Texas Plant Disease Diagnostic Lab-
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Category Archives: GENERAL
Diplodia blight (Training at the Plant Clinic part2)
Blog article #2 by Marissa McCarthy (for partial fulfillment of BESC 484 requirement) Diplodia is most often parasitic fungus, can be found to be saprophytic, that is extremely host specific on pine hosts or other conifer species. This Diplodia was found on a Juniper from a private residence that was submitted to the lab. Chief complaint was new growth and tip yellowing and necrosis. Diplodia is found across the vast majority of the United States including Hawaii and California, and affects most species of pine or conifer…. Read More →
Training at the Plant Clinic
One of the functions that the Texas Plant Disease Diagnostic Lab is to be a training ground for our students at Texas A&M University. We have had a somewhat open-door policy for student from the Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology and the associated undergraduate BioEnvironmental Science (BESC) program. In addition to that, we have hosted an international Borlaug Fellow who came for short term training in plant pathology & diagnostics. This summer, a undergraduate student worker is parlaying her work at the Plant Clinic into an internship to… Read More →
Urgent notice about Area wide dormant sprays for Psyllid control in the Lower Rio Grande Valley
A few minutes ago, I got an email from a colleague requesting to post the following email from Bret Erickson of Texas Citrus Mutual in regards to dormant sprays for the Asian Citrus Psyllid. This is primarily directed to our citrus growers in the Rio Grande Valley. If this caught your attention, check out the HOT TOPIC page on Citrus Greening for more information about these psyllid and the disease that they vector. And if you know a producer, pass the word along. Thanks. January 5, 2012… Read More →
New service at the Plant Clinic – sorghum ergot testing
This new service is a result of the state budget saga in Texas. This year we have seen the “tightening of the belt”. The Texas Department of Agriculture(TDA) is dealing with a 40% cut in their budget. On of the actions that had been taken by them is to close two of the three seed testing laboratories in this state. It was this closings that I was called to a meeting, back in June, with some TDA folks about the Texas Plant Disease Diagnostic Lab picking up the… Read More →
Reflecting the past week.
This week has been a doozy. Problems with heating and then getting lots of plant samples with problems someway associated with the heat and drought. At College Station, we did get some rain on Thursday – but still not enough to overcome the current drought conditions. The drought (and heat) is expected to continue on… On a different level, we are experiencing another drought. This year we have seen the effects of shrinking state and federal budgets affecting our programs. Most recently, the increase of fees at the… Read More →
