Sampling & Shipping

Sampling Instructions

Ideally collect plants from treated areas only.  For grasses and sedges, cut out plants with a knife in a conical shape (large plugs are not needed).  Collect 15-20 plants and place in a gallon zip-loc or other plastic bag.  Do not close the bag completely to prevent fungal outbreaks.  Pack in a standard box and fill will newspaper or other to prevent movement of plants.  Make sure plants are healthy prior to shipment. 

Try to collect on a Monday or Tuesday and send by next/second day air or delivery to: Herbicide Resistance Lab C/O: Dr. Scott McElroy CASIC Bldg 559 Devall Drive Auburn, AL 36849 Please notify Dr. Scott McElroy at resistancelab@auburn.edu prior to shipping samples. 

If you have other samples you would like tested please contact Dr. McElroy for shipping instructions.  Testing times vary depending on the number of herbicides to be evaluated.  An estimated evaluation completion will be provided upon receipt.  Typical evaluation times for sedge and goosegrass are from 3 to 6 weeks, but interim reports will be sent as some herbicides are screened faster than others. Please send the following submission form along with plants to aid population tracking.

Other miscellaneous information:

• First and most important is to only collect from treated herbicide areas. In order to properly assess if a weed species is herbicides resistance one must collected for an area that has been treated with the herbicide of interest.  Treatment with a herbicide allows for the selection of plants that are resistance and removal of weeds that are not resistant.  The application of a herbicide creates the classic segregating population where susceptible plants are killed and any resistance plants are selected.  If you do not collect from a treated area then plants collected could be a mixture of susceptible or resistant and any diagnostic test will yield spurious, often inconclusive results.
• Place plants in a plastic bag, but to not complete seal the bag to allow for gas exchange. Sealing the bag can kill live plants if shipment is delayed.
• Collect and ship on Monday or Tuesday. Do not ship over the weekend.  Packages are only delivered on Monday through Friday to the Herbicide Resistance Diagnostic Lab.  Make sure that plants will arrive to the diagnostic lab by Friday (or earlier if a holiday is occurring).
• The vast majority of broadleaf species cannot be shipped and survive as whole plants. Please contact Dr. Scott McElroy if broadleaf weeds are suspected resistant.  Often plants must be collected and directly potted in the field or seed must be collected from mature plants.