The Penn State Extension office in Fulton County The Hotline is staffed remotely. Emails or phone in questions are responded to within 48 hours. Questions may be phoned in to 717-325-4870 during business hours by leaving a message for the Hotline. The Penn State Master Gardeners of Fulton County are dedicated, trained volunteers who share a love of gardening and horticulture. The Master Gardener program educates and promotes research-based horticultural information to the gardening public. Such information is based on proven research specific to Fulton County's local climate, soils and plants.
If you have a plant question or concern, please send a detailed description via email to fultonmg@psu.edu. You may attach two or three high quality photos to help the Master Gardeners identify the plant or issue. Master Gardeners will retrieve your email and respond.
Soil Test Kits and Water Test Kits
Ordinarily, soil test kits and water test kits can be purchased at most Penn State Extension county offices. With offices closed, kits can be ordered online directly from the lab. While the lab remains open, it is operating under an emergency contingency plan with limited capacity. Turn-around time for test results may be longer than usual. The lab asks that only high priority samples be submitted at this time. These include drinking water and agricultural samples associated with food/crop production.
Plant Pathology Services
If the Garden Hotline is unable to diagnose your plant disease, the Penn State Plant Disease Clinic remains open and is still accepting samples. However, they will be operating on limited lab hours and are prioritizing samples of life-sustaining crops/plants (e.g. field crops, vegetables, tree fruit, small fruit, etc...).
The Clinic is accepting digital sample submission and encourage submission of photos before mailing samples. Digital samples can be sent to their new email address PlantClinic@psu.edu. If necessary, physical samples can be mailed to the clinic via US Mail, FedEx and UPS. See the Clinic website for more specific information on submitting digital and physical samples.
