Root cause analysis
Plants wilting with no obvious reason. A room that keeps failing microbial testing after the sanitation program was tightened. Test results that do not match what you see on the bench. These are the problems we take on.
How an investigation works
What you send
A description of the problem, what has already been tried, and samples from the places the problem could be coming from. We help you decide what to sample before anything ships.
- Plant tissue, including roots
- Water: source, reservoirs, lines, runoff
- Substrate and media
- Swabs from surfaces and sanitation systems
- Air, sampled onto plates on site
- Existing certificates of analysis and test reports
What the lab does
We use whichever methods the question needs, usually several together.
- Microscopy
- Culture and plating
- Sequencing-based organism identification, bacterial and fungal
- qPCR for the pathogens on the panel
- Air sampling onto plates
- A review of the records you already have
What you get back
A written finding: what organism or condition is behind the problem, where in your process it is coming from, and what to change. If the evidence does not support a single cause, the report says so and says what the next samples should be.
Results and the report are in the portal with the rest of your testing.
Diagnostics and root cause analysis are different jobs. A diagnostic test says which organism is in a sample. Root cause analysis solves the problem, and the problem usually has more than one cause: a pathogen plus the condition that let it take hold plus the step in the process that keeps reintroducing it.
If you already know what you are looking for, order the test. If you do not, start here.
The kinds of problems we have worked on
Microbial compliance failures
Finished product over the limit on total yeast and mold or on a specific organism. We review the certificates of analysis for the pattern, then sample the rooms, water, and post-harvest areas to find where it enters.
Wilting and decline
Plants that wilt, stall, or die back in a way nutrition and environment do not explain. Roots, substrate, and water are where we usually start.
Results that do not add up
Positive tests with no symptoms, symptoms with negative tests, or results that change from one lab to the next. We look at the sampling and the method before anything else.
Describe the problem
Tell us what you are seeing, how long it has been going on, and what you have already changed. Someone from the lab will reply within one business day and we will plan the sampling together. Every inquiry is kept confidential.