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Diagnostics support

Which test, how to read it, and how to sample for it.

Most questions start before the kit is opened. If this page does not answer yours, ask us.

Ask supportTell us what you test for
Two culture jars with young plants on a laboratory bench

Which test do I need?

Start from the question, not the kit.

  • Is a named pathogen in this plant, today?

    A lateral flow strip answers that on the bench or in the field, one sample at a time.

    Ask about lateral flow tests

  • Is it in any of these 90 samples?

    An ELISA plate tests many samples at once, in a laboratory with a plate reader.

    Ask about ELISA kits

  • Is it there at a level a strip will miss?

    A LAMP or PCR test detects the pathogen's nucleic acid and is usually more sensitive than an antibody test.

    Ask about LAMP and molecular tests

  • Is it something nobody has named yet?

    No rapid test will tell you. Send a sample to a diagnostic laboratory.

How do I read a result?

Follow the instructions supplied with the kit. They take precedence over anything on this page.

  • No control line, no result

    If the control line does not appear, the test has not worked. Repeat it with a new strip.

  • A faint test line is a line

    Read the strip within the time the instructions give. A line that appears later does not count.

  • A negative is not a clean bill of health

    It means the pathogen was not detected in that sample, at that time, by that test. Uneven spread through a plant is common.

  • Screening, not diagnosis

    A rapid test is a screening tool. Where a result matters, a laboratory confirms it.

How do I take a sample?

A good sample is the cheapest way to a result you can act on.

  1. Step 1

    Take the right tissue

    The tissue the instructions name, from where symptoms meet healthy tissue, not from tissue that is already dead.

  2. Step 2

    Keep it cool

    Out of the sun, in a separate bag for each plant. Test the same day where you can.

  3. Step 3

    Label it

    The block or bench, the plant, the date and who took it. If the result is positive you will need to find that plant again.

  4. Step 4

    Clean between plants

    Tools and gloves, between plants and between blocks, so the sampler does not spread what it is looking for.

Still not sure?

Tell us the crop, what you can see, and what you need to decide.

Email us. We answer on Australian business days.

hello@meristemlab.com