Grosafe Garden have a great range of plant health products and today we are going to talk about our range of Seaweed plant nutrition products and our Mycorrhiza enhancing product.
Good Food = Healthy Plants
The importance of adding a good plant food ensures having healthy plants, that are more resistant to insect and fungus attack. It will also help them to be more resilient against frost and drought conditions.
A plant that is being fed seaweed is also more likely to have superior vigour and flowering which will lead to a larger crop.
Grosafe have developed a range of seaweed products and I am going to initially talk about.
What Makes Seaweed So Effective?
Growers have used seaweed as plant foliar food for centuries and it has only been in the last 15 years that the true benefits of seaweed nutrition have been identified. These are the natural occurring growth promotions, bio stimulants and micronutrients that are present in seaweed.
The main natural plant growth regulators are; cytokinins, gibberellins and auxins plus amino acids.
Micronutrients such as iron, copper, zinc, molybdenum, boron, manganese and cobalt have also been identified.
In addition Mannitol is found in seaweed and this helps chelate the micronutrients, ie it helps all the micronutrients to be more available to our plants.
Overall there are 60 different types of nutrients in most seaweeds, but the ones I have mentioned are the nutrients most valuable to our plants.
Ascophyllum nodosum
Grosafe has identified the best species of seaweed to use in our gardens, orchards and vineyards is Ascophyllum nodosum. Grosafe Garden have three products;
- BioPower® Seaweed Flake
- Ocean Power® Super Seaweed
- OceanFert®
When Grosafe was looking for a species of seaweed to use for nutrition in plants, we compared Ascophyllum nodosum, with dry small Kelp, the common NZ Bull Kelp and Fresh Kelp and the results were incredible. Ascophyllum Nodosum had by far the most nutrients per gram measured than any other species of seaweed.
The importance of feeding Grosafe’s seaweed range to our plants means we are actively supplying the plants with the required stimulants, this will make a difference to the plants over all health.
Ascophyllum nodosum seaweed is grown, farmed and sustainably harvested from the harsh North Atlantic Ocean. For many years farmers have been collecting Ascophyllum nodosum from the coastline.
The harsh conditions have forced the Ascophyllum nodosum to develop unique survival strategies such as anti-stress compounds or signalling compounds.
These important compounds are retained during our patented manufacturing process.
Now I am going to talk about our three Ascophyllum nodosum seaweed products.
BioPower® Seaweed Flake
The first product I am going to show you is our Biogro certified concentrated Seaweed Flake.
This product is in a very concentrated state that is produced using a patented biological fermentation process under low pressure and then spray dried.
When it is mixed with water, it is very soluble and easily applied. The best method of application is in a sprayer unit or with a watering can. This solution can also be mixed with any other products that you are spraying onto your garden. I add it to all my lawn herbicide sprays, (so I am weeding and feeding at the same time).
When it is time to do an insecticide application like EnSpray 99® or fungicide application (Free Flo Copper) add BioPower® Seaweed Flake as a foliar food.
You cannot over do it or damage your plants by adding too much seaweed. It is very safe to use.
I will now tell you how to mix BioPower® Seaweed Flake for a 10-litre watering can.
First use a small mixing container and put about 1 litre of water into the mixing container.
Then add 20g BioPower® Seaweed Flake into the mixing container. Stir until it is well dissolved. This should take about 10 seconds.
Put 5 litres of water into the watering can and then add your concentrated BioPower® Seaweed Flake mix that is in your mixing container. Fill the rest of the watering can to 10 litres. You now have 10 litres of BioPower® Seaweed Flake mixed up and you can water into your garden, vegetables, pot plants, fruit trees or lawn. Use the same method of mixing if a knapsack or hand sprayer is being used. This can be used at any time of the year and it will help keep your plants healthy, fight of pests and diseases, plus strengthen them against the effects of drought or frosts. You can apply this to your garden one to two times a month.
Ocean Power® Super Seaweed
The next product we are going to talk about is Ocean Power®. This liquid Ascophyllum nodosum seaweed concentrate with natural bio stimulants added.
Use Ocean Power® to improve crop, plant and soil health, it will boost plant vigour, defend against natural climatic occurrences, (drought and frost) and also help defend against insect attack. OceanPower® is naturally made from an Ascophyllum nodosum seaweed concentrate with added natural bio stimulants that have been shown to boost overall plant health and vigour.
The ideal time to use OceanPower® is when plants are in bud burst and to counteract transplant stress.
OceanFert® Seaweed Fertiliser
The third seaweed product that Grosafe has developed recently and is also derived from Ascophyllum Nodosum Seaweed species is our OceanFert®.
This is the only slow release seaweed fertiliser on the market. It is BioGro Certified, has no other additives added, it’s just seaweed so suitable for vegans.
Therefore, it is not a synthetic fertiliser. OceanFert® is the ideal replacement for sheep pellets, blood and bone, rooster booster,
OceanFert® has been scientifically analysed so we know exactly what it is doing to our soils and because of this we are able to help growers keep a balance to their soils and encourage healthy soil rejuvenation. OceanFert® has all the good characteristics that we get out of seaweed foliar feeds but it is also very high in Organic matter so as it is breaking down, it is immediately bio available to the plant. It will promote greater root development and improve soil PH, texture, aeration and drainage.
OceanFert® is very easy and safe to apply. You will not get any burning or soil PH imbalance from over using it in the garden. It will not burn the root systems of delicate young seedlings.
It has a natural breakdown of 4 – 6 months depending on the conditions that it is exposed to (ie watering, irrigation or natural weather conditions).
It comes in an 8kg bag and we have also developed a 1 kg bucket which is ideal for smaller gardens or pot plants. This is an easy way to keep the nutrients up in pot plants without having to replace potting mix all the time.
Organic Root-Gro® Mycorrhiza Enhancer
The final product I want to talk about is Organic Root-Gro®. This product is not derived from seaweed but has been made up from 26 different root exudates from 26 different plant species.
This product is a Mycorrhiza Enhancer. Benefits include:
- Breaks down organic matter into humus
- Enhances the collection of nutrients
- Improves calcium availability and uptake
- Stimulates the growth of feeder roots and microbes
- Inhibits soil pathogens
- Promotes balanced growth of roots and canopy
- Reduces transplant shock
- Increases growth rates resulting in heavier crop yields
It is recommended that Organic Root-Gro® is either soil incorporated or watered into root zone of the treated area.
Organic Root-Gro® can be mixed or used with with Grosafe BioPower® Seaweed Flake, OceanPower® Super Seaweed and OceanFert® to further enhance plant vigour and health.
It can also be used with any of the Grosafe herbicide range to feed the soil while the herbicides control the weeds.
I hope the information that I have given to you on our Foliar and Plant nutrition range will be helpful.
If you have any further questions please don’t hesitate to call Robbie on: 0800 220 002