NPK-University Organic Biostimulants With Harley Smith

okay everybody my name is Harley Smith I'm going to be here a teacher tonight and we're going to be doing a class on organic biostimulants last week was part one on plant nutrition we were looking at essential elements the fertilizers we were looking at strategies of spoon feeding where we give the plant exactly what it needs when it needs it because the nutritional needs of the plant change at each stage of the plant's growth but today we're going to show the other part of that the organic biostimulants because the biostimulants actually aid with the uptake of the minerals they make the uptake of fertilizers and water more efficient by the plant and the more efficiently plants take up water and minerals the more chemical reactions they can do the higher the bricks the sugar content in the SAP and that's our goal we want to grow high Brix plants that are full of stored energy that can be released into a burst of fruit and flowers that can also be used for energy to fight off pests and disease so this is an exciting topic tonight this is the new frontier in plant nutrition so it's going to be a little dense we're going to be doing about forty five minute lecture but everyone that's signed up I'm going to send them a link to the recording of tonight's class and if you have questions during the class go ahead and type them in on the live class so because we'll have a question that's reception afterwards or if you think of a question later go ahead and send me an email or go ahead and call me or text me I'm here as a resource for you and help you improve the nutritional value of food and help you improve the medicinal value of the medicines okay let's go ahead and get started how plants are autotrophic we do this almost every class I start with this light because plants are able to make their own food do they need biostimulants to go and reproduce no they don't the only need is 17 essential elements carbon Jen oxygen they need water they need 14 mineral elements and with those elements they harvest the energy of the Sun they take up water through the roots carbon dioxide through the leaves and they make sugars and some of those sugars they use for energy to grow and reproduce so they store and the flowers and then the fruit and some though they actually leak from the roots to feed the plant root promoting rhizome bacteria and in exchange for those sugars the microbes in the root zone make biologically active molecules and those biologically active molecules are what we call biostimulants they actually aid with the uptake of water and nutrients so biostimulants are organic molecules which when used in small quantities improve the physiological response of the plant it's not the same as the fertilizer is not the same as the organic fertilizer these are smaller molecules that aid with the uptake of the water and minerals so biostimulants literally improve the uptake of water and minerals they open up ion channels in the root zone we'll talk about some of that later in the class today they stimulate the plants natural resistance to pests and disease also the since are more efficient and uptake of nutrients they literally you're literally able to use less fertilizer and get better results because of the efficiency of the uptake so we don't have to over fertilize our plants they stimulate the resistance to powdery mildew to gray mold will show you that we'll show you how to condition the plants against stress before the stress happens and we'll also show you how to generally improve quality and yield in the Netherlands they're using organic biostimulants right now that are improving yields by 20% using the same inputs the same fertilizer the same carbon dioxide the same lighting more yield and not just more yield higher quality the best of the best of quality so we'll show you how that's done today in this class so it's going to be exciting so I hope that you're paying attention but if you miss something watch it over again or send me an email okay my journey into biostimulants began in the Netherlands back in 2001 in the Netherlands they made all fungicides illegal on food crops because all known fungicides all synthetic fungicides had at least the potential for negative side effects for human beings so the Dutch government said no more no more fungicides so overnight the growers especially in the hoop houses with high humidity we're losing 40 percent of their crop to powdery mildew to cream old toddler fungi that was unacceptable so they started experimenting with organic biostimulants and in 2001 I was invited to the Netherlands I was able to literally interview the grower that was doing the trials for the Dutch government I saw the results of the trials before the Dutch government day so they went from losing 40 percent of the crop to losing zero they got a 10% increase in yield over any past year and they were first in the line for sugar content in the fruit they had the highest Brix the best of the best in all the Netherlands for the crop that they were producing so I was very excited I said while we need this in the United States what's in it how does it work they wouldn't tell me I even interviewed the dut the German scientist who invented and developed the biostimulants he said I did 10 years of research and development I can't just give it all away so it took me five years to solve the mystery I was digging into plant nutrition into microbiology into organic chemistry biochemistry just looking for clues and within four or five years I solved the mystery and I went back to the Netherlands by the way about four or five years late told about the experiments I was doing they told me that I know more about their products than they did so I'm going to share that all with you you know I really believe that knowledge should be freely shared you know this we're just holding onto things trying to be a little too competitive I think that I benefit from the inventions of others from the discoveries of others I think it's only fair that others benefit from the discoveries and the insights that I've gained through my research so I'm gonna share with you freely tonight what the secret ingredients were in those biostimulant products used in the Netherlands the number one this was the key amino acids because amino acids improved the uptake of calcium to of the amino acids glutamic acid and glycine literally stimulate root cells to open up calcium ion channels so the plant takes up calcium a thousand times faster and simple as Moses and calcium is king calcium when it was two the ions are taken up they react with peptic acid and the plant cells to make pectin that's the glue that groove in semester cell walls together so instead of water in the interstitial space by getting more calcium uptake they had pectin now when a mold spore lands on a leaf it was to send out a germination tube especially the powdery mildew the water on the surface of the leaf doesn't cause the powdery mildew to Germany they want to get to the water in the interstitial space and then it germinates become systemic and starts to spread we'll talk more about this next week when we when we do our class on integrated pest management but if you get more calcium uptake by the time that that germination tube penetrates the cells and gets to the water it dries up and dies so it doesn't kill the fungus it's not a fungicide it prevents the fungus from getting established becoming a systemic and then spreading through the crop so that was the key is the calcium update now the amino acids that we're looking at our made in nature's kitchen they're called L amino acids they have a left-handed orientation they're produced through what's called enzymatic hydrolysis that breaks down enzymes our digestive enzymes then break down proteins into their building box those are the amino acids and then they are they keep their left-handed orientation and that's the biologically active form of amino acids if you used acid hydrolysis or alkaline hydrolysis to make amino acids they'd be right-handed and they would not be biologically active so make sure that there are the results of enzymatic hydrolysis sometimes if you look at the ingredients and a biostimulant product it won't say amino acids it may say protein hydroxyl it's it's the same thing the breakdown products of proteins now the you know assets are what we call intermediate key laters kela means claw so what chelate is an organic molecule that attaches to a mineral ion like a claw it holds it tightly enough so it doesn't get locked up with other minerals but loosely enough so it's available to the plant on demand and that's one of the keys of the the biostimulant products they make the nutrients more available to the plant so they're more readily available also I found out amino acids prevent limescale this is part of how I discovered that relationship between the amino acids in the calcium I have hard water at home as well water very high in calcium carbonate and magnesium carbonate so in hydroponics when I'm adding my phosphoric acid to lower my pH the phosphoric acid burns off the bicarbonate is carbon dioxide and water but it would react with the calcium to make calcium phosphate I could literally see crystals of calcium phosphate forming sparkling in the water and falling out of solution like snowflakes but when I started experimenting with amino acids first thing I noticed no more lime scale at the end of the grow instead of having a rock garden on the bottom of my reservoir I couldn't even scrape off you know that white you know lime scale stuff instead of having that I took a paper towel wiped a little film of algae whizzed it with the hose it was cleaned so I wondered where did that calcium go into the plant and that's because two of the amino acids glutamic acid and Clay seen not only chelate the calcium and keep it soluble they stimulate the plant to take up calcium a thousand times faster than simple osmosis so that was part of the secret in the Netherlands even in the hoop houses with high humidity we're still getting strong calcium uptake stronger disease resistant plants so the amino acids as part of that biostimulant became plant protection agent in fact a year later after I visited the Netherlands the Dutch government approved that biostimulant product as a plant protection agent now here in the United States even understanding how this works is is done in nature all the time microorganisms on the root zone make proteases they make digestive enzymes that break down proteins into amino acids and it with the optical calcium it's been done for millions of years but if I were to make a claim on a bottle and say well amino acids will protect the plan against powdery mildew poor to the United States government it would automatically be a fungicide oh no no no no a fungicide is the opposite does it prevent fungus yes it's a fungicide you see so it's really difficult when I was made someone my first bio hydroponic fertilizers I added amino acids to the Part A that add the calcium captain soluble chelated it the plant took it up and people were coming to me and saying Harley I love that fertilizer my plants have never been healthier thicker stems thicker cell walls and I would just say mmm well I'm glad to hear that so instead of making the claim I would just add it to the nutrients and let the plants tell the story but anyway it was and another once approved as a bio stimulant and the L amino acids were part of that because when I went back to the Netherlands and told them about the experiments I was doing with the five actually the seven primary team amino acid ki lates key leaders up they were pumping me for information and and I said well is it the calcium that is that the key he said it's the calcium so amino acids don't have calcium in them but it aids with the uptake of calcium and that makes it organic biostimulant there's nitrogen in it and in fact some people ask me so well I see this NPK ratio it's really high I'm nitrogen would that burn my plan no it's part of the molecule very little of that nitrogen would be taken up as fertilizer but it stimulates the uptake of the nutrients now if the plant takes up more calcium it's going to strengthen the stems and leaves that's the vascular system of the plant so the plant is going to take up water and all of the other minerals more efficiently because the stronger vascular system I actually did test in the lab once I got on to this with the with the amino acids I was taking leaf samples sending them to the lab for analysis every essential element even the trace elements built up to higher levels than the control into the in the plant so was taking up water and minerals and if the plant takes up more minerals it does more chemical reactions the Brix one that went up I was doing test Brix tests with my was first experimenting with amino acid products it was off the chart for premium quality now to measure quality of objectively like a produce buyer would be low medium high Brix low medium high with the bricks of the plants that was growing was so far above premium quality I would literally have to create another category for it statistically so it was high bricks and when I was doing my tests I actually did some tests on some vegetable products I was growing romaine lettuce with my wife it was the best of the best of quality every store every restaurant that saw that lettuce bought it at 20% above premium price not one no so that even in lettuce which is a very salt sensitive crop it was it was stronger now along with that I'll tell you another little story I'm I want to get too far behind here but when we were growing the romaine lettuce and our outdoor hydroponic systems back then I was first one of my experiments we went through three hard Frost's didn't lose a single leaf and I've what Oh what is that how it should be much I mean it was literally you could snap the leaf it was frozen you could scrape the frost off them it should be turning to mush well I went in I went to google frost and it turns out that when there's a frost the water in the interstitial space crystallizes it punctures the cell walls it collapses so if you get more pectin instead of water in the interstitial space then it acts as an anti freeze literally for every 1% increase in bricks you have a half a degree lower freezing temperature so I was protecting the plant not just against pests and disease but also against temperature extremes it was under high humidity low humidity hot temperatures in the summer cold temperatures in the fall but it was still the best of the best of quality so it's the uptake that strong vascular system especially during vegetative growth is going to have a downstream effect on quality and yield does it sound like what we were seeing in the Netherlands first and align for bricks zero loss the powdery mildew and in increasing yield that's a good day in the garden okay let another ingredient that was in the BIOS team and they told me this one it also had seaweed extracts and a lot of the growth stimulants out there products even the bloom stimulants and the root stimulants have kelp and that's because kelp is loaded with natural growth hormones and also beneficial trace elements trace elements from the sea over 60 - an official trace elements that help to turn on enzymes in the plant some of those trace elements like iron copper manganese zinc they're used in very small amounts by the plant but it turns on an enzyme and if an enzyme is turned on just one molecule can do a thousand chemical reactions per second in the plant that's why it's some of these biostimulant products just a small amount has a dramatic effect on the plant now because of the fertilizer value but because it's activating enzymes turning them on so that they can do the chemistry of life more efficiently well some of the ads the hormones natural ones in kelp are auxins cytokinins and gibberellins so the auxins and cytokinins auxins are the rooting hormone they literally stimulate the plant to make more roots more more rooting sites cytokine it's literally stimulate cell division cytokinesis and biology and cell division so cytokine aims are the hormone that stimulates cell division when you get the two together the auxins and the cytokine ions and you use it as a root dredge even early on in the plant's development you'll get more lateral root growth and more root mass and that's going to help to if you get more root mass that means the plants going to take up water and minerals more efficiently it will be more drought tolerant it'll have the old that have higher bricks make more sugars it will be able to make it through the drought faster as well also the seaweed extracts have gibberellic acid in them that's great as a seed soaked if you have some older seeds maybe they weren't stored quite properly or there then soak them overnight and kelp extracts they'll get earlier germination and a better overall germination rate because Jeff perilla can acid literally starts the cascade of chemical reactions for seed germination but the oxidants and the cytokines and they're very high in the cytokine yinz those how to stimulate the the cellular division now if you use it at the roots you get more room mass if you use kelp as a foliar spray you'll get more lateral bud development it literally breaks the apical dominance that's the top growth but it stimulates the lateral branching of the plant we can bushier plants you'll get tighter internodal length and cytokinins literally pull the nutrients into the developing tissue it pulls in the sugars it pulls in the amino acids to pull them the nutrients so even when you stop using the kelp as a full year it has a downstream effect on quality and yield in the Netherlands and those trials I was watching they were using it at the roots the biostimulant and they were using it as a failure so it was eating with the uptake of the nutrients and then it was holding those nutrients into the developing tissue okay along with that along with kelp if you want to improve the effectiveness combine it with humic acid that's another biostimulant now if Virginia Tech did a ten-year study on biostimulants and they found that five parts humic acid with two parts kelp were 50% better than either product alone and one of the things that they discovered along with that was that it improved the plants natural tolerance to stress it stimulates the plant at five to two ratio humic acid akele stimulates the plant to make 50% more of a plant protection agent called superoxide dismutase sponges free radicals the plants under stress sometimes they can't keep up with the free radicals and those free radicals attack the cell membranes they make things the cell membranes the chloroplast membranes that's where photosynthesis is done they attack the mitochondrial membranes that's the power plant of the cell that's where the energy is released to grow and to reproduce so if they're under attack by free radicals are breaking down membranes but you use that 5 to 2 ratio before the stress before the stress the plant is going to be able to sponge that so it will be more resistant to heat stress to drought stress UV stress from your lights salt stress so that they'll stay green longer because the chloroplast will stay in tent and they all stay actively growing longer and recover from the strip's faster so that was a discovery from Virginia Tech 5 to 2 ratio so if you're using kelp and a growth stimulant a bloom stimulant or even as a root stimulant you want to add humic acid with it now the humic and fulvic acids are biologically active molecules they're again intermediate key leaders but they work a little differently than the amino acids the humic acid fraction are large molecules that literally will form a bridge between the crate clay particles and the minerals makes it easier for the plant to take them up the fulvic acid fraction are smaller more biologically active molecules and they literally are will aid with the uptake of iron humic and fulvic acids both do that if here's folic acid as a foliar it will transport the iron through the cell membranes release it inside the cell where it's needed the most and if the plant takes in the iron iron is a catalyst for chlorophyll production the green pigment that literally harvest the energy from the Sun to make more sugars also when we stimulate with it five to two ratio the superoxide dismutase that molecule the plant action agent it has to be activated it has to be turned on and that's either turned on by an iron manganese complex or a copper zinc complex so the humic and fulvic acids make those trace elements more available turn on the enzymes so even one molecule of superoxide dismutase can literally break a thousand chemical reactions break a thousand of that superoxide free radicals per second inside the cell so that's again that's why the to work synergistically also in nature cubic and fulvic acids buffer pH it raises the pH of acid soil it lowers the pH of alkaline soil so if if it's buffered in the root zone it again will be easier for the plant to take up minerals especially iron that's what humic and fulvic acids are known for in the rhizosphere in the biochemical reactions one of the things that the humic acid does it stimulates the per the activity of another enzyme that's in the cell membranes even of the roots is called H+ ATPase it's a proton pump so we have a cell membrane the humic acid stimulates the membranes to pump protons positively charged ions so the inside of the membrane becomes more negatively charged the outside of the membrane becomes more positively charged so the voltage potential increases across the membranes and when that happens the plant can take out minerals even nitrate nitrogen more efficiency especially the ones that are hard to take up like iron iron is very pH sensitive so if they're pumping protons to the outside of the cell membranes it becomes more acidic the iron becomes soluble the plant takes it up because it has more energy to do it a very small amount dramatic effect on the plant especially the iron uptake okay also it has 62 beneficial trace elements so humic and fulvic acids a lot with the kelp especially will improve flavor and nutrition it will improve the nutritional value of food and the medicinal value of the medicines the distal herbs they need the ideal levels of iron and manganese to make the medicinal compounds in the plants so it is it does have an effect on the medicinal value of the plant and if they take up more trace elements those are good for us when we eat the plants they'll improve our nutrition if there's more antioxidants or vitamins being produced by the plants to protect it it's better for us as well so we're improving the nutritional value of food the medicinal value of the medicines ok let's move on here B vitamins that almost every biostimulant product that's on the shelves in the stores including the biostimulants that they were using in the Netherlands I would add B vitamins now B vitamins one dose of the b1 at the roots stimulate what's called the systemic induced resistance of the plant it puts the plant on high alert it sensitizes the plant so if it comes under attack say by powdery mildew the plants natural immune system will respond almost instantly very quickly so if the immune response of the plant responds very quickly then the plant recovers more quickly from the stress as well so it's a benefit thing will help protect against attack by pathogens powdery mildew at their leaves or say a root pathogen like rue rods Pythium Rhizoctonia at the root zone so it adds a protective layer and by the way kelp extracts are high in B vitamins they have amino acids and B vitamins in them that's why it's such a important ingredient in any biostimulant product that you use it'll also help protect against stress and will activate enzymes again here we go again common theme and enzyme does chemical reaction and it does it at room temperature but the enzymes that are used in cellular metabolism to release energy for the plant are turned on by coenzymes usually b-vitamin derivatives b1 b2 b3 b6 they activate and stimulate cellular metabolism so it stimulates the metabolism of root cells and it stimulates the metabolism of microorganisms so when you use it in soil you're stimulating the metabolism of the microbes so they can use the sugars more efficiently in release energy and that energy they start vibrating the microbes and when they vibrate with energy they divide and it's when the microbes are actively dividing that they make the biostimulants they actually make rooting hormones right on the surface of the root so the B vitamins are kind of I'd say the icing on the cake now in and of themselves they're not going to do a lot but in combination with other biostimulants they're going to they're going to enhance the entire process okay next is yucca yucca is a natural wetting agent it makes water wetter when I made my first bio hydroponic fertilizers where I combined the minerals and the organic biostimulants the part a that had the calcium I added amino acids biotech grade the Part B I added humic acid and kelp five to two ratio little bit of B vitamins but then I added a little bit very small amount of yucca extract now biologically active molecules organics and the minerals and concentrate form they don't play well together they have opposite characteristics when I add a little bit of yucca it would keep the organic molecules and the minerals and suspension with each other also it's a wetting agent so when you use yucca at the root zone the water disperses through the entire root zone so it will help flush away any excess pockets of mineral salts that are developing the root zone and also it helps the biostimulants spread out and get to all of the developing root hairs so it has a positive effect on the plant it'll actually help stimulate root growth now because of an ingredient in the yucca is because the water disperses and the developing roots follow the water so you get a finer web a sponge of roots and all of the the biostimulants the hormones the trace elements the chelated nutrients they'll go to a halt of developing root hairs not just through channels and around the outside of the pot so it's a nice thing to have very small amount Oh dad literally a sixteenth of a teaspoon will treat five gallons of water so that I use just a very very small amount and my bio hydroponic fertilizers it's also great to add if you're using the bio stimulants as a foliar because instead of the water beating up on the waxy surface of the leaf it spreads out in a thin film it's more evenly and efficiently absorbed by the plant it's going to be more effective so use it in your foliar and use it as the roots it'll just have a positive effect and yucca by the way is a natural fungicide it has what it called saponin x' it's a molecule in the yucca extract itself and plants literally make saponin s-- it's part of their natural resistance to fungi they make the SAP ponents even before they're under attack by fungus so if you use it as a failure you're literally improving the plants resistance to to fungi to along with the nutritional value that you're adding in the bio stimulants okay next comes the carbohydrates now carbohydrates normally you wouldn't think of as a bio stimulant but it is and this is why because the carbohydrates feed the microorganisms and then the microorganisms make the enzymes and the organic acids and the proviso stimulants that feed the plant the microorganisms are literally the biostimulant factories most of the biostimulant products are we harvest from there from plant extracts like the kelp and the yucca or they're harvested from microorganisms that are the products of the enzymes of the plant and so you have the cofactors the coenzyme you know but microorganisms make B vitamins rather the surface of the roots they make the hormones okay so especially toward the end of flowering the plants will start to hoard the carbohydrates they want to store them in the flowers you want to store them in the seeds and the fruit so they stop leaking carbohydrates to feed the microorganisms and at that point some some of the complex carbohydrates will feed the microbes they'll keep them biologically active all the way to the day of harvest now here's the key remember by the microorganisms of plant growth promoting raizo bacteria some of the Michael Raizel fungi in the root zone are the biostimulant factories come back in two weeks we're going to have a whole class just on the superstars the key players in the rhizosphere but they make growth hormones literally of some of some microorganisms such as bacillus ol SG bo3 and others they make rooting hormone right on the surface of the room they'll take an amino acid tryptophan they'll snip off a nitrogen I uh I on an ammonium ion it changes it the tryptophan into you know acidic acid the rooting hormone right on the surface of the roots now why would microorganisms wanna stimulate root growth of the plant what benefit is that if the genetic code in every living cell in every living organism so is the same thing be fruitful multiply so if the if the microorganisms can stimulate more root growth the more root mass there's more surface area for the microorganisms to colonize so they can grow and reproduce while the plant is and they're going to aid with the uptake of the nutrients so the plant makes more sugars to link them to feed the microbes so if you work with nature there are positive side effects that we haven't even discovered yet that are waiting to be discovered if we work against nature eventually there are positives or negative side effects to to the plants to the environment or to human beings so it's best to work with them though they make growth hormones they literally make B vitamins right in the surface of the root that we they stimulate the metabolism of the microorganisms around them so they have some teamwork going on and stimulate and protect the plant from infection by by pathogens they make amino acids not as the microorganisms are dividing they make they make digestive enzymes called proteases that break down proteins into amino acids around the surface of the roots and those amino acids a glutamic acid and glycine aid with the uptake of calcium the other amino acid tryptophan is changed into the plant takes it up to the leaves changes it into IAA the growth hormone and then it's pumped the growth hormones are that the plant makes its themselves this is artificial this is the plant making them those hormones are pumped to the growing tips and they're pumped to the roots and by the way calcium activates the enzymes that pump the growth hormones to the new growth into the new root development a positive side effect a cascade of positive side effects to improve quality and yield microbes make organic acids and they quit are called Krebs cycle intermediates we'll talk more about these in a couple weeks but they literally make citric acid other organic acids they eat with the uptake of copper manganese zinc it activates the enzymes that the microbes produce and activates enzymes inside the plant as the plant grows and reproduces they literally make another molecule called acid arrow 4 + 0 4 literally means iron carrier it's one of the best ki laters of iron in nature so help the microbes actually make organic acids to make a the surface of the roots a little more acidic and they also make special molecules to keep the iron soluble and available to the plant so they use the iron for their own metabolism because it's it's acting up as part of the electron transport chain in the mitochondria a little bit more science than I wanted to get into tonight but it also activate enzymes inside the plant itself so there's a there's teamwork going on so if you feed the microbes and stimulate them towards specially toward the end of flowering they make the biostimulants to keep the plant photosynthetically active all the way the day of harvest and the last one here the volatile organic compounds those are VOCs those are like a bouquet of aromas that we can't put in a bottle I wish I wish I could put them in a bottle and feed them to the plant at the right time but those are made real time in nature's kitchen by microorganisms and even if the microbe doesn't touch the root or doesn't touch the plant those volatile organic compounds communicate with the plant they literally activate up to 600 different genes in the plant one of those genes and activates tells the plant take up more iron why that takes up more iron it's going to make more kept chlorophyll plant makes more chlorophyll it's going to harvest more light energy plant harvest more light energy it's going to make more sugars higher Brix some of those sugars will be used for energy to grow and reproduce some will be stored in the flowers and the fruit so build-up and improving quality some will be leaked to feed the microbes the the process of life goes on also one of the other volatile organic compounds I'll tell you about quickly literally turns off the genes that are the sugar signal in the plant normally with a plan accumulates enough sugars for its life it stops doing photosynthesis it starts to shut down this wants to coast to the end on the storage sugars it has but if it gets a whiff of that volatile organic compound it turns off the sugar signal the plant doesn't know it has enough sugars so we'll continue to do photosynthesis it will continue to accumulate sugars all the way to the day of harvest so to summarize here when you add them up the cane molasses the sugar doesn't go into the plant and feeds the microorganisms and the microbes tell the plant to make more sugars that's why it sweetens up at the end okay you know that's going to have a fact on quality and again effect on yield high bricks in the very end okay we only have a few more minutes left in the lecture but I like I said toward the end or about four or five years after I went to the Netherlands the first time to see the biostimulant products they were making I went back and for another tour and we were looking at how they were using biostimulants to the Bible filters to clean the water at room temperature they're actually stimulating the metabolism of the microorganism they could clean the water in two minutes so well that's a whole other topic right there up to remember that one for a class but they literally instead of using ultraviolet sterilization or heat sterilization they ran the the water through a bio filter they had little biostimulants increase the metabolism of the microbes they made the enzymes they reduced eco light to zero and it had a beneficial effect on the plant at the same time but when I went back to the Netherlands specifically the while I was there touring the greenhouses you got to take a side trip to Belgium and my wife and I got to visit the most prestigious research greenhouse in Europe and at that time they were literally doing some of the first trials on bloom stimulants to improve fruit and flower production now here it is in the trial as my wife sue they were doing the tests for the bloom stimulants on sweet peppers the control just with a hydroponics 12 feet tall loaded with peppers according to the scientists there at their greenhouse they said under those conditions if you got a 2% increase in yield it would be statistically significant but halfway through the trial I got to see the the results again they were at 10% increase in yield and rising and it wasn't just more flowers and fruit they were improved quality as well I got to visit another commercial greenhouse where they were using the bloom stimulants they were growing the best of the best of sweet peppers shipping them to New York City for the expensive restaurants over here and they were telling me they were bigger fruit they had two weeks longer shelf-life because again it was the calcium uptake the calcium makes the pectin in the for heavier fruit and flower production improves the quality of the flowers as well and the production and when I visited the commercial greenhouse this was the grower right there taking pictures he says well why are you taking pictures of the planet so well in the United States we don't get to see 12-foot pepper plants he said well you should be taking a picture of the bottom of the plant what so he showed me down there a little sucker vegetative sucker was coming out of the bottom of a 12 foot tall plant it had three sets of peppers on it that's not normal so the bloom stimulants are literally activating genes in the plant that tell the plant don't make more stems and leaves make flowering parts for more blooms for bigger blooms for morph and again improve fruit quality later on with the calcium uptake so if you're getting this kind of fruit production at the bottom of the plant think what's happening in the canopy weather where all the photosynthetic activity is happening so a part of that key I'm out of time you're right because I can't tell you the rest of it but the key there this was Kyle just tell you real quickly is a zinc finger transcription factor okay again an amino acid cysteine for amino acid cysteine molecules attached to one zinc ion and makes a molecule called a zinc finger transcription factor it goes into the cell into the nucleus attaches to the DNA and turns on a series of genes that tells the planet don't make more stems and leaves big flowering parts so when you turn on those genes and leave them on and get more blooms and bigger blooms when you turn on enzymes with the coenzymes and cofactors it turns them on leaves them on and then you can use a very small amount because you can't turn them more on there either on where they're off so a very very small amount they were seeing 10 or even 20 percent increase in yield okay I mean let me finish up here we're about done with this lecture I'm going over time but here's the future this is where we need to go in the future we need to study the dynamics between plants and plant growth promoting raizou bacteria in the rhizosphere we need to discover new signal molecules new transcription factors we're just beginning to scratch the surface of that complex area in just a couple millimeters from the surface on the roots in nature we now we can do that we can harvest microbes from the most fertile soil we can inoculate the roots and we can along with that we need to be able to find those specific molecules them to the plant at the right time we need to bridge the gap between mineral and organic nutrition but with that we need to improve the plants natural resistance to pests disease we can just keep using indiscriminately making new fungicides new pesticides we're just we're just a contaminating our food supply we don't want to use that our medicines as well so if we can improve then plants natural resistance to pests and disease we can reduce or eliminate pesticides and fungicides in the future and with that you want to condition the plants against environmental stress so that we can grow more improve the nutritional value of food grow more food with fewer resources okay I guess that's it the food today has lower nutrition than the food that our grandparents produce why because we've been over fertilizing if you overdo it with nitrate nitrogen you're going to get big cells within cell walls that's going to actually attract more pests and disease it's an easy meal it makes it more susceptible to powdery mildew the Brix goes down because the plant burns the energy so we want to be able to reduce the amount of nitrates and phosphates to adequate levels but improve the uptake of those nutrients and turn on enzymes and turn on genes you

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Rating: 4.8972478 out of 5

Keywords: Harley, Smith, Harley Smith, Gardening, Growing, Farming, Farm, Nutrients, Plant Nutrients, Hydroponics, Learn To Grow, NPK University, Organic Gardening, Organic Biostimmulents, Grow Your Own, MMJ, Amino Acid, Humic Acid, Fulvic Acid, Cane Molasses, B Vitamins, Yucca, hydro, 420, garden

Id: bAZyBp6yJsU

Length: 48min 51sec (2931 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 06 2016

Reddit Comments

[u/Fatweedel]

You should check out DocBud High Brix Blend system. It's a nutrient kit fine tuned especially to achieve High Brix!

[u/yogi420]

Anytime I see something with amino acids I instantly think of nutri-boom from Brooklyn 99 lmao. Boom boom!