Fungus Identification Service/Lab?

[eeeealmo]

I have no idea if this is a thing that exists, but my hope is that there is some service I can pay for (as an individual and not a business) to have a sample (read : leaf, root, branch) tested for the presence of fungus. Anyone know if this is a thing? Thanks!

 

[CptnGlyn]

It depends where you are and what your goal here is I guess.

Many fungi are thought to be present latently in trees, waiting for the perfect conditions to germinate, so the identification of a fungus may not mean that much.

Not all fungi are ‘bad’ for your plants either, so a blanket test for ‘any’ fungi will also be meaningless if it was possible.

You can however, have samples of leaves/bark/wood/fungi etc examined and microscopically inspected to identify certain fungi if needed (here in the uk anyway) if you need a positive id for any reason, for instance identifying Ganoderma to species level, to aid in assessment and prognosis of decay in trees.

 

[Glaucus]

Can y ou not be a customer at a plant pathogen lab without a business? Does it require a nursery certification? If you really need such a service, there must be a way.
Besides that, there are also lateral flow/rapid tests for some plant diseases. But I have no idea how reliable they are.

 

[nuttiest]

I have no idea if this is a thing that exists, but my hope is that there is some service I can pay for (as an individual and not a business) to have a sample (read : leaf, root, branch) tested for the presence of fungus. Anyone know if this is a thing? Thanks!

Your county agricultural extension. Most counties can take samples if wanted and process them at the University and charge a small fee, around $25