1. Agri-Gro significantly increased the availability of boron, iron and zinc in the growing

media (soil mixture), the concentration of boron and iron in the vegetative tissues was increased

by Agri-Gro, but the total quantity of these nutrients taken up by the plant on a

whole plant basis was not affected. The soil used for this study already had adequate levels

of these nutrients for the plants’ needs and thus the additional amounts were not

used by the plant, but primarily accumulated in the soil. Consequently, the other observed

effects of Agri-Gro cannot be attributed to the application of these fertilizer nutrients,

but to other active components of Agri-Gro.

2. The vegetative component of the plants (as measured by dry weights) was slightly
smaller with Agri-Gro than to the control. Possible explanations include:
a) Reduced nutrient availability at the very early growth stages of plant growth when Agri-

Gro was applied. Since Agri-Gro stimulates microbial populations, these organisms tie

up plant nutrients causing reduced nutrient availability. The greatest effect occur upon initial

application and stimulation of microbial growth. As the microbes die, these nutrients

again become available to the plant at a later stage of development.
b) Growth regulating compounds within Agri-Gro itself or by the stimulation of production

of these compounds by soil microbes by Agri-Gro.

3. The smaller size of the plant was not reflected in the fruit yield with Agri-Gro; in fact,
yield was significantly increased with Agri-Gro on the initial harvest. The concentration

of nutrients in the fruit was significantly higher with Agri-Gro, but Na was significantly reduced.

The quantity of several nutrients which had moved into the fruit was significantly

higher with Agri-Gro treatment. These included N, S, B, Ca, Cu, K, Mg, P and Zn. The

soil concentration of nutrients with Agri-Gro greatly dropped during the third harvest, but

the quantity of nutrients in the vegetative tissues were not greatly increased indicating

that the nutrients taken up from the growing media were translocated to the growing fruit.

The limitation in this data is that the plants did not complete their normal productive life

cycle to be able to compare the total yield production from the crop.

4. In addition to boron, iron and zinc, Agri-Gro resulted in significantly higher soil concentrations
of N, Ca, Cu, K, Mg, Mn and P in the growing media than untreated plants and soil.

And with the exception of Mn, these same nutrients had similar or significantly greater

concentrations of nutrients in the vegetative tissues with the use of Agri-Gro. Possible explanations

for these results are:
a) Agri-Gro enzymes or microbes stimulated by Agri-Gro are "mining" the soil by making

more nutrients available from the exchange sites on the soil, especially calcium, potassium

and magnesium. This is supported by the nutrient treatment that received no

macronutrients (N, P, K, Ca, Mg and S). Agri-Gro resulted in an increase in available

macronutrients in the soil indicating a "mining" effect of Agri-Gro for the cations NH, K,

Ca and Mg. The presumed effect here is to stimulate cation exchange or release off the

soil particles. Additionally, the concentration of available P increased with Agri-Gro treatment

over the three harvest dates, but decreased over the same harvest periods without

Agri-Gro. It would be expected that the P levels would decrease over the harvest dates

as the plants grew, but the increase in P levels indicate that Agri-Gro is making P more

available possibly by enzymatic action or promotion of microbes with enzymatic activity

for P.
b) Agri-Gro is interacting with the applied fertilizers to retain them in the soil in a more

available form. Similar processes as above may be able to keep applied nutrients more

available to plants, e.g. keep from being bound to soil particles or converted to unavailable

chemical compounds.
c) The nutrients tied up by the increased number of soil microbes are released by the

dying microbes causing more available nutrients over time.

5. Another interesting observation was that while Agri-Gro promotes increases in cations,
Na was consistently lower in Agri-Gro treated soils and plants. This may be worthy of

further investigation with saline soils since high Na competes with K for uptake by plants

 

Conclusions
This study indicates that Agri-Gro has potential to reduce fertilizer application to crops, and
that the effects of Agri-Gro go far beyond its micronutrient content. With soils having adequate
or near adequate micronutrient content, the greatest benefit is the increased availability
of both macronutrients and micronutrients. Maintaining high levels of micronutrients and
macronutrients, especially K, in the growing media until the plant needs them for fruit and
seed development may play a critical role in the value of Agri-Gro to these crops. Agri-Gro
also has potential to reduce environmental pollution by more efficient utilization of fertilizer
nutrients and thus the potential reduction of applied fertilizers. Traditionally, fertilizers have
been applied in large quantities early in the season (e.g. preplant), only to have a high

percentage of the fertilizers lost to leaching, volitization, and being tied up by biotic and

chemical reactions.

 

The use of micronutrients, enzymes and microbes such as provided byAgri-Gro may

offer a real opportunity to reduce the environmental impact of crop production while

at the same time increasing the efficiency and profitability of crop production. Further
research is needed to better understand the mechanism whereby Agri-Gro is able to

accomplish this, as well as how to maximize the benefit of Agri-Gro to get the most efficient

use of all fertilizer nutrients.

 

 

 

[ BACK TO MAIN FIELD RESEARCH ]

Complete details on all mentioned test results are available upon request. Timing and rates
of application are important for maximum results. For specific usage and application rates,
ask for Agri-Gro grower information sheets.