The Holganix Blog

Growing happy, healthy plants is not always easy! Plants need thirteen different nutrients from the soil in order to fully develop. Six of these nutrients are needed in large quantities.

These six essential nutrients are nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, sulfur and calcium. The cool thing about these key nutrients is that they help create new cells, which then organize into plant tissue. Without these nutrients, growth and survival would not occur.

What do these nutrients do? Let’s break it down by nutrient.

1. Nitrogen: Nitrate (the form of nitrogen that plants use) helps foliage grow strong by affecting the plant’s leaf development. It is also responsible for giving plants their green coloring by helping with chlorophyll production (gardensalive.com). For additional information on nitrogen, visit this blog: Nitrogen Fertilizers 101.

2. Phosphorus: Phosphorus is responsible for assisting with the growth of roots and flowers. Phosphorus also helps plants withstand environmental stress and harsh winters (gardensalive.com). For additional information on phosphorus, visit this blog article: Why Your Plants Need Phosphorus. 

3. Potassium: Potassium strengthens plants, contributes to early growth and helps retain water. It also affects the plant’s disease and insect suppression (extension.uum.edu).     

4. Magnesium: Magnesium contributes to the green coloring of plants (gardeningknowhow.com).

5. Sulfur: Sulfur helps plants resist disease as well as contributing the plant growth and the formation of seeds. They also aid in the production of amino acids, proteins, enzymes and vitamins (davesgarden.com).

6. Calcium: Calcium aids in the growth and development of cell walls. This is key because well-developed cell walls help the plant resist disease. It is also necessary for metabolism and the uptake of nitrogen by the plant (davesgarden.com).

How do you add these nutrients to the soil? Looking at well-balanced fertilizers

One of the great things about the six essential nutrients is that they are easy to find.

Adding a well-balanced fertilizer is an easy way to increase nutrient levels in the soil. Be sure to check out Holganix's fertilizer options including: Holganix Blue Sky 21-0-0, Holganix 2-10-20 and Holganix granular options.

Unlocking nutrients in the soil

Healthy soil is already pumped with these nutrients, although some like nitrogen and phosphorus are often locked in an unusable form for the plant.

Plant and soil probiotics containe ACTIVE, beneficial microorganisms that unlock plant nutrients in the soil. They also nurture longer, more web-like root systems that are better able to mine for nutrients deeper in the soil.

“We should get a speeding ticket because we germinate seed so fast,” exclaimes a Holganix sales representative as he proudly showed off his collection of pictures (see below) sent to him by Terry’s Lawn Service.

When looking at the pictures, it’s easy to see why someone from the Holganix community would get excited about seed germination when teamed up with Holganix products.

Terry Shafer of Terry’s Lawn Service located in Morristown, Indiana put Holganix to the test on his own backyard.

This past fall, Shafer completely renovated his 1.5 acre yard. He reseeded his turf with 90% TTTF and 10% Blue seed. Seven days after seeding, Shafter applied Holganix liquid at a rate of 10 ounces per 1,000 square feet. Twelve days later, the turf was progressing steadily and had filled in nicely.

All in all, Shafer has been excited about using Holganix. According to Shafer, “I put [Holganix] into my program this spring on a majority of my lawns and have been very impressed and happy with the results I have seen thus far.”

Twelve days after seeding:

Twenty-two days after seeding:

Why did Terry see amazing seed germination with Holganix?

Holganix is filled with ingredients specifically designed to promote healthy turf growth and give your lawn a head start.

For example, Mycorrhizae, a fungus found within Holganix, helps deliver nutrients and moisture to the plant and helps builds a dense, fibrous root system. Other ingredients, including humic and fulvic acids and Kelp extract, enhance and promote seed germination.

Both Holganix liquid and Holganix granular products help deliver superb results when fostering plant health.

Nothing looks more beautiful in a garden than colorful, healthy flowers. With annuals, achieving the most pop and life in as short a time as possible as compared with turf is key. Yet, how do you promote vigor and color in your flowers? It all comes down to fertilization and how the flowers efficiently acquire and use nutrients and water. By utilizing a bionutritional product like Holganix, landscapers and gardeners alike can create the perfect, colorful garden. 

Fertilization—Reducing Fertilizers with Great Results

Fertilizer is necessary to promoting colorful flowers. However, as you apply fertilizers, many of the nutrients don’t actually make it to the plant. Instead, some nutrients become locked within the soil, becoming unavailable for plant use. Bionutritional products like Holganix help unlock these nutrients and covert them to a useable form for your flowers. That means that the fertilizer you use gets you optimal results. Just think, with Holganix, you can reduce tablespoons of fertilizers to mere teaspoons!

Food Sources—Making Natural Food Sources Available

Yet another helpful feature of Holganix is its ability to improve the cation exchange capacity of your soil. This is the ability for the soil to store one particular group of nutrients called cat ions. The major cat ion nutrients include calcium, magnesium and potassium. Improvement of the exchange capacity of your soil will make nutrients that were unavailable to your flowers accessible!

Watering—Reducing Water Needs Is Easy

Holganix significantly reduces your watering needs. The mycorrhizae found within the Holganix secret recipe helps create a thicker, deeper root system allowing for better water, food and mineral translocation. Furthermore, Yucca and additional sugars also help the plant increase water retention.

http://www.cartage.org.lb/en/themes/sciences/earthscience/geology/Soils/SoilComposition/ComponentsStructure/CationNutrients/CationNutrients.htm

http://www.extension.purdue.edu/extmedia/ay/ay-238.html

“For the root growth alone,” states Cory Troyer, superintendent of the renowned Indiana golf course, Otter Creek. “Holganix Golf is worth every penny.”

Why is this superintendent so adamant about his experience with Holganix Golf? It turns out that for Troyer, it’s all about the roots.

“When you have a healthy root system, you have healthy turf. Everything ties back to the roots.” Troyer, who typically sees his bentgrass reach 1.5 inches in length and his poa reach .5 inch, has reported seeing 4-inch roots consistently all year. Because of the healthy roots, Troyer believes that Holganix Golf has helped him achieve better stress management.

Otter Creek Golf Course has been named one of the top 5 public golf courses in the state of Indiana every year since it was built in 1964. “Otter Creek has a great reputation and a fantastic layout,” says Troyer.

Troyer has been with Otter Creek since graduating college. He was named Otter Creek’s superintendent in 2003 and has been enjoying himself every since. “Keeping Otter Creek beautiful is an ongoing and welcoming challenge. It never gets boring.”

Holganix Golf wasn’t the first organic product Troyer has tried at Otter Creek. In fact, Troyer claims that he’s tried biological products similar to Holganix. “I’m always willing to try something new,” states Troyer.

His philosophy of constant innovation has led Troyer to reap the benefits of Holganix Golf, ultimately increasing the quality of his course. “Holganix Golf has been a great addition to my turf management program!” says Troyer.

For more information regarding Otter Creek Golf Course’s experiences with Holganix, check out the below video testimonial featuring Superintendent Corey Troyer. 

In plant health, roots are often neglected. As the saying goes, out of sight, out of mind! Yet, roots are fundamentally key to plant health. These systems, which consist of one fourth to one third of a plant’s dry weight, are in charge of important functions for the plant.

If a plant’s root systems are unhealthy, it can pose serious consequences for the plant. In fact, according to Colorado State University, “Eighty percent of all plant disorders are soil/root problems.”

That means we need to pause and give these plant segments the attention they deserve. So why are root systems important?

Root systems are known to significantly affect the size and health of plants, their ability to adapt to different soils and their ability to respond to cultural practices (i.e. fertilization).

According to Colorado State University, they are in charge of but not limited to carrying out the following functions:

• Anchoring and supporting the plant- The plant becomes stable because of the roots, which safely hook the plant into the soil. Another thing to note is that the threat of soil erosion is lessened because of healthy root systems.

• Absorbing and conducting water and nutrients through the plant- Nutrients and water enter the plant through the roots. In lawn care, this means a vast root system is key to tap into available nutrients and water within the soil. The better the roots can reach sources of nutrients and water, the less service providers need to apply additional resources.

• Stress tolerance- When Mother Nature comes calling, plants with healthier root systems have the advantage over plants with weak root systems. This applies not only to weather conditions like a hot, dry summer, but also to pests and disease. In fact, healthy roots react faster to pesticides and fungicides than unhealthy root systems.

Looking to increase the health of your plants’ root system?

Some recommended practices include aeration and seeding and increasing the soil’s microbial activity. Check out our ebook on root health for additional information.

Works Cited:

http://www.cmg.colostate.edu/gardennotes/132.html

http://www.virginiagardening.com/documents/RootsTurf.pdf