Plant sap testing with a Brix machine helps farmers by measuring the sugar content in plant sap, indicating overall plant health and nutrient status. High Brix values correlate with better crop quality, resistance to pests and diseases, and improved taste. By regularly monitoring Brix levels, farmers can adjust fertilization and irrigation practices to optimize plant health, leading to increased yields and reduced reliance on chemical inputs. This proactive approach ensures sustainable farming practices, enhancing both productivity and crop quality.

The results will reveal the amount of sugar being produced by photosynthesis at that moment and the storage of sugar. “It gives you a window into the inside of the plant saying, how well is it photosynthesizing? And once you determine how well it’s photosynthesizing, that is a direct result of how healthy it is,” Tom says. Tom found that there are various levels of Brix that different pest insects can tolerate. “The insects are on the plant for a very specific reason to eat the plant at a certain, let’s call it, health level,” he says. “They do very well at that level. They need certain nutrients, they need certain secondary plant metabolites. They need certain sugar — high, low, whatever it is. They’re eating it because it is edible and digestible to them.” Once the plant switches physiologically and biochemically to a different sugar level — a different Brix value — the specific pest disappears from the plant. “Then another insect might come in right after it,” Tom says.

Benefits of Plant Sap Analysis - Plant leaf sap testing provides farmers with detailed insights into the nutritional status of their crops, allowing for timely and precise adjustments to fertilization and irrigation practices. By measuring the real-time concentrations of essential nutrients, sap testing helps identify deficiencies and imbalances before they manifest as visible symptoms, preventing potential yield losses. This proactive approach enhances crop health and productivity, leading to higher quality produce. Additionally, sap testing aids in optimizing resource use, reducing the need for chemical inputs and minimizing environmental impact. Overall, it supports sustainable farming by promoting efficient nutrient management, improving crop resilience against pests and diseases, and ultimately increasing farm profitability through better crop performance and reduced input costs.

Why Test Sap? Have you ever felt like soil samples aren’t telling you the whole story? What if you could pinpoint plant nutritional issues weeks before they show up in the field? Think of plant sap analysis like a blood test for crops. Testing sap provides a snapshot of nutrients in play at the time of sampling to yield 23 data points. These data can indicate nutrient excesses and deficiencies in crops ahead of when symptoms can be observed in the field. When performed at specific intervals in the crop lifecycle, sap analysis testing, along with existing agronomic data and grower observations, provide the basis for our farm services team to create custom regenerative crop strategies that target optimal nutrition for the best success of a high-performing, high-yielding crop.