Western Laboratories will be closed from Dec. 20 at 1 pm until Jan. 5th 2025.
PLANT TISSUE
Plants can be tested for nutritional deficiencies and diseases. Think of a plant test as a snap shot picture. It doesn’t tell you what has happened in the past and it doesn’t tell you what will happen in the future. If the answers are very high this may indicate herbicide damage, soil compaction, too much water, or weather conditions. If the answer is too low it could indicate the same as above plus inadequate nutrition. Once you see visual symptoms the plant has lost its vigor and you have physiologically aged the plant, possible beyond help. A perennial may gain color but it will not produce enough fruit or shade to pay for itself. Never wait for an emergency to send the patient to the hospital.
To ensure a healthy crop that maintains maximum production we recommend to test periodically. To facilitate the need for periodical testing we have developed several programs to help growers. Our most favorite tissue testing programs are the Monitor programs MX (tissue only and soil NO3), and SV (tissue plus soil solution). MX program will let you know if the crop could be in trouble next week, SV programs give a prediction if the crop will be in trouble 2 or 3 weeks ahead of time and comes with a midseason nematode test.
Please contact the lab for prices and availability on MX and SV programs since they are dependent on crop and amount of tests required. You also can find our methods by clicking the WL Methods for Plants button. To see our prices for each test, please click HERE.
If you have any further questions, please contact us.