Manual Plant Sap Corn Sampling Services

Take the following steps into account when collecting leaf samples:

• Avoid the outer rows of the field. Also avoid the first and last 10 meters of a row.
• Sample leaves with an average leaf quality. Sample abnormal plants with e.g. deficiency symptoms separately. Might a deficiency be present in the young or old leaves of the total crop, then sample these leaves regularly as a young or old leaf sample.
• Take into account the sunny and shady side of the plant. Always consistently sample the same side.

Plant parts
For a young leaf sample, pick the youngest, fully developed leaves. For corn this will be the 3rd leaf from the top of the plant. Also pick (separately) the oldest, but still vital leaves. Most of time this is the 3,d leaf from the lowest part of the plant (see pic 1). The part from the middle of the leaves will be used for the samples (see pic 2).

Sample size
For an average, representative sample about 20 leaves are needed. Of course sample size can vary, depending on leaf type (size and thickness). Might you doubt about the sample size, please feel free to contact us.

Packing the leaf samples
Please pack the young and old leaf samples separately, these will be two different samples. When leaves are humid because of rain, please dry them with a tissue before you pack them.

To assure fluent processing please stack the leaves, fold the leaves if needed, and put them in a plastic zip-lock bag carefully. Make sure all air is out, so any leaf evaporation is excluded. See pictures below (tomato leaf as an example).