Should You Be Using Organic Acids?

Over time, a substantial amount of curiosity has been triggered in organic acids and their use in agriculture. Organic acids are produced from ancient deposits of organic substance that have decomposed for many generations. This material is decomposed a good deal more than the humus that is so preferred in the soil.

This dark brown to black product is often found near coal deposits in the earth's crust and originated as peat, brown coal, soil, or leonardite. At the molecular level it is an extremely large and complex molecule with no specifically identifiable structure. Organic acids can be broken down into three different parts: humic, fulvic, and humin.

Humic acid is the most commonly available form of organic acid and contains humic, fulvic and humin fractions. This is usually the raw product that has been mined, crushed and screened for proper size. The name humic "acid" is actually a misnomer because it has pH of 11 or higher. Most lawn and garden professionals will refer to humic acid as "humate". It comes in a dry granular form as well as liquid. Dry humic can be added to most dry fertilizer blends at a rate of 20 - 40 pounds per acre.

While merging with dry phosphate fertilizer, humic entices microbes to the prills which increase degradation of the waxy protective outside layer. This increases the rate at which nutrients become accessible for plant use. Humic also works as a chelating agent to shield phosphate from being occupied in the soil. This occurs since humic has a vast number of binding sites where nutrients can connect themselves and remain protected until they are required by a plant.

Humic, in a liquid state, unusually is joined with liquid nitrogen (UAN 32) or with liquid phosphate (10-34-0). UAN 32 is regularly applied to top-dress winter wheat in the northern parts of Utah and southern parts of Idaho. The combination of humic to the fertilizer will reduce burning effects of the leaves and lessen the amount of nitrogen that can become volatile. It's acceptable to utilize over 80 accessible units of nitrogen with the addition of humic on irrigated winter wheat. In general, this is done in early spring and usually in conjunction with an herbicide application by means of a ground rig.

Fulvic acid is beyond doubt acidic, containing a pH below 7 and is fairly easy to extort from the raw humic. It is generally a transparent to amber colored liquid and the actual fulvic ratio can differ between manufacturers. Quite a few herbicides and foliar nutrients act in response to the addition of fulvic to the spray tank. Fulvic, in general, is extremely active in the plant and the soil but is only a small proportion of the general humic.

Although Humins y are, for the most part, difficult to extract, they are also the most stable in the soil and present more direct plant activity when weighed against with fulvic. Because they are so difficult to extract, the best technique to apply humin to the soil is via the full humic acid in its raw form.

Organic acids affect the soil by elevating the H2O holding capacity, gathering stable organic matter to the soil, and increasing the nutrient holding capacity. When mixed directly to the nutrients being applied, organic acids intensify effectiveness and are eco-friendly. A detailed study completed by the University of Idaho, proposes that organic acids offer an economic return to growers in virtually every trial.