Plant Tissue Testing

For numerous years I've collected soil samples twice per year to get a snapshot of what's happening in the soil and plan for future soil building fertilizer applications.  I'm a firm believer in feeding the soil to feed the plant.  While I have noticed the benefits to this approach, I've never actually looked at what's happening in the plant.  This year with Fred Astrom and Brookside Laboratories, we did just that and began plant tissue testing monthly since March.

We selected three greens to collect grass from every month.  After collecting the grass clippings, each sample was washed and then strained.  The samples were allowed to dry overnight on the window sill and then wrapped in foil ready for shipment.  In addition to collecting tissue, I also collected soil samples from the three greens to look at plant and soil relationships.

At this point the data isn't telling us anything we didn't know with regards to soil and tissue relationships.  I have been able to see the effect of  products I've used and how well they work in our situation.  I also learned that a little bit of boron goes a long way.  At the end of the season Fred and I will summarize the findings and see what we learned from this trial.