Hello! Some background: I am interested in Plant Pathology as a career (Plant Breeding is my second pick). I am just starting college (Fall 2025), so everything is new to me. The colleges in my area do not offer plant sciences, but I am unable to move away right now, so my goal is to do my prerequisites at community college and transfer to one of my ideal 4 year colleges to get my B.S. in plant science. I am currently interested in a Mathematics & Science, A.A. at my CC to achieve this.

Everything looks good for the most part, but for my last semester I can only pick two of the three classes I am interested in. These are: Microbiology, General Botany, and Genetics. The goal is to have already finished Bio I & II as well as Intro Chem I & II by this point.

I am hoping anyone can give advice on what two to pick; I’m leaning towards Microbiology and General Botany, but wanted to ask here in case anyone who has completed school had any recommendations. If it helps, I’m hoping to transfer to CSU Fresno because the program seems great for me and my boyfriend, who is interested in Linguistics.

Any help is much appreciated; thanks in advance!!

TL;DR: I am interested in Plant Pathology & Plant Breeding, and have to pick two classes between Microbiology, General Botany, and Genetics. What two classes would be the best picks? Thanks!

Im currently doing a college research project on phytoplasma and am in need of a specimen with witches broom symptoms, preferably a cactus but any plant will do!

For example with a biological fungicide? Every time I take a plant with some level of rot and chop off the rotten bits it always declines after that. I’m guessing the shock and then the wounded roots, which I can’t let callous over for that long or the plant will dry out.

Hello!

I am looking for guidance on grad school programs in this field. I have an undergrad degree in Crop Science and have been working for the past three years in a state ag dept plant pathology lab as a technician doing both field and lab work. I have enjoyed the position tremendously and it's allowed me to get my name on a few publications but with limited room for growth in my current job and not many close connections with other people in this field I'm wondering what sorts of opportunities are out there and what further education can do for me. I have enjoyed working in plant pathology but worry that there is limited job potential, especially with just a bachelors.

So I am interested in pursuing a masters or potentially a PHD but I'm also curious in general what the job field is like and if there are other graduate programs/fields tangential to phytopathology that may offer me a broader job potential.

Also would like any input on schools/programs to look into.

EDIT: also very interested to hear advice/information on how funding works for research-based graduate programs and what I can be doing to make that happen

I used southern ag garden friendly fungicide (contains Bacillus amyloliquefaciens strain D747) and mixed it with a ratio of 1oz for 32oz. I don’t know how I messed that ratio up but I did. I’ve been concerned with my soil micro biota and preventing root rot and fungal disease. How bad did I mess up with using this high of a concentration? My plants seem alright at the moment

I was recently accepted to a Plant Pathology PhD program in Southern California. After obtaining my PhD, I’d like to pursue a position in private industry.

My partner and I would ideally like to stay in Southern California. I was wondering how the USA Plant Pathology job market is, especially in Southern California. Also, how is job security?

I’ve been working on a speech-to-spreadsheet app called Audonist (www.audonist.com), and I’d love to hear your thoughts on it.

Right now, I’m collaborating with plant pathologists to help solve a common problem they face. A lot of them still use pen and paper to write down down observations and then spend hours transferring that data into Excel. It’s super tedious.

There are apps out there for typing or basic dictation, but they’re either too slow or just plain frustrating to use. So, I thought—why not leverage AI to make this easier? With Audonist, it’s like having an assistant on your phone. You speak, and it understands the context and organizes the data for you, right on the spot.

I’m genuinely curious to hear what you think and how can I make it better!

Hello! I work at a native plant nursery and we are currently growing about 20 Dudleya greenii that I have been concerned about for a while. All of the plants have been extremely disfigured from a young size. They were germinated from seed before I began working at the nursery, so I can't confirm that they have always been disfigured, but I suspect that is the case.

I am concerned that they might have been infected by a viral disease from seed, but there is next to no info out there about diseases of dudleya, let alone viral diseases. I also wonder whether they are some strange hybrid? They look healthy enough other than the disfiguration, so it hurts a little to throw them out. That being said, I don't want them to become vectors of disease if they are planted in a restoration project. Thankfully they were planted for an experiment and don't have a buyer yet.

If anyone recognizes these symptoms or knows anything, I would really appreciate your advice! I don't know much beyond the basics about dudleya and don't have the time to dedicate to learning more right now.

https://preview.redd.it/vhcnmgwiqu4e1.jpg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7b1cf7dbac943cd3a66c3238e645f2348ce827a6

https://preview.redd.it/ntmgpekjqu4e1.jpg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d476355f8da2999b9adda6121c10163ec6b105b1

https://preview.redd.it/s8vi4tzjqu4e1.jpg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=91d5538782e37151d392f1eaf53c6bba58ee9cbe

https://preview.redd.it/4qrj2ibkqu4e1.jpg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0deeda2015224ff33096beb16fc948d53b73b929

In case anyone out there is on the job hunt:

https://www.usajobs.gov/job/820762000

This is the same job I have in San Diego (and before that, Miami). Basically, the position is identifying plant pathogenic fungi found during inspection of agricultural commodities coming into the country: you get to see a wide variety of interesting plant-associated microfungi from around the world. It's a great position for someone that loves spending time on a microscope puzzling out the little tiny things.

They never leaves these up for very long: this one opened today, and closes Dec. 2. Government applications are checked by computer before a real person sees them, and it can be a bit fiddly to get past the automated review. Feel free to reach out with any questions about the job, or how to apply. AMA!

Anyone know what might be happening with this maple? I have several around my home, but this is the only one with this white stuff on it.

I’m a horticulturist, and I’m trying to get my head around the active ingredients of various pesticides. I have a pretty good understanding of the basics, but when it comes down to working out the difference between say, cupric hydroxide vs copper ammonium complex, it gets a bit fuzzy. I know they’re both copper, but do they do the same thing? Google isn’t really providing a lot of great answers, it hoping there is some kind of ‘unicorn’ resource that will help me find my answers.

My guess for the first photo is Belonolaimus and the second is Meloidogyne but I am not sure anymore. Please help.

I want to pursue a Master’s Degree, and I’m currently considering a degree in plant pathology. However, it’s kind of hard to tell what career options/opportunities are available from online research. If possible, I’d like to get some insight into what careers are available in the plant pathology field. So, people who have worked in plant pathology, are there plenty of job opportunities in the field? And if so, would anyone be able to share how much those jobs pay on average? I think the field is interesting, but I’m worried about completing my MS and not being able to find work in my desired field.

I just became acquainted with the KOH test used in dermatology to test for skin lesions of fungal origin; a skin scraping is taken and mounted on a slide with 10% KOH, allowing the skin cells to be hydrolyzed, leaving fungal structures easily visible… I assume lactophenol cotton blue or another fungal stain could be applied at this point to further exemplify the fungal structures.

I wondered if there could be an analogous process for plants… maybe HCl to hydrolyze the cellulose? I presume that could also cause damage to fungal chitin, so maybe there is a better solvent, or a sweet spot in concentration… one which rapidly degrades cellulose, leaving chitins somewhat intact.

I always use lactophenol cotton blue for fungal stains. Anyone have preferences or thoughts on its utility in fungal staining?

Any thoughts or input on the topic of fungal microscopy is much appreciated. Cheers.