Many people regard me as “the father of bio-hydroponics”. But actually, nature has been experimenting with mineral nutrition and organic biostimulants for millions of years, and I’m just lucky enough to have made a few connections in my lifetime! The secret lies in the “rhizosphere”, the soil/plant interface encompassing just a few millimeters of the root zone. The rhizosphere is shared by plant roots and plant-growth-promoting-rhizobacteria, and it’s a dynamic and highly biochemically-active region. In fact, all plant nutrients must pass through a thin film of plant and microbial exudates on the roots before they are actually taken up into the plant! The exudates allow plants to take up water and minerals more efficiently, improving their ability to produce digestible sugars. The cycle of nature is given a boost and all other life on the planet benefits, including hungry animals such as you and me!
Unfortunately, modern agriculture has thrown the rhizosphere out of balance. In its quest for higher yields, farmers have overemphasized the application of chemical fertilizers such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, and underemphasized the use of organic biostimulants. As a result, food grown today in field agriculture is often lower in vitamins and minerals than the food our grandparents ate, and modern society is suffering because of it. We need to reverse that trend. So my life’s work has been dedicated to improving the nutritional value of food, while improving the plant’s natural resistance to pests and disease. Hence, the development of bio-hydroponics, combining balanced mineral nutrition with the judicious use of organic biostimulants.
One of the challenges of producing bio-hydroponic fertilizers is combining concentrated mineral salts with organic molecules. They typically don’t mix well! For example, when I tried adding a few drops of seaweed extracts to a concentrated calcium nitrate solution, the seaweed would instantly coagulate into solid drops and fall out of solution. Another problem was mixing humic acids with solutions high in potassium salts. The extra potassium ions would bind too strongly to the humates, and sludge would sink to the bottom of the tank. It took many trials to find out which minerals were compatible with each other, and which organic additives were the most compatible with the minerals. Eventually, I was able to find the perfect balance.
One of the “secret ingredients” in bio-hydroponic fertilizers is yucca extracts. Yucca is high in natural saponins, a soapy substance that breaks the polarity of water molecules, making water wetter. It also provides a softer interface between concentrated mineral salts and organic molecules in solution. For example, one of my favorite bio-hydroponic fertilizer creations contained a mixture of hydroponic minerals with seaweed extracts, humic acids and B-vitamins. By simply adding a small amount of yucca extracts to the mix, everything stayed in solution. It even foamed a little when I mixed it! Over time, the heavier molecules would settle to the bottom of the bottle, but with just a little “shake” everything would be in suspension again. No nutrient lockout! Yucca is also a natural wetting agent, allowing the nutrients to better penetrate the soil and reach the growing root tips. So yucca also helps deliver water and nutrients where they are needed the most!
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