.edu with questions or concerns. If you do not have access to email you can call us at (217) 333-0519 but please leave a message since I cannot answer the lab phone from home.

To submit a sample:

• Through the mail:
  • Recommended: Please use USPS and email us with the tracking number if there is one. We are currently only getting mail once or twice a week, but we’re also very low on samples so the few we have are being processed very quickly.
  • If they use UPS or FedEx they MUST provide us with a tracking number as neither UPS or FedEx are delivering to our building at this point and we have to go pick up packages (which we won’t know to expect without a tracking number).
• Drop off: Starting tomorrow, there will be a large, green, drop-off bin to the left of the South doors of Turner Hall (opposite the greenhouse).  There are sample submission forms available in the box, along with pens. We will be checking the box every day.

We ask that all samples submitted include a sample submission form, available here: https://web.extension.illinois.edu/plantclinic/sampledataform.cfm (use the diagnostic sample form for most plant and insect samples, the nematology form for soil samples, and the molecular services form for herbicide resistance and Palmer amaranth ID).

If you are planning to submit a large number of samples, please let us know. The Urbana farm is still open and we could pick up samples from there if needed.  “