CID Bio-Science, Inc.

Researchers found that larger, denser canopies captured more light at the top, but also created more self-shading. In fact, the upper canopy intercepted roughly 80% to 90% of incoming light, leaving much less available deeper in the plant.

Using the CI-110 Plant Canopy Imager, researchers measured LAI, light extinction, and canopy density, helping them quantify something growers often judge visually: how open or dense a canopy really is.

The takeaway is simple: more growth is not always the goal. Better-distributed growth may matter more.

Whether you work in production, breeding, research, extension, or ag technology, it raises a useful question:
Are you measuring how much a plant grows, or how effectively that growth is arranged?

That’s this week’s Wednesday Research Review. Check out the full study here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scienta.2026.115081

A taller coffee seedling is not always a better coffee seedling.

A nursery study testing Trichoderma across three Coffea arabica varieties found that seedling quality depended on the specific variety and inoculant formulation.

The strongest results included:

• 24.6% greater leaf area with the solid formulation
• 17.3% greater stem diameter with the liquid formulation
• 13.1% lower slenderness with the liquid formulation
• Up to 16.1% improvement in the Dickson Quality Index

But one treatment produced taller Gran Colombia seedlings with thinner stems and a slenderness score above the preferred threshold.

That is the key point: more growth does not automatically mean better planting material.

Researchers used the CID Bio-Science CI-202 Leaf Area Meter to quantify changes in leaf expansion that leaf counts alone would have missed.

Read the full study to see why coffee variety, formulation, and structural balance should all be considered before selecting a nursery inoculation program: https://na2.hubs.ly/H070YbZ0

Thanks for a great show! It was great seeing all of you at !

What if plants could get critical nutrients faster through their leaves than through the soil?

For this week's , A study on oil palm seedlings found that applying a 0.2% foliar NPK fertilizer every two weeks improved growth compared with untreated plants.

Researchers recorded up to:
17% greater height
12% thicker stems
24% more leaves
41% higher leaf greenness

NPK 20-15-15 and NPK 11-8-6 produced the strongest greenness results, while powder and liquid fertilizers performed similarly overall.

To track plant response, the researchers used tools including the CI-202 portable leaf area meter, which helps create objective, repeatable leaf measurements instead of relying only on visual observation.

The broader takeaway: foliar nutrition may help correct nutrient stress quickly, but measurement matters. Test it, compare it with your current practice, and track plant response, labor, cost, and crop safety before scaling up.

Where could better measurement improve decisions in your operation? Read the full study here: https://doi.org/10.29244/jtcs.9.01.1-7

Whose at ASPB, Comment and stop by to let us know what your working on!

What plant measurement challenge is slowing down your research?

CID Bio-Science is heading to ASPB Plant Biology 2026 in Ottawa, July 18–22!

We’ll be talking about measuring everything from root systems and leaf area to canopy structure and photosynthesis.

Stop by the CID Bio-Science booth to meet our team, see our instruments, and talk through your next research project.

See you in Ottawa!

What if the residue left after harvest could help manage w**ds and improve crop performance?

This week’s Wednesday Research Review looks at a 2024 study on corn straw mulch in foxtail millet.

Researchers tested corn straw and corn straw water extracts against four common w**ds. In lab trials, the strongest corn straw extract reduced germination by 25.55% in C. album, 23.33% in S. viridis, and 30.00% in E. crus-galli.

In the field, corn straw mulch reduced w**d density, w**d coverage, w**d number, and w**d biomass. The strongest w**d control was achieved at 12,000 kg/ha.

But here’s the practical twist: the highest yield came from 6000 kg/ha, reaching 5781.51 kg/ha, a 10.32% increase over the no-straw control.

The researchers used a CI-340 portable photosynthesis system to measure foxtail millet's physiological response. They measured net photosynthetic rate, transpiration rate, stomatal conductance, and intercellular CO₂ concentration.

That data helped show why yield improved. Corn straw did not just suppress w**ds. It also changed crop performance, especially photosynthesis and transpiration.

The takeaway: the “best” treatment depends on the goal.

For w**d suppression, look at the higher mulch rate.
For yield and crop performance, the middle rate may offer the better balance.

That’s the kind of detail that matters in real-world decision-making.

What would you test first in your system: maximum w**d suppression or the best yield response?

Full research here: https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13101315

**dManagement

Allelopathic Effects of Corn Straw and Its Water Extracts on Four W**d Species and Foxtail Millet Straw covering is a protective tillage measure in agricultural production, but there is relatively little research on the allelopathic effects of corn straw on w**ds and foxtail millet. This experiment studied the allelopathic effects of corn straw on four w**ds (Chenopodium album, Setaria viridis,....