Horticulturists, market gardeners, organic farmers and fruit growers are increasingly using both dried seaweed meal and liquid seaweed extracts in soil conditioning and crop spray applications.
The regular application of seaweed manure or spray is said to have the following benefits:
- The promotion of seed germination and growth
- Increases resistance to frost damage and drought
- Increases resistance to fungal and insect pests
- Fruit trees produce larger and more abundant crops of apples, oranges, bananas, tomatoes, pineapples, grapes, strawberries, peaches etc
- Crops of potatoes, carrots, brussel sprouts and beetroot also showed increased yield.
- Ascophyllum Nodosum contains more then 60 minerals, trace elements, amino acids, vitamins, carbohydrates and plant hormones
At least thirteen mineral nutrients are essential for plant growth, including nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Other major nutrients are sulphur, calcium, magnesium, which is required in lesser but still substantial quantities. Sulphur deficiencies are increasingly prevalent.
A number of micronutrients are required by plants in very small quantities, but each one of them is necessary for healthy plant growth.
As with humans and animals, a healthy plant requires a balanced diet. When adequate supplies of plant nutrients do not occur naturally in plants immediate vicinity, these must be provided through other sources. Titan Seaweed is a natural organic source.
Seaweed improves soil fertility in several ways.
- Seaweed nutrients and hormones are directly available to plants.
- Mannitol, a compound found in seaweed enables plants to better absorb nutrients from the soil.
- The breakdown of carbohydrates in seaweed stimulates beneficial soil bacteria that restore nitrogen and make it available to plant roots.
- Alginate is present in Seaweed Meal at levels of between 15% and 26%. Microbial population size has been found to increase dramatically in the presence of alginate gels. This is why seaweed meals are also excellent compost activators. The rate of composting is increased by the resulting increased microbial activity. It is well documented that soil health and associated plant growth is directly proportional to the presence or absence of soil microbes. Alginates also absorb large volumes of water thus increasing the moisture in the soil.
- Also present in Seaweed Meal is a range of plant hormones and biochemical compounds. Cytokinin activity in the application of Ascophyllum Nodosum extracts was shown to significantly increase the crude protein content in grass. Cytokinins are also known to stabilise leaf proteins and retard their degradation.
Using Seaweed
You can apply seaweed as mulch or as a soil additive or incorporate it in a compost pile. Its ability to activate soil bacteria makes seaweed an excellent compost starter.
Apply seaweed meal to the soil as soon as the ground can be worked in spring, as the meal needs time to break down. Spraying in late fall supplies phosphorus and zinc to plant roots and increases frost tolerance of grass, vegetables and perennials. A late season foliar can help yield a larger harvest of vegetables.
Fresh seaweed and dry granular seaweed must break down in the soil to release their nutrients and hormones. A foliar spray of seaweed extract and water makes the nutrients and hormones available to plants faster.
A balanced organic fertilizer can be created by mixing fresh seaweed or seaweed meal with manure or fishmeal, both of which supply sufficient phosphorus. This will help promote plant growth and healthy soil.
Company Profile
Arramara Teoranta has been involved in the production of quality dried seaweed since 1947. The company provides product for the alginate, agriculture, horticulture, and aquaculture industries.
Seaweed is a very versatile product proving very popular among various industries and countries. Arramara seaweed meal is exported to over twenty countries globally. Some of our markets include the UK, USA, Japan, France, Greece, Thailand, Germany, Italy, Australia and New Zealand.
Arramara produce dry Ascophyllum Nodosum seaweed meal, brown seaweed harvested from the clean Atlantic Ocean. This area has many sheltered bays and inlets, where the risk of pollution is very low due to the absence of heavy industry, intensive farming, or busy shipping lanes. The Atlantic swell flushes out these bays and replenishes the stock of nutrients that act as feed for the seaweed plant.
Using seaweed from seashore classified as “Class A” by the Marine Institute of Ireland, harvested by experienced personnel, closely supervised by company inspectors and processed in a state of the art facility, Arramara can safely guarantee a product of the highest quality and consistency.
Tel: 095 33404/33417
