Humate Products in Horticulture

Introduction

Humate is a pure and highly active compound formed from the decomposition of plant matter over thousands of years. It is a natural growth stimulant. Humate has been researched and tested for more than 25 years and is being acclaimed by many growers for its benefits. Repeated treatment of soils and composts with artificial fertilisers and chemicals cause soils to become drained of their humic content which is the natural promoter of growth for plant life. Humate is being used by the amateur gardener, the professional grower and turfcare specialist and gives a number of benefits. Humate is a mild biostimulant and, as such, improves the functioning of plant systems as vitamins do in animals. With Humate, plants make better use of nutrients that are made available to them and respond accordingly. Benefits that can be obtained using Humates are:-

»  more massive and deeper root systems
»  increased uptake of nutrients
»  greater resistance to stress caused by excesses of heat or cold or drought
»  improvement in vigour and ability to survive
»  increased size and yield of fruits and vegetables
»  increased microbial activity

Robert L Willcox in 1988 had used Humate in a number of different trials on golf courses in the USA. The Root Development Trial at Pine Tree Golf Club at Boynton was of particular interest.

On 4 fairways, 15 trial plots were established. Three of these were used as control. This trial took place between 26.4.88 and 6.7.88. Grass type was Ormond Bermuda. The initial length of the grass root was 5". After the 9 weeks of the trial, the grass in the control plots had grown to about 6" of root length. However, the other 12 test plots, all treated with granular Humate alone, with liquid Humate alone or with both granular and liquid Humate, showed increases in root length to between 9" and 13"! The best results came from those plots treated with both granular and liquid.

cyclamen hybrid

We are selling the Humate products into all areas of horticulture and the results we expected when we took on the products have materialised. The use of very small amounts of these products can have a tremendous effect on plants and their growth. Humate is a very effective natural growth stimulant, the results of which can usually be seen very quickly. We try to persuade amateur growers, in their first season of using the product, to use it only on a proportion of their plants and to then compare the "with" and "without" treatments.

Two of our Humate products, granular Humate and liquid Humate, were the subject of part of a 1993 research programme at Leeds University. This study, by Ramadan A. Mohamed, looked at the mobilization of Cu, Zn, Fe and Mn to wheat by the influence of Humate in calcareous soil.

He states in his conclusion that "in general, plant uptake of Cu, Zn, Fe and Mn were significantly increased with accompanied Humate treatments." He adds, in an accompanying letter to his report, that the results are significantly important for using these Humate treatments in world agriculture to improve nutrients uptake in calcareous soil and to free complex nutrients from the soil. Take-up of the four micro-nutrients mentioned when the wheat leaves were examined after 5 and 10 weeks was approximately double with the Humate treated growing medium compared to the untreated medium. The pH of the soil in the trial was 7.2.

The ability of Humate to assist in the take-up of these micro-nutrients is quite phenomenal and serves to demonstrate how Humate is an exceptional chelating material.

HUMATE PRODUCTS

Humate (granular)     Buy Online
Humate granular is the basic material from which all the Humate products are derived. Its composition is approximately 70% organic (humic and fulvic acids) and 30% inorganic.

We now have three different grades of granular Humate available to the amateur gardener.
These are:-
»  Humate coarse grade, approx 3mm down to powder
»  Humate medium grade 1mm to 0.5mm
»  Humate fine grade less than approx 0.5mm

Usage rates are about 0.5 to 1kg of Humate to one cubic metre of organic based compost. This is equivalent to about one to two 5ml level teaspoonfuls to a 2 gallon (10 litres) bucket! For composts containing larger proportions of mineral aggregates, eg perlite/grit, then more granular Humate should be used. For spreading on to soil, apply Humate at the rate of 60 to 90 grams per square metre (2 to 3 ounces per square yard) and rake/dig evenly into the top 10 to 15 centimetres (4 to 6 inches). For normal potting and for outside work, coarse Humate is best used. However, for plants in small pots, eg in the alpine world, the medium grade is recommended. The grains of this grade will be better distributed in these small volume pots. On lawns, Humate medium grade should be spread as a top dressing at the rate of about 2½ kg per 100 square metres two times a year, spring and autumn. In propagation mixes, fine grade Humate should be used.
	World Record Breaking Onion - 16lb 83/8oz - grown using granular Humate. It was exhibited at the Harrogate Autumn Show 2005

Granular Humate breaks down slowly over time, releasing the beneficial compounds. It is best used in conjunction with liquid Humate (ie Humate As in solution) and a good fertiliser programme.
 

Humate As (soluble)     Buy Online
Humate As is a spray dried version of Humate liquid which is, in turn, manufactured from granular Humate. Humate As and Humate liquid contain potassium salts. The humic and fulvic acid content of Humate As is between 64% and 74% whereas the content in Humate liquid is between 15% and 17%.

We sell only the dry soluble Humate As on this website. It should be dissolved to produce a mother solution. We suggest that 60g of Humate is dissolved in water and made up to 250ml. This solution has the same strength as Humate liquid. It is a faster acting version of the granular product and is ideally applied both to foliage and to the roots in a liquid fertiliser solution. The usage rates of the mother solution are as follows:-

On turf: Use 25 to 50ml per 100m² appropriately diluted. Repeat after 7 to 14 days. Then apply 50ml diluted per 100m² fortnightly during the growing season.
Compost mixing: Add 50ml diluted in water to one cubic metre of compost. (5ml diluted to 100 litres of compost.)
Seed soaking: Soak seed in a solution of 5ml in 100ml of water.
Root dipping: Mix 5ml (1 teaspoonful) in 500ml water and dip roots in solution for 2 to 3 minutes.
Watering: Mix 5 ml (1 teaspoon) in 10 litres (approximately 2 gallons) of water for plants in situ. For pot and container plants, use ½ teaspoon in 2 gallons. Use liquid Humate every two weeks during the growing season, with or without fertiliser. For seedlings, use at half strength.
 

Humate Iron Chelate (Soluble Powder - 10% Fe)     Buy Online
Humate Iron Chelate is used for correcting deficiencies of iron in soils and composts. It is suitable for most types of plants including turf, ornamentals, fruit and vegetables. It is completely chelated for foliar and soil applications and is effective across a broad range of soil and climatic conditions working well in both acid and alkaline soils. Recent work has shown it to be as stable in low and high pH solutions (pH 4 to pH 10) as 6% Fe-EDDHA. It is effective for greening-up turf and ornamentals. It is based on Humate which is reacted with iron and spray dried. The analysis is total nitrogen 6.0%, soluble potash 2.0% and chelated iron 10.0%.

Usage rates are as follows:-
For watering containerised plants: Dissolve 2½g of chelate (approx ½ level teaspoonful) in 10 litres (2 gallons) of water.
For plants in situ: Use at 3 times above strength.
Watering frequency is as required to correct chlorosis. We have had some very good feedback from people using this chelate for acid loving plants and trees such as rhododendrons, azaleas, magnolias and heathers.
 

Fulvic Acid     Buy Online  
Humic substances are mixtures of both fulvic and humic acids. Our Humate humic acid contains a relatively high proportion of fulvic acid. It is between about 20% and 25%. Most leonardite sourced humic substances contain usually less than 2% fulvic acid.

The fulvic acid component is soluble in all pH conditions. Humic acid is completely soluble in only alkali conditions. The higher the fulvic acid:humic acid ratio, the more reactive is the humic substance. The molecule of fulvic acid is usually looked upon as the monomer, whereas that of humic acid is treated as a polymer.

As the monomer, the fulvic acid is relatively small and can enter the plant, attached to some nutrient ion, much more readily than the much larger humic acid molecule. Fulvic acid is said to be the "work horse" amongst humic substances.

Fulvic acid has a very high cation exchange capacity (CEC) and will increase the CEC of growing media.

We have available a fulvic acid material that is 75% fulvic acid that can be used to improve the growth of plants by improving the take-up of nutrients.

It can be used as a foliar treatment where, ideally, it should be added to solutions of foliar feeds. It will aid photosynthesis. It can also be applied to soils and other growing media to improve the take-up of nutrients. It will improve the texture of soils.

The fulvic acid powder has a tendency to take in moisture and become sticky. We have therefore packed it into small soluble capsules. One capsule of approximately 1g should be added to each litre of liquid feed that is used for foliar treatment. Use 2 capsules per litre of water or feed solution for application to growing media.