The Power Growers Seminar by Crop Health Laboratories attracted fruit and vegetable growers from the East and West Coasts and everywhere in between. The conference covered anything pertaining to plant sap analysis, but the session on proper sampling, handling and labeling techniques answered many frequently asked questions.

Maikel van de Ven is a consultant for NovaCropControl/HortiNova and was there to share insight and provide answers. His role for the company is to consult with growers on adjusting their fertilization programs based on sap analysis. This year he has been supporting Crop Health Laboratories in providing the sap analysis service to growers in the United States and Canada.

In my interview with Maikel, he reminds growers about the importance of sampling only youngest and oldest leaves, avoiding outer rows, sampling leaves with average leaf quality and leaves found both in the sun and shade.

One of the most sought after answers was to the question about sampling leaves from small plants. Maikel addressed that, along with tricks to large leaf sampling. Other topics tackled included the cleanliness of leaves, what time to sample, moisture of sample, how to store and pack samples and of course what not to do.

Listen to my interview with Maikel here: [wpaudio url=”http://www.zimmcomm.biz/chl/chl-14-vandeVen.mp3″ text=”Interview with Maikel van de Ven”]

Find photos from the event here: 2014 Crop Health Labs Power Growers Seminar Photo Album