Fulvic and humic acids: importance and use in plant nutrition

Fulvic acids and humic acids are natural substances that significantly improve plants' ability to efficiently take up nutrients contained in fertilizers, thereby supporting their growth and overall vitality.

To make it easier to explain how these beneficial substances help cultivate all kinds of plants, and how they can become the key to unusually high yields of your flowers or crops, let’s start with the most important terms from our glossary. Just click on a term:

• Humus and humification
• Humates
  • Fulvic acids (FA)
  • Humic acids (HA)
  • Humins
• Chelates, chelation, chelators
• Leonardite

Humates and plant nutrition

Humate-based additives can be applied without worry both when gardening at home, i.e. indoor, and outdoors in an outdoor environment. Their use is not limited in terms of cultivation method or substrate. As supplements to base fertilizers they significantly support the development of both crop and ornamental plants, flowers or crops, including medicinal herbs, thanks to their excellent solubility!

Soluble humates literally contain a wealth of natural substances that strongly support plant growth, which is the result of the first of the two most important benefits associated with applying humic substances in plant nutrition:

• Better nutrient absorption and utilization by the plant
• Stronger plant immunity

Further benefits will be covered shortly under individual substances and products. Whether you have already clicked through the above terms—mostly familiar to more ecologically minded growers—or not, let us summarize for clarity why it pays to use humic substances in your watering routine and which specific products are their guaranteed sources.

High-quality fulvic acid is considered by many growers to be the best boost you can give your plants beyond basic nutrition. Partly because it is a natural chelate. What does that mean? Ultimately it means your plants will develop a more productive root system and have more essential nutrients available. Fulvic acids form specific chemical bonds with certain micronutrients that prevent interaction with other ions, so all nutrients bound to the chelate can successfully travel from the roots to the plant tissues. The result of chelation is much higher biological availability of nutrients that would otherwise not dissolve. The importance of fulvic acids can also be summed up by saying they help plants fully utilize their potential. Even without reaching for extra mineral supplements, you’ll move closer to achieving your desired yield.

Therefore, we recommend a top additive with a high fulvic acid content and a balanced pH: Terra Aquatica Fulvic (formerly G. H. Diamond Nectar).

No matter what concentration of FA other conventional products may claim, the only thing that really matters is its quality and composition. You can safely use this product in all systems and watering methods.

How Terra Aquatica Fulvic should you use?

Simply dilute the product as a foliar spray, or apply it with each watering as part of the nutrient solution at a ratio of 4 ml per 1 l of water.

What to expect from Terra Aquatica Fulvic?

• shortening of the vegetative phase
• significantly higher yields
• better root development
• greater plant vitality
• increased natural plant defenses
• earlier harvest
• more pronounced taste and aroma
• higher concentration of essential oils

An excellent source of humic substances, favored by hobby growers and professional growers worldwide, is the product T.A. Humic from the legendary brand Terra Aquatica, which you may also know by its former name General Hydroponics.

With this additive, your plant nutrition will be elevated several levels because you will regularly enrich it with an extremely pure dose of lignohumate organic compounds with an exceptionally high content of biologically active humates. These are obtained using advanced technology from sawdust as a 100% natural and renewable source in a gentle way! It is an organic product. That means you can confidently apply it to soil, to leaves, or anywhere where watering is done manually. However, it is not suitable for hydroponic systems, where it would spoil and block drip irrigation.

Humic acid can mediate a combination of different minerals for plants, resulting in highly absorbable organic compounds. It makes soil more permeable, protects it from the effects of toxic substances, and helps it retain water.

How Terra Aquatica Humic should you use?

Simply dilute the product as a foliar spray, or apply it with each watering as part of the nutrient solution at a ratio of 4 ml per 1 l of water.

We also recommend these products:

• Jungle Indabox Environ X
• Vitalink Fulvic
• BioNova X-cel Booster

We’ll be happy to recommend other interesting products based on your needs and preferences at the well-known email address info@higarden.cz. Feel free to ask us anything you’re curious about. We look forward to your questions!

What to read next?

• Jungle Indabox maximizes the benefits of chelate binding
• What is vermikulit and how to use it?
• BioNova Veganics – fertilizers not just for vegans