Plant health panel
Most of what destroys a crop is present weeks before anyone can see it. qPCR finds pathogen DNA in a leaf punch at that stage, which is when a mother plant can still be culled cheaply rather than after it has seeded a whole room.
- Pricing
- Quote on request
- Turnaround
- 3–5 business days
- Family
- Programme
Contact us to confirm the sample matrix, analytical scope and price before shipping.
- Thermal cycler
Purchased new through authorised channels, performance-qualified by certified engineers, and the instrument ID prints on every certificate. View the bench.
What the panel measures
| Test | Method | Instrument | Reports as |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hop latent viroid | MethodqPCR, HLVd-specific primers | InstrumentThermal cycler | Reports asDetected or not detected, with Ct |
| Fusarium species | MethodqPCR | InstrumentThermal cycler | Reports asDetected or not detected, by species |
| Pythium species | MethodqPCR | InstrumentThermal cycler | Reports asDetected or not detected |
| Powdery mildew | MethodqPCR, Golovinomyces | InstrumentThermal cycler | Reports asDetected or not detected |
| Botrytis cinerea | MethodqPCR | InstrumentThermal cycler | Reports asDetected or not detected |
| Tobacco mosaic and related viruses | MethodqPCR | InstrumentThermal cycler | Reports asDetected or not detected, per virus |
| Room or bench survey | MethodSwabs assayed as a set | InstrumentThermal cycler | Reports asMap of positives across the room |
Sample requirements and shipping
| Item | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Leaf tissue | RequirementTwo recently matured leaf punches per plant, in the tubes we supply |
| Mother plants | RequirementSample every mother individually; pooling hides the one that matters |
| Surface swabs | RequirementSwab kit per bench or room zone, labelled by location |
| Condition | RequirementShip same day in the supplied tubes. Degraded tissue gives an inconclusive result, not a negative. |
Confirm the scope and quote before shipping. Shipping instructions follow the agreed testing order. We accept no walk-in drop-off, and we hold no DEA registration, so no Schedule I to V material.
Why the method matters
Hop latent viroid rarely kills a plant, it just quietly takes a third of the yield and most of the potency, and it spreads through cuttings and shears. Screening the mothers is the cheapest intervention available in a cultivation programme.
A pooled sample can only tell you a room is infected, not which plant. Where the decision is which mother to cull, each plant is assayed on its own and we report a result per plant with its Ct value.
What comes back
A public certificate
Every result, the method, the instrument ID, the LOD and LOQ and the signature, verifiable by accession number with no login.
The filmed route
Your package opened on camera, a photograph of each container, and the footage retained for three years. Released to you on request.
A retained sample
Held 90 days, so any result can be rechecked by us or by an accredited laboratory of your choosing.
Questions about plant health panel
How often should mothers be screened?
Quarterly for a stable room, and before every round of cuttings if you have had a positive in the last year. New genetics should be screened in quarantine before they join the room.
What does a Ct value tell me?
Roughly how much pathogen DNA was present: a low Ct means a heavy load, a high one near the cutoff means a light or early infection. We print it so you can prioritise which plants to pull first.
Can you survey a room rather than plants?
Yes. Surface swabs by zone produce a map of where the pathogen is, which usually points at a tool or a pair of hands rather than a plant.
What is the price per plant?
Plant pathogen and room-survey pricing depends on the selected targets, sample count and matrix. Contact us to confirm the sample matrix, analytical scope and price before shipping.
Confirm testing scope
Order in the builder, pay, and a prepaid label is emailed to you. The certificate publishes to the database the moment it is signed.