The following are highlights and updates about sample submissions from fruit, vegetables, and ornamentals, and questions recently received in the Plant and Insect Diagnostic Clinic. Visit the PIDC's Facebook page for updates and more pictures. For more information on a particular disease or insect problem listed, follow the article cited.
Plant Problem Diagnoses (with links to ISU Encyclopedia articles)
Broadleaf trees
Pear - Fire blight, rust
Green and red ash - Emerald Ash Borer
Linden - sooty mold
Birch, linden, ash, red oak - abiotic: suspected chemical injury, see our article Preventing Herbicide Injury in the Landscape
Ash - anthracnose, abiotic: leaf scorch
Prunus - black knot
Coniferous trees
Spruce - Rhizosphaera needle cast, Stigmina needle cast, Spruce bud scale, Spruce needleminer, Edema -fir tree
Pine - Suspected winter injury/stress
Arbovitae - Phyllosticta needle blight, suspected winter injury
Perennials and Annuals
Boxwood - Macrophoma leaf spot, winter injury - be on the look for boxwood blight
Turfgrass & lawn
Mixed species - Brown patch, various nematode (Lance, Ring, Stunt, Spiral)
Insect identification
Lone star ticks, American dog tick (male)
Bird mites
Odorous house ant, Midge, Clover mite, Humpbacked fly
Click beetle
Dermestid beetles - carpet beetles, larder beetles
Links to this article are strongly encouraged, and this article may be republished without further permission if published as written and if credit is given to the author, Yard and Garden, and Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. If this article is to be used in any other manner, permission from the author is required. This article was originally published on June 8, 2018. The information contained within may not be the most current and accurate depending on when it is accessed.