Seaweed extracts as biostimulants

[Jabobo]

Hi everyone,

I guess since I am curious by nature, I wanted to find out exactly the role that seaweed concentrate have on plant growth. I have heard of it being referred to as tonic for plant health but it is not a very specific description and doesn't make it seem all that important to use. So I was doing a bit of reading and came across this nice journal article that reviews seaweed concentrates on different aspects of plant growth. The paper describes in some detail about many of the components that make up these extracts including plant hormones, sugar and sterol contents, and the effect they have on different aspects of plant growth such as soil microflora, and soil aeration, root growth, flower/fruit yield, and disease/pest resistance. I found it to be a really good read and I thought that some of you guys out there might appreciate it as well.

It makes me rethink seaweed extracts as something that might add some benefit to something that is actually quite necessary for optimal health of my plants.

Just a disclaimer, I am not trying to be that noob that comes in and think they know everything (I am pretty much happy to admit that I don't know anything), I know a lot (if not most) of people on here use this already, it was just interesting to find out the benefits in more detail. I am very interested in the reasons behind the good advice given on this site.

Cheers

Jacob

[63pmp]

Thanks for the link, it will be an interesting read.

Paul

[Drac0]

Will be reading this in depth a little later so thanks.

Interestingly, last night I attended a worm farm workshop and while they did stress that worm juice is a fantastic product & perfect for plants, they suggested supplementing/alternating it with other organic products such as seaweed extracts because while a lot of what is provided is very similar in both, there are some things that are pretty much unique to each so the variety helps.

Cheers

[Jabobo]

No worries guys

[treeman]

Seaweed is not essential but it certainly helps. The ones which are high in auxins are the best for root stimulation ( which leads to top growth of course) Forget seasol, the best by far is Kelpac from South Africa but its way expensive. You can buy it online.
Here is all the info on seaweed you might need.
http://www.marijuanagrowing.eu/seaweed- ... 41743.html

[Meegs]

What a great article! Thankyou for sharing that one. I think the take home message for me was while the exact process of interactions are in some cases unclear, this kind of diverse organic 'soup' is better for plants than simply a npk synthesized mix. I found strengthening of resistance properties very interesting.
Nice to know I'm on the right path with using organic stuff where possible.
Thanks

[redtearsblackwings]

Thanks for sharing, I too am a person who likes to know why something works. It's good to know that it does work but I'm the sort of person who always wants to know why it works, what exactly is it about said product that helps the receiver.
I'll be reading this tomorrow when my brain is working better (3am is not the best time to be reading important or in depth info lol).