Humic and fulvic acids are compounds derived from the decomposition of plant and animal matter. Though a product of decay, these acids are indeed fundamental to plant flourishing. Both classified as humic substances, humic and fulvic acids play significant roles in optimizing the physical and biological properties of agricultural soils, managing nutrient availability, and improving plant growth and metabolism. The benefits of many organic farming practices–like compost amendments, mulching, and cover cropping–are an outcome of increasing humic and fulvic acid content in the soil. But potential ..read more

Finding sustainable solutions to enhance crop productivity is agriculture’s ultimate challenge in the 21st century. Over the past 10-20 years, biostimulants have gained increasing attention for their potential to address these monumental challenges.  Biostimulants are one of the fastest-growing product segments within the agricultural industry. As the demand for biostimulants grows, the market continues to be flooded by new manufacturers with products of varying quality, efficacy, and safety. Retailers and growers often struggle to identify which products are worth their time, which raise ..read more

Vertical farming—growing systems involving soilless mediums in stacked, highly controlled indoor environments—has boomed over the past decade. By utilizing indoor spaces and advanced technologies, vertical farms offer numerous advantages, including localized food sys tems, reduced water consumption, and resiliency against the extreme weather events currently threatening most of the planet’s major growing regions. Despite the potential of these systems, many vertical farms face significant challenges in establishing long-term economic viability. To justify the significant outlays needed f ..read more

Carbon is essential to life. But by burning hydrocarbons, logging forests, and eroding soils, the planet’s natural carbon cycle becomes dangerously disrupted. The carbon trapped in oil, trees, and soil organic matter transforms into atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), the greenhouse gas putting the planet on a path toward catastrophic climate change. Reducing these emissions is critical, but not enough on its own. We have to re-engineer the carbon cycle, storing and sequestering it to keep it out of the atmosphere. Carbon farming, or the sequestration of carbon in agricultural soils, is one of t ..read more

Improving nutrient use efficiency is not only essential for crop health and productivity: it can also help growers reduce input costs and minimize environmental impacts that come with the overapplication of fertilizer. Integrated Plant Nutrient Management, or IPNM, is a framework through which this can be achieved. Like Integrated Pest Management, IPNM draws on both organic and chemical solutions to create fertilizer programs that optimize nutrient use efficiency by considering long-term soil health, crop productivity, nutrient balancing, and the efficient and sustainable use of fertilizer inp ..read more

Tomatoes, like other heavy-feeding crops, are particularly susceptible to nutritional deficiencies. Depending on soil types, fertilization programs, and environmental conditions, it can be a challenge to supply tomato crops with adequate macronutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium), along with many key micronutrients.  However, tomato nutrient deficiencies are often not the result of inadequate supply via conventional fertilization, but inadequate nutrient availability. With appropriate growing practices and fertilization programs in place, biostimulants can improve that availabil ..read more

Biostimulants were virtually unheard of just a few short decades ago. But their use as agricultural amendments has grown rapidly in the last 10-15 years. The term “biostimulant” refers to any either natural or synthetic materials and organisms with plant growth-promoting effects, including amino acids, algae extracts, and beneficial microorganisms. Biostimulants can enhance yields, soil fertility, nutrient use efficiency, and plant tolerance to different environmental stressors.  These benefits partially explain the recent surge in biostimulant use but are not the full story. The full sto ..read more

Every grower, from backyard gardeners to commercial farmers, would love to do more with less. More yields, more soil diversity, more resilience—all with less fertilizer, less pest management, and less time to harvest. By using biostimulants for fruit production, growers can do just that. Biostimulants are substances and organisms that encourage plant growth and development. They can stimulate root growth, improve nutrient uptake, enhance photosynthesis, and activate plant defense mechanisms. Many of them are particularly beneficial for fruiting plants: everything from tomatoes and peppers to s ..read more

Pressures from climate change, soil degradation, rising input costs, and keeping pace with an ever-growing human population are bearing down on growers: finding ways to reconcile sustainable growing practices with increasing yields often feel impossible. One potential solution to this profound dilemma is corn steep liquor, a by-product of the corn wet-milling process that is now being used as an organic fertilizer. While once considered a waste product, corn steep liquor has proven to be a valuable tool for improving soil health, increasing crop productivity, and reducing the damaging environm ..read more

Biostimulants are gaining popularity as effective and sustainable agronomic tools to boost yields. But biostimulants go far beyond just being a fertilizer alternative or complement: these products and substances can also play a critical role in improving plant stress tolerance. Stress is imposed on plants from multiple sources. This includes abiotic stresses—things like drought, extreme heat, and salinity—as well as biotic stress from other organisms like pathogenic bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites, and insects. By stimulating desirable biological processes, biostimulants can help plants wi ..read more