Agricultural Testing & Analytics

SAMPLING PROCEDURES

LIQUIDS

Testing Water, Run Off or Liquid Fertilizer:
Testing water and fertilizer is important as they directly influence the pH and nutrient levels in the growing medium resulting in significant impacts on crop quality. It is important to periodically test the water to verify that the fertilizer you are using is appropriate for your water and if acid injection is sufficient or needed. The fertilizer solution analysis verifies that the fertilizer you are using is formulated correctly.

WATER

Test the water at your location to understand what minerals its lacking in or excessive. A water analysis is important for wells due to their usual high salt content and levels often change. Even water from municipal sources can change in composition over time so regular testing is important to determine purity and safety.

Analytes Tested For: pH, ⁺NH₄-N (Ammonium Nitrogen), NO₃^–-N (Nitrate Nitrogen), Total Nitrogen N, P, K, Mg, Ca, S, Mn, Fe, Mo, Cu, B and Z.

RUN OFF

A run-off test is a tool that is used to measure any imbalances in EC/pH in the medium. This can directly affect the root zone environment and their ability to uptake nutrients.
Measuring the Run-Off will tell you how much of the nutrients you’re administering to the plant is actually getting absorbed.

Testing your runoff (the water stream beyond the root zone) provides useful pieces of information that can make sure your plants are performing the best that they can. When we are measuring PPM’s (parts per million) we are analyzing the total amount of salt/nutrients in the water. This is important because we must make sure that we are adding the right amount of nutrients every feed. Make sure to get the sump measurement as well as the runoff. By measuring at a minimum of these two places, you can understand how your plants are behaving and potentially taking nutrients.

Analytes Tested For: pH, +NH4-N (Ammonium Nitrogen), NO3–-N (Nitrate Nitrogen), Total Nitrogen N, P, K, Mg, Ca, S, Mn, Fe, Mo, Cu, B and Zn

RO WATER

Reverse Osmosis (RO) is used to partially clean-up tap water to make it roughly 90% to 99% pure. It’s important to test your RO water occasionally to unsure your Deionization (DI) filters are working properly. Deionization (DI) filters exchange positive hydrogen and negative hydroxyl molecules for positive and negative contaminant molecules in water.

Analytes Tested For: pH, +NH4-N (Ammonium Nitrogen), NO3–-N (Nitrate Nitrogen), Total Nitrogen N, P, K, Mg, Ca, S, Mn, Fe, Mo, Cu, B and Zn

LIQUID FERTILIZER

Fertilizer Testing is used to determine essential concentrations of Primary and Secondary and Micro nutrients in sampled fertilizers.

Analytes Tested For: +NH4-N (Ammonium Nitrogen), NO3–-N (Nitrate Nitrogen), Total Nitrogen N, P, K, Mg, Ca, S, Mn, Fe, Mo, Cu, B and Zn

HOW TO COLLECT LIQUID SAMPLES

• Use a sterile vial or conatiner for liquid collection.
• 100 mL of liquid is ideal. 50 mL of liquid is the minimum required for testing.
• You can acquire 5, 4 ounce vials on Arvum Plant Labs website when you order a water testing kit.
• If the vial is difficult to label or leaking, label a plastic bag and drop it in.

Mail Samples To: Arvum Plant Labs
5199 Fulton Dr. Suite D, Fairfield, CA, 94534