Petiole testing for nutrient analysis

Petioles are the tiny stems that connect potato plant leaflets. They not only provide support, but function like straws, drawing nutrients up from the soil and distributing them to the growing leaves.

Data from petiole analysis offers a window into the nutrient status of a crop. This may be quite different from the nutrient profile revealed through soil testing. Petiole analysis does not replace, but rather complements, soil testing, as together they indicate how available soil nutrients are to the developing plants.

Like any analyses, getting the sampling right is the first step, writes Paulette Baumgartl in Issue 07 of PotatoLink magazine.