- Collect five leaves from the greenest growing portion of the plant
- Only one sample (of five leaves) is needed for species testing for a single plant.
- Multiple plant identifications will need one sample (five leaves) collected from each plant. Each sample (of five leaves) needs to be packed and labeled separately following the below steps.
- Do not pack and ship wet leaves.
- For each individual plant sample, place leaves in a Ziplock® bag with a piece of paper towel and include a paper label that indicates: Palmer amaranth, the collector’s name, collection date, county collected, and plant location within the field (latitude/longitude).
- Write on the bag: collector’s initials, year collected, and vegetation sample number (for example, JP22Plant#001 – where JP are the initials for Jane Public who collected the sample, 22 represents the year collected – 2022, Plant#001identifies that this is the first plant sample collected).
- See below, "How do I ship my sample(s) for testing?", for steps on obtaining a free shipping label and sending your sample(s).
How do I collect and submit vegetative samples?
- Collect five leaves from the greenest growing portion of the plant
- Only one sample (of five leaves) is needed for species testing for a single plant.
- Multiple plant identifications will need one sample (five leaves) collected from each plant. Each sample (of five leaves) needs to be packed and labeled separately following the below steps.
- Do not pack and ship wet leaves.
- For each individual plant sample, place leaves in a Ziplock® bag with a piece of paper towel and include a paper label that indicates: Palmer amaranth, the collector’s name, collection date, county collected, and plant location within the field (latitude/longitude).
- Write on the bag: collector’s initials, year collected, and vegetation sample number (for example, JP22Plant#001 – where JP are the initials for Jane Public who collected the sample, 22 represents the year collected – 2022, Plant#001identifies that this is the first plant sample collected).
- See below, "How do I ship my sample(s) for testing?", for steps on obtaining a free shipping label and sending your sample(s).
If a fruiting seedhead is present from your reporting photos. You may be requested to collect a seedhead sample in addition to the vegetation sample.
- If the plant is fruiting, collect the entire seed head by clipping it at its base. Multiple plant identifications will need one sample collected from each plant. Each sample needs to be packed and labeled separately following the below steps.
- Do not pack and ship wet seedheads.
- Put the seedhead into a Ziplock® bag with a piece of paper towel and include a paper label that indicates: Palmer amaranth, the collector’s name, collection date, county collected, and plant location within the field (latitude/longitude).
- Write on the bag: collector’s initials, year collected, and seedhead sample number (for example, JP22Seed#001 – where JP are the initials for Jane Public who collected the sample, 22 represents the year collected – 2022, Seed#001identifies that this is the first seed sample collected).
- "How do I ship my sample(s) for testing?", for steps on obtaining a free shipping label and sending your sample(s).
How do I collect and submit seed samples?
If a fruiting seedhead is present from your reporting photos. You may be requested to collect a seedhead sample in addition to the vegetation sample.
- If the plant is fruiting, collect the entire seed head by clipping it at its base. Multiple plant identifications will need one sample collected from each plant. Each sample needs to be packed and labeled separately following the below steps.
- Do not pack and ship wet seedheads.
- Put the seedhead into a Ziplock® bag with a piece of paper towel and include a paper label that indicates: Palmer amaranth, the collector’s name, collection date, county collected, and plant location within the field (latitude/longitude).
- Write on the bag: collector’s initials, year collected, and seedhead sample number (for example, JP22Seed#001 – where JP are the initials for Jane Public who collected the sample, 22 represents the year collected – 2022, Seed#001identifies that this is the first seed sample collected).
- "How do I ship my sample(s) for testing?", for steps on obtaining a free shipping label and sending your sample(s).
