A system and method for testing for contaminants in an assembly line grow pod (100) includes a tray (105) moving along a track (102) arranged in an assembly line grow pod (100), a plurality of cells (120) arranged on the tray (105) and a contaminant sensor (130). Each cell (120) supports seeds, plants, or both, and a selected cell includes side walls and a base that define a cavity (122). The contaminant sensor (130) is arranged in the cavity (122) of the selected cell. The contaminant sensor (130) includes a sensing device and a control device. The sensing device directly senses a characteristic of a content present in association with the selected cell. The control device is coupled to the sensing device and operable to receive a signal from the sensing device. The control device may determine a likelihood of contamination based on the received signal.
