Why is Micro Carbon Technology® Quicker, Better, More Powerful? Because it’s Smaller.

November 15, 2018 By

Michael Gardner PortraitBy Michael Gardner, Senior Director of Huma Gro® Turf Sales at Bio Huma Netics, Inc.

[NOTE: This article first appeared in the November 2018 issue of Tee Times Golf Guide Magazine.]

In a time where everything is getting bigger, stronger, and faster, smaller can be better.

Is Bigger Better?

Pickup trucks are bigger with huge tires and lift kits. Small companies are absorbed into big companies; big companies are getting even bigger. Athletes are growing bigger, stronger, faster. Even golfers are bigger, stronger, hitting the ball further than ever. And yet . . . .

Smaller Is Quickly Absorbed.

If you watch TV commercials, you’ll notice that smaller can sometimes be powerful. An aspirin company claims smaller aspirin particles quickly relieve pain. A topical for sore muscles claims small particles in the lotion are absorbed quickly, also relieving pain quickly. Even small bits of candy pack a big burst of flavor. Mobile technology makes my cell phone more powerful than my old desktop computer. The same holds true with turf and soil.

Micro Carbon Technology® (MCT) is Smaller.

Just like the aspirin and lotion, Huma Gro® Turf uses small particles to activate soil microbiology and quickly absorb nutrients into the plant. Huma Gro® Turf products do this with Micro Carbon Technology® (MCT). MCT is a very small carbon molecule that is a fraction of the size of humic or fulvic or acid molecules. It’s a simple concept: the smaller the molecule, the more active that molecule. The more active the molecule, the more that molecule can accomplish.

MCT is a Nutrient Carrier.

MCT is a carbon- and oxygen-rich organic molecule that moves nutrients into the plant through the soil and/or leaves. In this situation, nutrients attach to the carbon, which acts as a carrier to transport the nutrients into the plant through the leaf in a foliar application or through the root system in a soil application.

MCT Protects Nutrients.

MCT protects the nutrient molecule as it is transported into the plant. This protection reduces phytotoxicity in foliar application. Nutrients immediately penetrate the leaf. In a soil application, nutrients are freely taken up by the root system without being tied up in the soil. Nutrient deficiencies are quickly reversed.

MCT Stimulates Microbes.

Soil health is key to healthy turf. Not only is soil fertility important to soil health, but a diverse and healthy soil biology is also imperative. An abundance of beneficial microbes, bacteria, and fungi create a healthy soil environment and suppress soil-borne pathogens and disease. MCT stimulates beneficial bacteria and fungi in the soil, enhancing the activity and reproduction of microbiology that improves soil structure.

MCT Attains Soil Health Naturally.

Huma Gro® Turf soil products with MCT achieve soil health naturally. No foreign microbes, bacteria, or fungi are added to the soil. Healthy soil biology is achieved through feeding the beneficial microbes that are not only present in all soil but unique to the individual soil. Using MCT as a base, Huma Gro® Turf has developed a full line of highly efficient products that make up a complete sustainable turf program.

All Huma Gro® Turf Products Contain MCT.

Sustainable Soil Fertility products with MCT flocculate hard soils. They relieve the stress of saline soils and heavy metals, enabling mineral nutrition of the turf. MCT promotes oxygenation and aeration, improving water penetration and water-holding capacity and freeing up nutrients in the root-zone.

Optimal Growth Management products encourage the natural production of plant hormones for quick and long-term results. Turf shows an almost immediate boost of energy, growth, vigor, and rooting. These products provide and maintain a long-term, natural plant hormonal balance. MCT allows optimal management of plant growth by promoting natural production of hormones within the plant itself that are quickly produced and naturally controlled.

Our Macronutrients and Micronutrients with MCT offer a variety of packaged fertilizer products that deliver all the essential macronutrients, secondary macronutrients, and micronutrients to promote the strong, steady turf growth and produces a better, greener turf. All include MCT for better transportation and absorption of nutrients by plants. All nutrient products can be applied in the soil or with a foliar spray, without phytotoxicity.

Our organic Zero-Residue Turf Protection products are OMRI® listed for environmentally-conscious superintendents to maximize the control of a broad spectrum of insects, nematodes, bacterial and/or fungal plant diseases, and pathogens—with no down time required!

Our natural Carbon-Rich Organic Acids are similar to the chemical make-up of the plants themselves, so roots or leaves easily assimilate nutrients and effectively put them to work. With our organic acids, turf and ornamentals maximize the potential of your fertilizer, resulting in better germination, more efficient foliar applications, and strong, healthy growth.

Our blend of nonionic Surfactants improves the penetration and distribution of water within the soil profile, ensuring that turf managers get the most out of their applied water and water-carried inputs.

What Can You Expect from MCT?

The following are a few things to expect from Huma Gro® Turf products:

  • Activate beneficial aerobic soil bacteria and fungi
  • Separate clay particles, increasing water penetration
  • Reduce plant stress in high salinity soils
  • Increase soil nutrient availability
  • Increase root development
  • Improve decomposition of organic matter
  • Recycle nutrients tied up in organic matter
  • Increase water retention
  • Remediate toxic chemical residues in soil
  • Increase nutrient availability in extreme-pH soils
  • Improve soil structure
  • Balance oxygen and carbon
  • Reduce amounts of product required
  • Have a positive impact on the environment

Small Can Be Powerful.

Build a healthy turf on the foundation of a healthy, fertile soil that is teaming with healthy microorganisms. Healthy microbiology, soil, and turf are created and maintained with Huma Gro® Turf products containing MCT. The tiny carbon molecules of MCT prove that smaller can be powerful in today’s trend of more, bigger, stronger.

Michael Gardner is Senior Director of Huma Gro® Turf Sales at Bio Huma Netics, Inc. Contact him at michael@humagroturf.com. Huma Gro® Turf products can be found at https://humagroturf.com/huma-gro-turf-products/.

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5 Tips for Surviving the Drought

August 21, 2018 By

By Michael Gardner, Senior Director of Huma Gro® Turf Sales at Bio Huma Netics, Inc.

[NOTE: This article first appeared in the August 2018 issue of Tee Times Golf Guide Magazine.]

Michael Gardner PortraitLet’s face it, it’s hot! It’s also dry in many of our areas. Some say these drought conditions started last fall and continued through a cold, dry winter. Now that we’ve hit the hot, dry summertime, drought stress can kill our turf and our budget.

You may be a golf course superintendent, professional landscaper, or a homeowner caring for your yard. Drought conditions affect us all. Our differences may be our access to water, our water costs, and our budget. But they’re all tight. The sooner we alleviate turf stress, the better.

Drought is crippling the Southwest United States. As a matter of fact, water costs have gotten so high in the San Diego area that Carmel Mountain Ranch Country Club closed indefinitely on July 9.

To avoid similar circumstances, we must make the water that’s available to us stretch to meet our needs – without killing the turf. How do we balance availability and cost against acceptable conditions?

1. Have a Plan

Good water management practices include a drought plan. In fact, if your region requires a water-withdrawal permit to irrigate, you’re probably required to have a drought management plan as well. Water conservation practices might include the following:

  • Lined ponds
  • Moisture monitoring systems
  • Irrigation inspection and maintenance
  • Scheduled aeration
  • Alternative water sources (effluent and brackish water)
  • Turf tolerant to brackish water
  • Drought-tolerant, no-mow turf
  • Raised mowing heights
  • Decreased mowing frequency
  • Naturalized grass areas with good soil conditions
  • Root-pruning trees to avoid water competition
  • Application of growth regulators before wilt/dormancy
  • Soil improvement
  • Root mass improvement
  • Suspension of fertilizers and pesticides when turf is dormant
  • The use of surfactants to increase water penetration

2. Use a Surfactant

Of that plan, one of the most important and quickest drought recovery aides is a high-quality soil surfactant. Surfactants decrease the surface tension of water, so it can penetrate and move through the soil more effectively. This makes available water more useful, productive, and efficient.

I’ve worked over 35 years in turf and agriculture and I’ve never seen a better surfactant than Huma Gro® Turf Surf-Max®. Surf-Max® works in a unique way, moving water horizontally before pushing water down through the soil profile. This has many benefits. On sand-based greens, we don’t lose water straight down through the soil profile. More water is kept in the root zone. In clay soils, Surf-Max® helps water penetrate with less pooling on the surface. Surf-Max® also moves water quickly and efficiently through thatch layers that are traditionally difficult for water to penetrate. Additionally, Surf-Max® increases the availability of nutrients and soil conditioning products in the soil as they are able to move freely with the water through the soil profile.

3. Improve Soil Health, Feed (beneficial) Fungi

In conjunction with surfactant treatment, soil needs to be conditioned to be more receptive to water. At Huma Gro® Turf, we take a sustainable approach of improving soil structure and soil health. Healthy soil allows better water infiltration and has better water-holding capacity. We accomplish this with Huma Gro® Turf Fertil Humus® to stimulate the beneficial fungi in the soil. Fertil Humus® also breaks down and recycles organic matter in the soil, producing humus-rich soil.

4. Feed (beneficial) Bacteria

On the other hand, Multi-Purpose™ improves soil structure by feeding the beneficial bacteria in the soil and stimulating microbial activities. The combination of Fertil Humus® and Multi-Purpose™ produces a long-term, healthy soil environment that saves water, makes nutrients more available, and sustains healthy turf.

5. Increase Root Mass

Finally, a superior root system should be developed. The more mass to the root system, the greater the water and nutrient uptake and overall plant health. Huma Gro® Turf increases root mass with a product called Breakout®. When applied to soil, Breakout® promotes a dense fibrous root system.

Recap

The sooner we start preventive and recovery measures, the sooner we see results. Here’s the recap:

  1. Preventive – be prepared: Have a drought plan.
  2. Quick fix – surfactant: Surf-Max® aids water penetration and distribution.
  3. Long-term – soil health (fungi): Huma Gro Fertil Humus® feeds beneficial fungi in soil.
  4. Long-term – soil health (bacteria): Multi-Purpose™ feeds beneficial bacteria in soil.
  5. Long-term – root mass: Breakout® promotes root growth.

Product trials for water infiltration and water savings are available upon request. A thatch infiltration bench test of Surf-Max® demonstrated by Dr. Johann Buck is available on YouTube: http://bit.ly/HGT-SurfMaxVideo

Let’s use water as efficiently as possible as soon as possible. Whether in drought or abundance, we can do more with less both on the golf course and at home.

Filed Under: Product Spotlight, Turf Programs Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
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