Got a Gardening Question? Visit a Free Anoka County Master Gardener Diagnostic Clinic
by Paula Mohr, Anoka County Extension Master Gardener
Are your cucumber leaves wilting? Wondering about a new insect in your garden? Is that a volunteer plant or a weed?
Bring your plant, insect, and tree samples to one of the Anoka County Master Gardener Plant and Insect Diagnostic Clinics and let them help you find answers.
The free drop-in clinics are open to all Anoka County residents. Trained by the University of Minnesota, Anoka County Master Gardener volunteers will work with you to identify issues and recommend research-based solutions for your gardening concern. Residents may bring up to three bagged samples and/or clear photos per visit.
Master Gardeners have helped residents by identifying numerous diseases in the past, including lilac fungal disease, powdery mildew, bacterial wilt and whether tomato plants are suffering from early blight, septoria leaf spot or blossom-end rot. Master Gardeners also have helped identify pests such as aster leafhoppers, apple maggots, aphids, and squash bugs. And sometimes, residents have learned that plants have been impacted by cultural practices, such as mulching too high around trees or planting perennials where rain falls off the house roofline. To help identify issues during each clinic, Master Gardeners rely on their expertise in addition to printed and online reference materials at hand. They also use microscopes to help identify pathogens and insects not readily seen by the eye.
To make the most of your Diagnostic Clinic visit, come prepared to answer questions about your plant’s growing conditions. Share the following to the best of your knowledge:
-Plant location and care—soil type, sun/shade, fertilizer amount and type, etc.
-Watering practices—overhead sprinklers, drip, etc. Mulch and type.
-When did symptoms appear?
-Have you done anything to alleviate them? If so, what?
-Seeing insects? Please describe.
-How widespread is the problem in your garden or lawn?
-Possible animal/bird impact?
-Any cultural practices that may impact plant health, such as planting tomatoes and peppers in same
garden location? Are varieties/cultivars heirloom or disease- and pest-resistant?
-Other possible stressors?
Also, to help Master Gardeners identify what may be going on in your garden or lawn, please bring 8-10 inches of plant material with leaves, flowers, and/or fruits, preferably in a plastic bag. If possible, try to include both healthy and damaged materials. Take photos of the lawn, tree and/or plant to share both a full view and a close-up. Take a photo 10-15 feet away for a full view and a close-up of the whole plant.
Specific to insects, place live insects in a sealed container. Squashed insects are difficult to identify. Insects can be frozen to preserve your specimen.
Specific to turf, bring samples the size of a small shoe box and include the roots. If possible, provide both the affected and healthy turf in your sample.
The Anoka County Master Gardener Plant and Insect Diagnostic Clinics are held in the Teaching Center in the lower level of the Bunker Hills Activities Center, 550 Bunker Lake Blvd NW, Andover, MN. The clinics are open from 6:00 p.m.-7:30 p.m. on Wednesdays for the 2026 growing season through August 19. There is no clinic on July 1.
For more information: https://anokacountymastergardeners.org