Plant Tissue Testing
A Guide to Healthier Plants
Hello everyone! I hope you're all doing well. Today, I want to share some information about plant tissue testing. Recently, we were fortunate to have some guests from our local extension office, Cornell, visit our farm. During their visit, we gave them a full tour and compared the plants in our three different rose tunnels. One of the extension agents suggested that we try plant tissue testing to better understand the nutrients our plants are absorbing and to improve their overall health. We found this idea fascinating and decided to give it a go.
Getting Started with Plant Tissue Testing
The agents pulled out tissue sample bags from Waters Agricultural Laboratories. These bags are readily available for anyone to order and use for their own tissue sampling. We then proceeded to collect samples from our rose tunnels. We carefully took 15 leaves from healthy flowering rose plants in each tunnel, put them into respective bags, labeled and sealed them. This process was repeated for all three of our tunnels.
Comparing Results Across Different Tunnels
Our farm has three rose tunnels, each brought into production in different years. Once we sent the samples for analysis, the results revealed some interesting findings. As expected, plants in our youngest tunnel, which has been in use for the shortest amount of time, showed the best-performing, most optimal plant tissue samples. The results declined in older tunnels. This made sense as the newest soil in the youngest tunnel would naturally be fresher and possibly richer in nutrients.
Expert Interpretation and Insights
We shared our results with Cornell and regional specialists who have experience with ornamental plants. Their expertise allowed them to interpret the results for the specific plants that were tested, providing us with useful information. This collaboration was probably the most insightful testing we've conducted on our farm to date.
Recommendations and Future Plans
Based on the plant tissue samples and expert input, we received valuable advice on how to better support plant health in our three tunnel spaces. The specialists suggested measures tailored to each tunnel's unique conditions, helping us maximize our plant care efforts.
How to Get Started
For those interested in plant tissue sampling, I recommend checking out Waters Agricultural Laboratories. They offer a range of testing services beyond plant tissue sampling, including soil testing, water testing, fertilizer testing, and even nematode testing. They also provide soil coring tools for taking accurate soil samples.
You can order the necessary bags and tools directly from their website. Once your samples are collected, mail them off to Waters Agricultural Laboratories for analysis. Healthy samples don’t require overnight shipping unless they have a disease like botrytis, to avoid fungal issues during transit. We sent our samples via UPS and received our results within a week or two.
Conclusion
Plant tissue sampling has provided us with invaluable insights and has been one of our most helpful testing processes to date. Collaborating with experts from Cornell and regional specialists has only strengthened the health of our plants. If you're looking to improve your farming practices, I highly recommend plant tissue sampling.
Feel free to reach out if you have any questions, and I look forward to sharing more with you next time!
Let me know if you need anything further or have additional instructions!