Field Service Report · Survey · Health Audit
FSR-2091-0644 — Medicinal Collection Health Audit & Nutrient Correction
Scheduled GCL-1 health audit of the rare medicinal flora collection (28 accessions) at the Aster Hollow Research Conservatory, a Tier-1 academic partner. Two early-stage micronutrient deficiencies identified and corrected on site; collection cleared with two accessions flagged for monitoring.
FSR ID: FSR-2091-0644
Date: 2091-05-09
Technician: T. Vetch (lead), J. Sorrel (assay)
Crew Size: 2
GCL Grade: GCL-1
Governing SOP: VC-SOP-0501 / 0512
Dispatch Auth: S. Aralia
Engagement classification. Routine benign GCL-1 survey and corrective nutrient work. Standard horticultural PPE (gloves, eye protection) per
VC-SOP-0301. No containment hazard; the medicinal accessions are non-toxic at handling contact, though several are restricted-export under the partner's research license — chain-of-custody on any sampled tissue applies.
1. Site & Conditions
| Field | Entry |
|---|
| Site name / client | Aster Hollow Research Conservatory (Tier-1 academic partner — pharmacognosy program) |
| Location / access | Climate-controlled medicinal wing; 28 accessions across 4 raised benches under tunable LED canopy. Card-access lab, standard entry. |
| Engagement type | Survey / Health Audit |
| Ambient temp / RH | 22 °C / 58 %RH; photoperiod 14 h at 320 µmol·m⁻²·s⁻¹ (per accession recipe) |
| Hazards on arrival | None — benign collection. Two accessions showing mild interveinal chlorosis on younger leaves. |
| Schedule basis | Quarterly contracted audit under service agreement SA-2089-22. |
2. Specimen Identification
| Field | Entry |
|---|
| Collection | Rare medicinal flora — 28 accessions (alkaloid, glycoside, and terpenoid producers) |
| Flagged accessions | UF-22815 "Fevervane" (febrifuge alkaloid) and UF-23990 "Stitchroot" (wound-glycoside) |
| Assessed GCL grade | GCL-1 (benign; non-toxic at contact; no aggressive growth) — collection-wide |
| Collection size | 28 plants; bench occupancy 86%; 2 accessions in active flowering |
| Observed condition | 26 of 28 nominal; 2 with early interveinal chlorosis on new growth (Fe/Mn pattern) |
| Provenance | VC-derived stock on long-term research loan; accession tags and license records verified |
3. Work Performed
- Verified accession inventory against the loan register (28/28 present, tags intact) and confirmed the partner's research-license status current.
- Ran a full PhytoSense Mesh sweep across all four benches and captured per-accession baseline readings (Section 4). Spectral Canopy Array hyperspectral pass flagged the two chlorotic accessions for follow-up assay.
- Collected leaf-tissue and substrate samples from
UF-22815 and UF-23990 under chain-of-custody (CoC-2091-0644) for on-site portable nutrient assay.
- Assay results:
UF-22815 iron-deficient (interveinal chlorosis, low leaf Fe); UF-23990 manganese-marginal with slightly alkaline rhizosphere pH locking out uptake.
- Corrective action —
UF-22815: applied chelated iron (Fe-EDDHA) foliar + root drench at the SOP-0110 corrective rate; logged dose to CHLORA feeding schedule.
- Corrective action —
UF-23990: applied chelated manganese and a mild acidifying amendment to bring rhizosphere pH from 7.4 toward the 6.2–6.6 target band; staged a 3-dose follow-up recipe.
- Spot-checked irrigation EC and dosing manifold on all four benches; recalibrated the bench-2 EC probe (drift +0.3 mS/cm) that had been under-reporting and masking the developing deficiency.
- Updated the partner's CHLORA per-accession feeding recipes; issued an audit clearance with two monitored items; no tissue retained beyond the assay samples (logged for disposal).
4. Readings Captured
| Metric | Unit | Nominal Band | Collection (26 nom.) | UF-22815 / UF-23990 |
|---|
| Canopy Vitality Index | % | ≥ 90 | 95.8 avg | 83.1 / 87.4 |
| Leaf Chlorophyll (SPAD) | idx | 38–48 | 43.6 avg | 27.2 / 33.9 |
| Leaf Iron | ppm | 80–150 | 112 avg | 44 / 96 |
| Leaf Manganese | ppm | 30–100 | 61 avg | 52 / 21 |
| Rhizosphere pH | pH | 6.2–6.6 | 6.4 avg | 6.5 / 7.4 |
| Irrigation EC | mS/cm | 1.6–2.0 | 1.8 avg | 1.8 / 1.7 (probe +0.3 drift) |
| Alkaloid/Glycoside Yield (study) | % target | within ±10% | +2% avg | −9% / −6% (deficiency-suppressed) |
5. Parts & Consumables
| Item | Part / Lot | Qty | Notes |
|---|
| Chelated iron (Fe-EDDHA) | NUT-FE-09 | 1 | Foliar + root drench, UF-22815 |
| Chelated manganese | NUT-MN-04 | 1 | UF-23990 correction |
| Acidifying amendment | AMD-pH-12 | 1 | Rhizosphere pH correction, UF-23990 |
| Portable nutrient assay cartridge | ASSAY-NPK-µ7 | 2 | Leaf + substrate panels |
| Chain-of-custody sample kit | CoC-2091-0644 | 1 | 2 tissue + 2 substrate samples |
| EC probe calibration solution | EC-CAL-1.41 | 1 | Bench-2 probe recal |
6. Containment Actions
- PPE: horticultural gloves + eye protection (GCL-1 benign — no containment PPE required)
- No containment event — benign collection; no transport or isolation needed
- Chain-of-custody maintained on all sampled tissue (CoC-2091-0644); samples logged for disposal
- Restricted-export accessions: no tissue removed from site beyond assay samples
- Two-person rule observed: Yes (standard survey crew)
- Corrective doses logged to partner CHLORA feeding schedule for traceability
7. Outcome & Disposition
| Outcome | Closed — collection cleared, 2 accessions monitored |
| Collection disposition | Retained on site under research loan SA-2089-22; 26 accessions nominal, 2 corrected and flagged for +14 d / +28 d follow-up. |
| Personnel exposure | None — benign engagement. |
| Site left in condition | Corrective nutrient program staged; bench-2 EC probe recalibrated; updated feeding recipes loaded to CHLORA; audit clearance issued. |
| Emergency procedure triggered? | No. |
| Engagement duration | 2.2 h on-site (within 3.0 h survey target) |
8. Follow-Up Actions
- Remote CHLORA review of UF-22815 SPAD/Fe recovery at +14 d — owner: J. Sorrel — due 2091-05-23. Done — SPAD 38.1, recovering
- UF-23990 rhizosphere pH re-check at +28 d to confirm uptake restored — owner: T. Vetch — due 2091-06-06. Open
- Yield re-assay on both accessions once nutrition normalizes — owner: Research Liaison — due 2091-06-20. Open
- Schedule bench EC-probe verification into the quarterly audit checklist — owner: Cultivation — due 2091-05-30. Done
9. Lessons Learned
Lesson — a drifting EC probe can hide a developing deficiency for a full quarter. The bench-2 EC probe was reading +0.3 mS/cm high, so the partner's automation believed nutrition was on-target while two accessions slid into Fe/Mn deficiency. The hyperspectral pass and leaf assay caught it before yield loss became permanent.
Recommendations: (1) add a mandatory two-point EC/pH probe verification to every contracted health audit before reading any nutrient data; (2) cross-check automation-reported EC against an independent handheld at each bench; (3) for medicinal collections, trend
compound yield alongside
CVI — a yield dip can lead visible chlorosis by weeks. Submitted to Cultivation for audit-checklist revision under
VC-SOP-0512.
10. Signatures
| Role | Name | Date |
|---|
| Field Technician (Lead) | T. Vetch | 2091-05-09 |
| Assay Technician | J. Sorrel | 2091-05-09 |
| Dispatch Lead | S. Aralia | 2091-05-10 |
| Cultivation Lead | D. Hemlock | 2091-05-10 |