Granular Spreadable Humic Acid?

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kbgfarmer
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Granular Spreadable Humic Acid?

Post by kbgfarmer » September 9th, 2016, 2:14 am

I ran across a product called The Andersons® Humic DG Granular Soil Conditioner (Humic Acid), 40lb Bag online. http://www.gardenersedge.com/the-anders ... aQodBQwKHg. I was wondering if anyone has seen a benefit of a product like this? I know the kelp help has Humic acid which is very beneficial. Says to apply as such: "TURF - Apply 40-200 pounds per acre per year. Apply 1-2 lbs. per 1,000 sq. ft. anytime during the growing season. Can be applied after aeration as a top-dress treatment. If desired, mix with the sand media. Apply and water in for self incorporation. Make additional applications to deficient areas"
So a bag could easily cover an average sized lawn depending on which rate it was applied. Thanks for your feedback.

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Tony alony
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Re: Granular Spreadable Humic Acid?

Post by Tony alony » September 14th, 2016, 7:23 pm

kgbfarmer, apparently, you've done your homework on the benefits of Humates. The Anderson's product you're looking at contains 70% humid acids. That's an incredible amount, and probably a greater amount than you would ordinarily find. Anyway, here's a topic on Humates that came up a couple years ago. http://aroundtheyard.com/organic/adding ... 13140.html

No one talks about Humates very often on the forums. I guess it's not something that's on everyone's mind. I still use it on my lawn. Someone will correct me if I'm wrong but, if you have a penchant for improving your soil with available products, your choice was a good one.
Good Luck!

kbgfarmer
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Re: Granular Spreadable Humic Acid?

Post by kbgfarmer » September 14th, 2016, 8:29 pm

Tony alony wrote:kgbfarmer, apparently, you've done your homework on the benefits of Humates. The Anderson's product you're looking at contains 70% humid acids. That's an incredible amount, and probably a greater amount than you would ordinarily find. Anyway, here's a topic on Humates that came up a couple years ago. http://aroundtheyard.com/organic/adding ... 13140.html

No one talks about Humates very often on the forums. I guess it's not something that's on everyone's mind. I still use it on my lawn. Someone will correct me if I'm wrong but, if you have a penchant for improving your soil with available products, your choice was a good one.
Good Luck!
Yeah I got interested in the subject after reading about and using the kelp help/humic acid soil conditioner. You are correct 70% humid acids is an incredible amount. Humid acid is what organic matter ultimately gets broken down to after eaten up by soil microbes which leads to the soil conditioning properties we all look for. If we can skip the long decay process and go directly to the finished product I would think it could have some beneficial impact. Of course studies on turf grass with humid acid amendment haven't really been done so far but I'm willing to give it a chance. I think their chelating effects are key which allow plants to better absorb nutrients over a wide range of pH and help in both low CEC and high CEC soils.

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LTCM
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Re: Granular Spreadable Humic Acid?

Post by LTCM » September 15th, 2016, 10:01 am

They have $5 shipping through today which is nice, probably saves $10 over regular shipping. I think the reason you don't see tons of threads about humic acid is because many (most?) posters on the soil forum already use BL Kelp Help Plus Humates. I'm still confused by the difference between the soluble powered in the BL recipe and this product in terms of effectiveness.

If you visit the Anderson's website, they provide free samples for many of their products. It's a nice gesture.

This comment is going to get me flamed, but I am going to say it anyways - Expand your research beyond just turf grass. I'm not saying all plants require the same care, just that if you disregard any research not specifically tailored to turf grass you are ignoring some really good information. Don't forget that a huge percentage of the crops our farmers grow are grasses.

tlinden
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Re: Granular Spreadable Humic Acid?

Post by tlinden » September 15th, 2016, 12:19 pm

nah the flaming right now seems to be if you do something to the lawn that isn't backed by decades of university research. I won't name names but he'll probably swing by =P One guy (not here) was in a full on rage because I used dish soap on my lawn. His PHD friends disagreed with me using it lol.


kbgfarmer
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Re: Granular Spreadable Humic Acid?

Post by kbgfarmer » September 16th, 2016, 9:38 pm

LTCM wrote:They have $5 shipping through today which is nice, probably saves $10 over regular shipping. I think the reason you don't see tons of threads about humic acid is because many (most?) posters on the soil forum already use BL Kelp Help Plus Humates. I'm still confused by the difference between the soluble powered in the BL recipe and this product in terms of effectiveness.

If you visit the Anderson's website, they provide free samples for many of their products. It's a nice gesture.

This comment is going to get me flamed, but I am going to say it anyways - Expand your research beyond just turf grass. I'm not saying all plants require the same care, just that if you disregard any research not specifically tailored to turf grass you are ignoring some really good information. Don't forget that a huge percentage of the crops our farmers grow are grasses.
I found some on gardeners edge and googled and found a coupon for ten dollars off. Think I paid 55 with tax and shipping.

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kbgfarmer
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Re: Granular Spreadable Humic Acid?

Post by kbgfarmer » September 16th, 2016, 9:45 pm

tlinden wrote:nah the flaming right now seems to be if you do something to the lawn that isn't backed by decades of university research. I won't name names but he'll probably swing by =P One guy (not here) was in a full on rage because I used dish soap on my lawn. His PHD friends disagreed with me using it lol.
Rhyme with silly? Name of a goat? Same name as the guy who once said "peeing in your pants is cool!"

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redcoat
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Re: Granular Spreadable Humic Acid?

Post by redcoat » November 18th, 2016, 2:18 pm

I'd be really interested in others' thoughts on this product...

Anyone?

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MorpheusPA
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Re: Granular Spreadable Humic Acid?

Post by MorpheusPA » November 18th, 2016, 3:16 pm

Humates are great for kicking up your very late stage OM numbers, slightly increasing water retention, slightly loosening your soil, buffering pH a little bit, and for slightly raising your EC. They can't do any harm at all in reasonable amounts (and are still used in veterinary medicine).

Is it a magic potion? Not by any means, but if this is something you want to do, go for it. Personally, I'd do it as part of a wider organic feeding plan since HA won't do a thing to feed your lawn in and of itself.

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Tsmith
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Re: Granular Spreadable Humic Acid?

Post by Tsmith » November 18th, 2016, 5:33 pm

I havent use this product specifically but I do use Jonathan Greens Natural Beauty and Love Your Lawn products both of which include Humic Acid.

I cant say how much of a part they have played as I drop a lot but I can say that my soil has definitely improved over the last couple years...just ask the raccoons that keep digging my lawn up to get to the critters underneath :)

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HoosierLawnGnome
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Re: Granular Spreadable Humic Acid?

Post by HoosierLawnGnome » November 21st, 2016, 10:50 am

redcoat wrote:I'd be really interested in others' thoughts on this product...

Anyone?
I've used granular HA products on my past, smaller lawn. Rather expensive for me to do now on a much larger area, so I am sticking with the liquid spray forms of HA.

As Morph said, I'd consider it part of a larger organic program, a tool to loosen up that soil, and a way to stimulate micro-organism activity - it's not a fertilizer per se.

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Re: Granular Spreadable Humic Acid?

Post by Charley » May 24th, 2017, 7:48 pm

I have a friend who sells a product which incorporates humic acid. His story is that it only moves through the soil at 2 in / yr. A big difference in the various humic acid products is the ash component of the humic acid. That is not soluble so it won't move through the sprayer. Supposedly his product is high grade and will dissolve for ag spraying. I just spread it at 10#/m sqft. High rate but no harm with this ingredient. Time will tell if there are benefits. However I don't expect to have to add it to the BLSC mix any more or have to buy the relatively high cost fully dissolvable version.

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