Augment in Horticulture
Joe Barfoot
Crop Health Consultant, Horticulture
Fuelling nutrient use efficiency
When fertigating crops, you shouldn’t just be thinking about the total nutrients applied. Be it ornamentals, soft fruit, containerised trees or even soil grown crops such as top fruit and vines, are you making the best use of what you are applying? Are you optimising your Nutrient Use Efficiency (NUE)? NUE refers to a crop’s ability to take up and utilise the nutrients applied for maximise yield or growth.
Many fertigation nutrients aren’t fully utilised due to leaching, water or substrate pH, lack of element chelation, low substrate CEC, lack of soil biological activity etc. This can be mitigated by utilising humic acids, fulvic acids, and amino acids, along with complex and simple sugars and a powerful seaweed extract. Everything that is found in AUGMENT.
Use AUGMENT to provide complex carbon compounds to increase nutrient uptake, boost beneficial biology and provide humic and fulvic acids less prevalent in most peat free mixes. Apply AUGMENT via fertigation at 200-750ml per 100L of stock solution dosed at 1:100 (1%).
HUMIC acids and FULVIC acids are incredible carbon-based molecules that have a range of beneficial properties on substrate behavior and plant growth:
Humic and Fulvic Acids: Modern Agriculture
Humic Acids (HA):
- Great ability to hold on to nutrients High CEC of 450meq/100g
- Sequesters N and complexes P keeping it available to the plant
- Binds substrate aggregates and aids porosity
- Beneficial biology food source
Fulvic Acids (FA):
- Strong natural chelating agent with a High CEC of 1400meq/100g
- Increased root division, boosts photosynthesis and stimulates plant growth
- Beneficial biology food source
Fertigation Additive
AUGMENT is a mixture of complex and simple carbon sugars. These compounds act as a strong chelator to boost nutrient uptake and increase the efficiency of any fertigation applied inputs. They also act as a food source to beneficial bacteria and fungi, further boosting nutrient cycling as well as “free” nitrogen fixed from the air. These active carbon compounds are great to replicate those present in peat substrates, but which are less common in most peat free mixtures.
Finally physiological triggers from the active seaweed component of AUGMENT will stimulate increased rooting, boosting the interactions between the plant, substrate and active biology contained within.
Augment, a Foliar Feed
Plants have developed complex ways to assimilate and utilise nutrients via the leaf as well as the roots. They have developed several different mechanisms and pathways for foliar uptake dating back to origins in rain forest and woodland environments. A holistic approach benefits from foliar feeding additional carbon and biological inputs alongside targeted nutrition. Supplementing nutrients supplied via the substrate, soil and therefore roots.
AUGMENT can be utilised as a foliar feed additive to compliment nutrients being applied, with the fulvic acid chelation increasing up take. Amino acids, seaweed bioactives and humic substances are key compounds to trigger processes within the plant to boost rooting, increase photosynthesis and stimulate enzyme production.
Apply as a foliar feed at 1-2L/ha in a minimum of 400L of water. Apply every 10-14 days.
As with all foliar applied nutrients, applications should be based on agronomic need and as part of a balanced and tailored nutrition programme for maximum results.
About the Author
Joe Barfoot
Crop Health Consultant, Nationwide
Hello there! I’m Joe, a Crop Health Consultant at AIVA with a keen interest in nutrition within horticultural practices. I started my career developing arable systems with biological inputs, supporting the natural systems with nutrition and carbon. Creating balance, no matter the crop, is key to any system, biological or other.
Got a question? Contact Me.
