Plant and soil testing

Soil testing

Together with Eurofins Laboratories, we have selected an array of soil tests which help us in identifying limiting factors in relation to your soil health. These tests provide us with information about nutrient levels in your soil, and help us to determine how elements in your soil, such as carbon, phosphorus and nitrogen, are cycling to the benefit of your plant health and growth. 

In order to decide exactly what to test for we will ask you for a record of historic behaviour of the different areas on your farm, and combine this with information about your different soil types to determine ‘management areas’ for soil testing. Once the tests have been taken, we will talk you through the results in great detail so you can learn about the soils you work with. 

Soil Testing NZ

Plant & leaf testing

If there are symptoms in your crops that could indicate specific deficiencies, we can perform plant testing to confirm a diagnosis. For this we have a couple of options:

Plant Testing

Petiole and herbage testing

Petiole and herbage testing analyses the total amount of present nutrients in the total dry matter of a leaf. 

Herbage Testing

Plant sap testing

A plant sap test gives a view of the nutrients which are available to the plant (at that time) for growth or development. 

What is the difference between plant sap testing and petiole and herbage testing?

A plant sap test is similar to a blood test and a petiole or herbage test could be compared with a liver biopsy. Traditional petiole and herbage testing analyses the amount of nutrients a plant has taken in up until that moment. These nutrients are mainly complexed in the cell walls and are not totally available for plant development at the exact time of testing. Sap testing by contrast analyses the nutrients available for plant development at the time of testing.

Sap Testing and Herbage Testing

Using plant & soil testing for a health diagnosis

Once complete, test results are combined with the information we have gathered in our soil health assessment to produce a final soil health diagnosis. From here we can determine the most efficient and effective ways to make improvements.

Contact us

For soil testing enquiries or other questions call us, send us an email or use our contact form via the button, below.