How Does Humic Acid Form
Humic acid forms after plants and organic matter undergo decomposition. Earthworms, bacteria, fungi, and other microorganisms consume and process decaying plant matter. Over time, decomposed material thats processed over and over again becomes humus a nutrient-packed substance that cannot withstand further decomposition.
Humic acid has similar properties to composted household materials, though it is not exactly the same. It becomes incorporated into the environment at a slower rate than compost. As humic acid is used, plants integrate it into the soil. It serves a vital purpose in many biological processes.
How To Know How Much Humic Acid To Use On Your Lawn
Now that you know the answer to Can you put too much humic acid on your lawn? is a strong, No, you may want to know why there is an ideal level or how to determine the ideal level for your lawn.
Different forms of humic acid will advise you with different application rates. For example, a liquid product may say you need to use 12 oz, diluted to 1 gallon of water for every ounce of product, spread out over 1000 square feet. Granular humic acid may say you need to broadcast 10 pounds over that same 1000 square feet of lawn once or twice a year.
The strength of these two products, ounce for ounce, is very similar in this example. Why would the directions be so different? The truth is, an initial application of humic acid should be heavy, usually at about 4 to 5 lbs of granular humic acid per 1000 square feet. Then, in the following year, only 2 to 3 pounds should be needed for this same amount of lawn.
Liquid humic acid products should always be used according to the directions on the bottle as they may have more varied concentrations in some cases. The liquid concentrate in the above example had the same strength as that of the granular humic acid.
Will Humic Acid Green Up My Lawn
The thing to keep in mind about humic acid is that it is NOT a fertilizer. Fertilizers are nutrients such as nitrogen, potassium and iron. … Nitrogen and iron especially, will turn your grass green. Humic acid contains no nutrients in this regard but many folks will still see a visual result after an application or two.
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What To Do When You Put Too Much Humic Acid On Your Lawn
If you have applied a solution of liquid humic acid that wasnt diluted properly onto your lawn, you can dilute it after the fact by applying more water. No matter what the concentration of humic acid solution should have been, 15 to 20 minutes of even watering should suffice. This is the same procedure you should follow if you have broadcast too much granular humic acid on your lawn.
If you have spilled a large amount of humic acid over a given spot and wish to save some, you can do so as long as the granular humic acid is still dry. Simply scoop or sweep up the humic acid and return it to its container. Any remaining granular humic acid should be spread out and watered over to help dilute it.
As mentioned above, humic acid use, even in the suggested amounts, can decrease the effectiveness of many pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides. Keep an eye on any conditions you treat with these products to ensure that there have been no outbreaks. If there have been, you may need to carefully apply more of these other products. To do so safely, you may need to contact the manufacturer for guidance.
About Tom Greene
I’ve always had a keen interest in lawn care as long as I can remember. Friends used to call me the “lawn mower guru” , but I’m anything but. I just enjoy cutting my lawn and spending time outdoors. I also love the well-deserved doughnuts and coffee afterward!
Benefits Of Granular Humic Acid For Lawn Care
What does granular humic acid do for lawn care? Heres a quick list of its incredible benefits.
- A nutrient-rich fertilizer
- Improves nutrient availability to plants roots
- Helps with drought tolerance
- Helps the soil by increasing microbial activity
- Improved soil texture and water retention
- Less run-off and erosion
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Contact Local Lawn Care Professionals
Not everyone has time to maintain their lawn, let alone mix and apply their own humic acid treatment. At Coastal Turf, we have the experience to apply our top-of-the-line SeaHume to give your lawn a nutritional boost that will take it to next-level lushness. For more information contact our expert technicians to get the best recommendations in South Carolina. We service Charleston, Summerville, and its surrounding areas.
What Does Humic Acid Do For Grass + Why It Makes Your Lawn Better
One of the most popular trends in lawn care in recent years is an adoption of the philosophy that we should be feeding the soil in our lawns just as much than we feed the grass itself.
Lawn fertilizers will provide nutrients to the root systems of grass plants growing in the lawn but when the soil itself is healthy and alive with an abundance of beneficial microbes then the grass in our lawns will be healthier even when we dial back the use of fertilizers, herbicides, and fungicides.
Humic acid is one of the simplest options we have as yard owners for improving the soil structure in our lawns and the life that the soil supports.
Humic acid does not provide nutrients to the grass but it does allow nutrients that are in or applied to the soil to be used by the grass more efficiently. It is a carbon-based product that takes millions of years to form and when it is added to the soil beneficial microbes and mycorrhizal fungi can thrive which benefits the grass in many complex ways.
In my lawn I apply a number of different products that all contain Humic acids such as my liquid aeration products, my root grow stimulants, as well as my favorite stand alone Humic acid product, N-EXT Humic12 by Green County Fertilizer.
Before we get deeper into how Humic acids work and lets first explore some of the most obvious ways that Humic acid benefits the grass in your lawn before we touch on some of the less obvious reasons to apply Humic acid to your lawn regularly.
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Research And Benefitsof Humic Acid
Humic acid is one of the most important components oforganic matter. It is an organic bio-stimulant that contains three veryimportant components: Humic Acids, Fulvic Acids and Humin. It has manyuses and has become very popular in organic lawn care and organicgardening. However, few people really know what it is or what it does.
Humic Acid Vs Fulvic Acid
Fulvic acid shouldnt be mistaken for humic acid. Fulvic acid is a part of humic substances soluble at every pH level, while humic acid is soluble in water at higher pH levels.
The treatments used for lawn care mostly consist of both humic and fulvic acid.
The molecules of humic acid are larger and improve the health of the soil in biological terms.
Fulvic acid molecules are smaller and help the nutrient uptake of the root system once they enter.
This is why humic acid is used with fulvic acid: because they are both chelators and bio-stimulants.
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What Does Humic Acid Do
Humic Acid is the soil science equivalent to a supermarket delivery truck. It brings plant food to the roots so that the plants can be nourished.
Picture for a moment a lovely grass plant sitting with its roots in the soil and its leaves looking up to the sky. That plant needs food and water so that it can live, grow, and be healthy. Just like us, plants need carbohydrate, protein, water and minerals to build new cells and repair damaged ones. Energy comes from the sun but the chemical constituents of a plant cell are absorbed from the soil by the roots.
These plants are actually wheat a different type of grass, but the picture helps you to see whats happening in the soil layer.
The roots of a grass plant are static. Theyre surrounded by soil and they cant go out foraging for food. All of the plant nutrients need to be in the soil immediately next to the roots so that they can be absorbed. .
What happens if the plant uses up all of the nutrients around its roots? It finds itself sitting in a depletion zone.
Humic acid binds to plant nutrients in the soil and drags them into the depletion zones around roots. Which is why its like a supermarket delivery truck.
Use Humic Acids To Effectively Prevent The Effects Of Abiotic Stressors
The year is half over and summer is just around the corner. Time to prepare your lawn for heat and drought before it’s too late. Humic acids help reduce stress from abiotic factors, such as lack of water, high temperatures and heavy UV exposure, and maintain your velvety green lawn throughout the height of summer.
Nutrient deficiencies are quickly apparent
For an adequate supply of nutrients, an adapted water supply is essential. During dry periods, you should supply the lawn with about 10 to 20 liters/m² of water once or twice a week. Otherwise, the nutrients are trapped in the dry soil and are no longer available to the plants. The consequences are quickly visible: a pale color, patchy growth, lack of vitality.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure
To prevent the stress caused by extreme weather, it is important to prepare the lawn accordingly. In addition to good aeration of the turf and a deep water supply, a second fertilization is recommended starting in June. It is best to opt for a slow-release fertilizer that contains potassium. Potassium helps the foliage to withstand the heat and generally strengthens resistance. In addition, it ensures a strong metabolism.
An adequate supply of nutrients is essential and depends on the water balance
A humus-rich soil with a lot of organic matter reacts much more favorable to usage stress and weather-related influences.
Humic acids improve soil properties
This way, your lawn will get through the summer in good shape.
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New For 2020 Humic Acid And Biochar Blend
HUMICHAR is Docs TOP PICK for the 2020 New Product Awards, HUMICHAR is a 50/50 blend of SUPER high quality organic humic acid and biochar which is then formed into tiny DG particles that disburse in roughly 15 seconds after water is applied.
Does this product replace Humic DG?Yes, Doc is now replacing Humic DG with HUMICHAR in all his lawn programs.
Visit the website and learn more about this ground breaking product.
Will be available on Amazon late Feb 2020
From Texas A& MThe most important limiting factor for microbial growth in soil is the abundance of available organic carbon sources. The vast majority of soil microbes require organic carbon compounds.
The title of this post is of course subjective, but its not written on a whim. Doc has been testing and studying humic acid and fulvic acid acid acid products designed for lawn care and the turf industry. What he has found ended up hurting his head. It seems that all the humic lawn product companies want to spend more time telling you whats wrong with other products, rather than telling you what is GOOD about theirs. Andersons has invested a large amount of money in research, design, production, and testing. It has resulted in a GREAT humic lawn product that Doc now uses exclusively. We will be building a humic learning center.
Great info from Humic Trade Association
Humic Products are composed either in part or primarily of humic substances, humic acids and/or fulvic acids.
How Often Should You Apply Humic Acid
You should consider applying the humic acid 3 weeks after the initial application but this time, we recommend mixing 1 ounce of product into a bucket of water. You will find that the mix resembles black coffee again. Mix it well and then spray it every 100 square feet. For 1,000 square feet, we recommend mixing 6 ounces into your buckets and spraying it over. Again, water generously to ensure the product reaches the roots.
Two applications are more than enough humic acid for your lawn to last the season. The next year, apply humic acid once as the season begins ONLY. The next year, however, you can apply it twice again. However, we would like to mention that if you apply it twice every year, you wont risk burning, singing, or otherwise ruining your grass, provided you are mowing it regularly.
This is to say that while there is no such thing as over-application of humic acid, applying it twice every year can lead to wasted humic acid. A pound of humic acid can easily last you anywhere from 2 to 5 years, depending on the size of your lawn.
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Benefits Of High Humic Acid Levels
One obvious benefit of humus we have seen at our Arboretum in Los Lunas, New Mexico, has been the aggregation of clay. This aggregation has made the clay more porous, soft, and aerobic, with better drainage, resulting in deeper root growth of all plants. The site was purchased in 1986 with clay soil 12 feet deep and a pH ranging from 8.3 to 9.2 so alkaline that in the winter the site would turn white.
Today we have one of the largest oak species collections of the Quercus genus in the United States, and the largest collection of native oaks of the Chihuahuan Desert Region in North America. Also on the site are several types of redwoods, maples, dogwoods and giant timber bamboo. None of these plants should be able to grow on soils with the conditions we started with, but with the power of humic acids we have rehabilitated the soils to a productive and healthy level.
Finally, Humic Acids: Marvelous Products of Soil Chemistry states, Humic acids are remarkable brown to black products of soil chemistry that are essential for healthy and productive soils. They are functionalized molecules that can act as photosensitizers, retain water, bind to clays, act as plant growth stimulants, and scavenge toxic pollutants. No synthetic material can match humic acids physical and chemical versatility.
Editors Note:This story was first published in the August 2009 issue of Acres U.S.A. magazine.
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How Humics Are Used
In addition to improving CEC and nutrient availability, humic acids can also help turf combat stress, but are not a quick fix.
When stressful conditions start to arise, what you find out is that grass treated with humic acid will outperform untreated turf, Gray says. Once the stress is already induced, you cant just spray on the humic acid after that. Its like the flu shot, you cant get the flu shot after youve gotten the flu.
Pope says that humic acids and other biostimulants need to be used as part of a regular program prior to stress in order to get the most benefit.
Thats how I see it working best, seconds Sutton. An ongoing program including humic acid will also help other products applied throughout the season to work better, he says, because the turf will be healthier. And the humic acid molecule has a lot of receptor sites that nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium can attach to, so its likely helping the applied fertilizer be retained in the soil and utilized by the plant much better, Sutton adds.
Simmons says that humic acids function best as synergistic agents rather than being applied on their own. EarthWorks products that are heavier on humic acid are used mainly as soil conditioners other products include less humic acid but use it to activate other biological and chemical reactions in the soil.
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When To Use Humic Acid
Whenever you like. This is a high-quality soil conditioner and, as such, fulfills all your lawn needs. Theres no reason not to use this excellent lawn additive, and this article has taught you everything you need to know about how and why to do so.
If you have sandy or clay soil, it can only improve their general condition. If you already have a healthy lawn, you can use this kind of acid to prevent any complications and preserve high quality.
This acid is perfect plant food for the plant roots.
You can even add potassium hydroxide or sea kelp along with humic acid to get even better results.
The Benefits Of Adding Humic Acid
With an increasingly energized focus on environmentally friendlyapproaches to plant care, humates are becoming more important. Althoughit has been around since the earth’s creation, people are now becomingmore aware of how it works.
Plants and microorganisms in soil benefit from applications ofH/A in several ways. It has shown to stimulate root growth, increasecarbohydrate production, have a hormone-like affect within the plant,and increase soil microorganisms. It has shown to be a great addition toyour outdoor plant care when used correctly.
The soils that will benefit the greatest are those low in organicmatter, such as clay or sandy soils. Look for products that have the highestconcentrations of humic acids. These will provide the most benefit. Be awarethat many products sold have very low concentrations that will providelittle noticeable affect.
Conditions That Provide The Best Benefit:
Facts About Humates/Humic Acid
Studies about humic acid have been increasing since it was discoveredin the 1800’s. However, not all humic products are made equally. Theoldest natural humic materials, such as leonardite coal, will containthe highest quality. Look for products that states where the source isfrom.
Humic substances are dark brown in color and are thebio-chemically active ingredients of soil organic matter. They arecreated when soil microorganisms break down organic materials.
The following are some examples of materials containing humic deposits:
Effects of Humic Acid
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