Soils are a complex eco-system and react to the type and amount of feed/fertiliser they get. Feed them correctly and a balanced diet and they will produce abundantly.
Soils should be alive, not just an inert substance. For soil to be alive, they must have the ability to hold that life, and this part of the soil is carbon. The carbon should be about 4% of the total soil. The other compositions are parent material such as clay, silt, sand and various loams; around 45%. The rest is air and water and should make up 25% each. Most of the life in the soil is contained or derived from the 4% of carbon in the soil.
When fertiliser is applied, it will change from what it is into some other form. For example, if there is iron or aluminium in the soil and the phosphate product has a low pH, then there is a good chance this phosphate will become iron phosphate or aluminium phosphate within a few months. Then it becomes unavailable to the plant that is growing in the soil.
BUT if the phosphate fertiliser that is being applied contains carbon, the phosphate will become bonded to the carbon which will then be less attracted to the iron and aluminum and will still be available to the plant for the long term. Some say that the phosphate delivered in this way increases its effectiveness by 30%.
Add to this a balanced soil biology and this will increase the effect even more, giving even greater results. This is a plus, plus effect. This would mean the phosphate applied in this way will be available for longer and give better results and stronger plants.
Phosphate should not run out during the season, assuming that sufficient was applied at the beginning of the season. So, what does this phosphate look like?
Sufficient phosphate to do the production required.
Sufficient carbon within the mix to hold the phosphate in a form that doesn’t get affected by iron or aluminium or any other less effective elements.
Sufficient microbes and fungi in the carbon to release the phosphate from the soil and get it to the root system of the plant to become effective.
In other words, this becomes an active phosphate, not a passive phosphate which is what most of the other products are.
Other phosphate systems rely on the roots somehow becoming connected to the phosphate somewhere near the root system. It is a bit hit and miss and requires more phosphate being applied so that some will work.
Fertilizer New Zealand has developed a product that combines phosphate, carbon, microbes and fungi, we can add this to any fertilizer mix. This improves fertiliser efficiency and availability to the plant.
Super Charging Phosphate