What is Humic Acid and What Does it Do for My Garden?
Posted by Tom Thomas on Tue, Jun 09, 2009 @ 07:06 PM
Is a picture worth a thousand words or what? I came across this picture of increased root mass due to the effects of Humic Acid. (Source: Sustainable Agriculture Reserarch and Education; www.sare.org) We have found that many people are not acquainted with this substance and its benefits. So, in spite of the picture, here are a thousand words anyway. (Well, maybe not that many.)
Humic acid is a term that refers to the combined humic and fulvic acid content found in naturally occurring decomposed plant and animal residues dating back thousands of years or more. Leonardite coal deposits have been found to possess the most bio-chemically active form of humic acid.
Humic acid can help improve soil structure. When applied to clay soils, humic acid can help break up compacted soils, allowing for enhanced water pentration and better root zone growth and development. When applied to sandy soils it adds essential organic material necessary for water retention thus improving root growth and enhancing the sandy soil's ability to retain and not leach out vital plant nutrients.
Humic acid also plays a critical role in the ability of the plants to uptake nutrients from soil. It is especially beneficial in freeing up otherwise unavailable nutrients in the soil so that they are made available to the plant as needed. For example, humic acid can separate aluminum and phosphorus molecules, making the phosphorus available for the plant. Humic acid helps chelate mironutrients, increasing their bio-availability to plants.
Soil microbial activity is stimulated by humic acid by virtue of providing the indigenous microbes with a carbon source for food. As we know, soil microbes are responsible for solubilizing nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus so that they can be available for the plant's roots. Microbes continue to break down soil organic matter which increases humus and ultimately adds to the humic acid base of the soil.
So just imagine if you could easily add humic acid, benefical microbes and minor nutrients directly to the plant root zone all at the same time. Hmm....