Elements and Performance Criteria
- Prepare for testing
- Check submitted sample is in an intact, moisture-proof container with as much air as possible excluded
- Select appropriate apparatus for seed moisture testing
- Equilibrate temperature of submitted sample to that of the testing laboratory
- Reduce exposure of sample to the atmosphere of the laboratory to an absolute minimum, according to the species and ISTA requirements
- Prepare samples for drying
- Mix submitted sample thoroughly
- Take a minimum of three subsamples and combine to form a working sample of the required size
- Limit exposure to air to thirty seconds during sample reduction
- Where cutting or grinding is required, prepare one working sample so that two replicates can be drawn from the cut/ground material
- Undertake pre-drying where moisture content exceeds International Seed Testing Association (ISTA) requirements
- Weigh containers and lids before and after filling
- Ensure weighing procedures conform with ISTA requirements and express weight in grams to at least three decimal places
- Keep lids on containers until samples are placed in oven
- Dry and weigh sample
- Distribute working sample evenly over the surface of the container
- Rapidly place open containers and their lids into an oven maintained at the required temperature for the species being tested
- Commence drying period once oven returns to the required temperature after placement of containers
- Replace lids before cooling to ambient temperature in desiccators at the end of prescribed drying period
- Weigh the containers with lids and dried contents after cooling
- Calculate results