Texas Plant Disease Diagnostic Lab-
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Category Archives: News
Mushrooms in the Garden Beds
You may have seen some mushrooms popping up in your garden beds. Usually, you see them most in beds that are mulched with bark or shredded wood; essentially a recycled wood product. The Texas Plant Disease Diagnostic Lab gets a lot of questions with regards to these sightings, everything from “Is it dangerous?”, “ Is it poisonous?”, “Will it kill my plants?”, to “How do I get rid of it?” Let’s break it down. It is dangerous? The short answer is PROBABLY NOT. Many times, the mushrooms you see are… Read More →
Annual Texas live oak leaf drop.
As spring comes to many parts of Texas, so does an interesting phenomenon. In March through early May of every year, we get calls for help with “dying” oak trees. The yellowing and scorched leaves often result in defoliation (dropping of leaves). Many believe that this is a result of some disease. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you see it) this is a natural occurrence in Texas live oaks. These trees stay green through the winter and will begin to shed their leaves when the weather starts… Read More →
Daylily Rust
Daylily Rust, or Puccinia hemerocallidis, was recently diagnosed on a (you guessed it) daylily by the TPDD Lab. This rust is a fungus that only infects daylilies, and was first identified in the U.S. in 2000. Since it’s introduction into the States, widespread shipping of plant material throughout the country has moved the pathogen to over 30 states, including Texas! True to its name, Daylily Rust creates obvious symptoms on the leaves of the plant; the yellow to brown streaks on the surface of the plant resembles a rust like… Read More →
Date Palm Decline or Cold Damage?
My colleague and collaborator, Dr. Greta Schuster at Texas A&M – Kingsville took me around the campus to show me some of the plants where samples were taken from for our detection assay for palm phytoplasmas. In South Texas, there has been a rash of palm trees dying. Usually when the palms start to decline, one of the symptoms are yellowing leaves. In fact, there are 2 related types of phytoplasmas that are well known to affect palms. One is called Lethal Yellowing – a common problem on coconuts in… Read More →
Upcoming Potential Changes to the Plant Clinic and Extension Plant Pathology
Despite the cold and nasty conditions, the majority of the Extension plant pathologists and program specialists made it to Kingsville for the 2011 Extension Plant Pathology Retreat. Current and pressing issues that will impact this unit of the Department of Plant Pathology & Microbiology were discussed, and in case you missed what has been going on, Texas is going through (like many other states) some budgetary issues. As a result, there is fear that state funding for the Extension program (and others too) will be affected adversely. This situation has prompted… Read More →
