Being the best at helping folks grow healthy crops and great-looking front-yard flowers doesn't often come with fanfare.
The University of Florida's Plant Diagnostic Center, however, received welcome acknowledgement as the first university-based lab in the nation to earn accreditation from the National Plant Diagnostic Network — a recognition the network said is akin to a "gold star for quality" in the field of plant health.
"I am so proud of the work that we do here," Carrie Harmon, the director of the center, said. "We work really hard to serve our clients, all the citizens in Florida who have a plant issue. So what it means to me to be accredited is that we're actually doing the right thing — we're doing a really good job."
A plant diagnostic center works like a doctor's office for sick plants. Growers send in samples of the ailing plant, and scientists get to work to figure out whether the culprit is a disease, insect, nutrient shortage, or environmental damage. Once the culprit is identified, the scientists send back a prescription of sorts that tells the farmer or homeowner what to do to heal the flora, which may be as simple as changing a pesticide, the watering schedule, or trimming more or less.
Read more at WGCU
