Humic Acid - what strength, how often?

[grog]

Chicken poo needs to be composted. Of the animals I know of rabbits are the only ones that have ready to use fertilizing doo doo.

 

[moonlight7]

This has been a really good read, thanks guys. i am using humic acid fertilizer too

 

[JudyB]

This has been a really good read, thanks guys. i am using humic acid fertilizer too

And can you share with us, how you are using it? And what your results are?
Thanks.

 

[davetree]

I am interested to know what the results are for people using this product. I have tried it, used it on and off for ten years, not sure if it really does anything. If you are using a decent soil mix and some good fertilizer I don't know if it makes a difference. This stuff came onto the pot market years ago. The conclusion of the medical marijuana growers that I know is that is just another product that you don't really need.

There was a hydroponics journal back then called Maximum Yield that had articles for professionals in the horticulture trade. The theory of maximum yield or maximum growth is that if water, air, light, oxygen to the roots, and food are all present in proper amounts, anything else you add will not make a noticeable difference. The plant is already operating at maximum growth or close to it.

I read where Walter Pall stated that you need humic acid if your substrate is completely inorganic. Yet commercial growers grow in completely sterile medium with no humates added.
Nonetheless, I have tried it myself. I cannot tell the difference but I have not performed any side by side experiments.

 

[milehigh_7]

I am getting ready for work but I think I still have some articles on the subject. There has actually been much university level research on it and it has been show to have statistically significant effects. I will try to find it and post it. If you have access to EBSCOhost you could just look it up, I don't know if I still have access.

 

[misfit11]

I wanted to revive this old thread to get the word out to those of us who may not know about the benefits of humic acid and also check the pulse of those members who do. I've been using humic acid since my early days on BNut. Al, aka Smoke, used to tout the wonders of humic acid a lot back in the day. I haven't heard much about it in recent years though.

I use an 18% humic acid I got from a hydroponics store many moons ago. I typically use about a quarter teaspoon every time I fertilize (usually bi-weekly). I know a little can go a long way and too much can easily burn your roots. My trees seem to benefit from the addition of the HA. Maybe I'm just seeing what I want to see, but they really do seem to be healthier with it than without. It might just be snake oil but I don't think so.

Looking at it from a scientific standpoint, it really makes sense. When we grow our trees in 100% inorganic substrate, although they may be getting all the nutrients and micronutrients they need, they aren't getting any humates. The hydroponics guys know this. They grow their "plants" in a very synthetic environment and therefore must use supplements to meet all their needs.

So, are people that used to use humic acid still doing so? Do you think it works?

 

[bonhe]

It is good to bring this subject up again! It will help not only the newbies but the veterans also! I have used humic acid granules for about 9 years . During mixing the soil for transplant, I just sprinkled humic acid granule. I also sprinkled it on the soil surface while I am fertilizing the trees. I believe it work very well on my trees regarding to tree health. My trees have been growing well in the hot dry environment!

It is dark brown without smell. I bought it in 50lb bag from OC Farm Supply


I put it in the glass jar with hole punched cap for feeding


Thụ Thoại

 

[misfit11]

That's cool, Bonhe. I haven't heard of the granule form. How long do you leave the granules on the soil surface? I usually change out my slow release fert pellets about 3 mos. Something like that?

 

[A. Gorilla]

@Anthony

Set them straight.

 

[bonhe]

That's cool, Bonhe. I haven't heard of the granule form. How long do you leave the granules on the soil surface? I usually change out my slow release fert pellets about 3 mos. Something like that?

I never removed either fertilizer nor humic acid granule from soil surface.I have used combined Woodace ( slow released chemical fertilizer and slow released organic fertilizer
Thụ Thoại

 

[Anthony]

https://www.gardenmyths.com/humic-substances-humic-acid-garden/#more-6487

 

[GGB]

I also use the solid form (leonardite) and I do almost exactly what bonhe does. I've only been using it for one year so I can't speak too much to the results but my trees seem more lush a few months into HA use. It's hard to say exactly because the last 2 years were rampant with fungal disease caused by record breaking rainfall. So with a couple "normal" months of weather under my belt I guess everything should look better anyway. Anthony' article is very interesting, maybe i'll skip using it in the herb garden for now haha

 

[bonhe]

https://www.gardenmyths.com/humic-substances-humic-acid-garden/#more-6487

Hi Anthony,
Thanks for the link
I read this article in the past.
So far, my trees seem very happy with whatever they were taken care, so I will not change my practice
By the way, I also use active charcoal in my soil
Thụ Thoại

 

[misfit11]

https://www.gardenmyths.com/humic-substances-humic-acid-garden/#more-6487

Thanks, Anthony. That's an interesting article. To me, though, this doesn't disprove anything. First of all, they come right out of the gate saying that humus IS beneficial to plants:

There is no doubt that humus and humic substances in soil play a very important role. These are just some of the benefits they provide.

• Enhance the growth of soil microbes
• Help retain water and chelate nutrients
• Improve compaction and porosity
• Mitigate stress from pollutants and salts
• Improve plant growth

My gripe with this article as an argument against humic acid use on bonsai is that it's not about bonsai. Both studies this article cites were where they used commercial humic acid on plants growing in the ground where humic acids already exist. As I stated before, a little bit of this stuff goes a long way. If the humates are already available to the plants (in this case grass, soybeans and corn) then an additional input maybe isn't necessary. This is certainly true of nutrients. Plants use what they need. I want to see a study on the efficacy of humic acids in an inorganic environment like we have in our bonsai pots. Let's see a study of humic acid in hydroponic use. Until then, this article isn't enough to convince me that humic acid isn't beneficial to my trees growing in 100% inorganic soil.

Cory

 

[misfit11]

I found these studies showing the benefits of humic acids in hydroponic applications:

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00380768.2013.809599

Humic acids in hydroponics: What is their effect? – Science in Hydroponics

scienceinhydroponics.com

 

[Sekibonsai]

https://www.gardenmyths.com/humic-substances-humic-acid-garden/#more-6487

@misfit... you will not find a single article ever written about bonsai that will stand up scientifically. And the pot growers aren't really publishing either... We have to work with what we can get. The study of humic acid, amongst other compounds applied to money making crops has been ongoing for decades. The results are peer reviewed and repeatable. I'll always take science over hack websites and pot grower lore...

 

[JudyB]

I still use this as a liquid additive once a month in the growing season. I like the idea of granules, when I run out of liquid I will try that. I think that the soil composition really matters when discussing the efficacy of these types of additives.

 

[cmeg1]

So,yea...8 yrs later....:humic acids are the bomb.
Fulvic and humic.....fulvic can cut fertilizer salts in half and have water!

I thouroughly learned of these in my hydro course.
Dutch have eliminated fungicides with use of amino acids...and use of biostimulants such as humic and fulvic acids.Dutch banned fungicide 20 or 10 yrs ago? On food crops

Goodbye from Maximum Yield

In print and online, Maximum Yield is your source for cannabis and cultivation knowledge, with informative grow articles and tips to enhance your life with mmj.

www.maximumyield.com

 

[ghues]

No formal study......but in the PNW many of our forest floors are very thick Humus layers and it provides many environmental benefits to the forest ecosystem. Been using the same large jug of humid acid for years now, especially on my native conifers. After repotting many this spring and noting the great amount of fine roots, I ponder if it was due to a combination of my soil components, slow released fertilizer and the humic acid? If I didn’t do one of these would it have made a difference?
Cheers

 

[Forsoothe!]

https://www.gardenmyths.com/humic-substances-humic-acid-garden/#more-6487

This is garbage. It says that the humic acid that evolves into coal is different than the humic acid in soil. So what? If Leonardite takes years to break down in soil to become available to microbes, fungi, plants et al, what's wrong with that? If it was immediately available it would be more difficult to meter into the soil to keep it from being a problem. The typical assay of 45% Humic, 50% carbon and 1.5% sulfur is useful in the long term, not as a fertilizer, and not intended to immediately boost productivity. The liquid humic acid derived is useful immediately and there are many studies that indicate its usefulness.

Soil Wars, part #736,571, (continued): The problem with bonsaiists is that they use shitty rocks in place of soil, unlike every other group of growers in the whole world, and swear that they are the only people in the world universe that know how to grow plants. "Bonsai" mixes are so bad that they have to fool around with quick acting additives to make the "system" function. The rest of the world using soil as a matrix can be satisfied using additives that boost the health of the soil to make sure that it is well balanced in the near term and future oriented for the long term. Soil conditioners do just that, and are always a continuing process.

To be continued.