When it comes to crop inputs, every dollar counts—and the best way to know where to invest your hard-earned money into your crops is through data. When your livelihood depends on the decisions you make and the outcome of your crop, there is no room for guesswork.
Soil and tissue sampling provide the insight you need to truly understand the health of your crops and soil. Unlocking this data empowers you to choose the products your crops need, and skip the ones they don’t.
But, in order for this to be effective, you first need to make sure you are properly collecting the samples. We’ve talked about how to collect soil samples in your fields, and now it’s time to go over collecting tissue samples.
Frequent tissue sampling—at least three times throughout the season—is key to tracking changing tissue concentrations and maintaining an accurate understanding of your crops, so keep these reminders handy to make it a seamless process every time.
1. USE YOUR RESOURCES
Crops have unique growth cycles and timelines, which means sampling timelines are unique, too. Frequency and timing of collecting tissue samples depends on the crop, so follow the sampling protocol for your lab. Agronomy 365 has a comprehensive guide that includes key growth stages to collect samples in, and how to identify your crops’ current growth stage.
The teams at BW Fusion and Agronomy 365 can also help you confirm the growth stage of your crop and the specific sample collection timing and amounts for you. We are here to help you, and we want the soil and tissue sampling process to be as easy as possible.
2. MAKE GOOD CHOICES
When it’s time to pull samples, your choices in selecting the area, plants, and specific leaves can impact the results of your sample reports.
Pulling samples from the end rows might seem easiest, but it doesn’t provide the most accurate representation of your overall crop health. End rows are more exposed to the environment and can have major differences in growing conditions. Walk past the end rows when collecting samples to get an accurate representation of your crop health.
Use healthy tissue, not tissue stressed by prolonged standing water or damage from insects or disease. The goal is to obtain an accurate representation of your overall crop health, not just the weakest link.
Be strategic about where you collect samples in your fields. However, keep it random when selecting plants in that area. This is important, especially when the field is under stress. Randomly selecting plants gives you an accurate representation of your field’s average.
Once you have the plants selected, be picky again. While the plant selection should be random, strategically select leaves to pull. Uppermost, recently mature leaves are ideal for sampling, as they give better insight than younger or older leaves.
Ensure you collect enough samples to get an accurate representation of your crop. The tissue is dried and ground before analysis, so the lab ends up with much less plant material. Aim to collect enough plant tissue to form a softball.
3. KEEP IT CLEAN
The final reminder throughout the tissue sample collection process is to keep yourself and your samples clean. Remember, the lab is testing your plant tissue, not the grime and sweat that builds up on your hands out in the field.
Clean your hands before pulling a tissue sample, then rinse the plant tissue before sending it to the lab. But, it’s important to make sure the water you are using to rinse the sample is clean, too. Tap water has ion concentrations that may affect analysis results. Use bottled or deionized water as an extra precaution against contamination.
Once you have your clean, shiny tissue sample, go ahead and place it in the sample bag, but don’t seal it until the plant material is fully dry. While it’s drying, keep the sample stored in a dust-free, cool environment so you don’t ruin all your hard work keeping the sample clean and end up with contamination.
When the sample is fully dried and you’re ready to send it off, follow the lab’s instructions for finishing your sample submission and transporting the sample to them.
Stop guessing. Start growing. Let’s talk about how to integrate soil and tissue sampling into your farm management plan. Need supplies? Get them here!
BONUS: Check out what our BW Fusion agronomists keep handy in the truck when they are out in the field collecting samples or scouting crops.
Source: How to Properly Collect Tissue Samples in Your Fields | BW Fusion