The Many Benefits of Kelp, But What Are They?

Kelp grows under water, of the shore line in the part of costs around the world in that's known as the netric zone which is highly oxygenated. Kelp's structure resembles land plants, so resembles a plants stem with leaf like shapes attached, termed "stripes and blades."

Kelp has been found to have uses throughout human history, from dyes to medicines and also used as mulch, to condition poor soil and to improve soil in its moister retaining properties.

Seaweed is thought to have found its uses in early farming practises and was still used as a mulch by farmers that lived close enough to collect this free resource until the mid 1950's, although some small hold farmer still do harvest kelp to this day, on the shores of England, along the tide line.

Theirs benefits to be had from kelp than simply using it as a mulch though, as kelp also has a high mineral content, in fact over seventy minerals and trace elements, which when added to soil as a fertilizer, can really help your plants to flourish.

Amazingly, the usefulness of kelp does not stop at its soil conditioning properties, but has also been found to have high plant growth hormones, so when dried and dug into soil as a mulch, plants also benefit from the kelp plant hormones too.

Its thought that kelp has these high concentrations of growth hormones, because of the constant stress these plants are living under from ocean currants, that constantly damage the plants structure and also the need to reach out off the poorly lit ocean waters.

There's one particular type of kelp that has higher amounts of growth hormones than most, and it's named Ascophyllum Nodosum, found round the northern hemisphere, in the colder water, which has very high amounts of growth regulators, namely, cytokines, auxins and gibberellins which are responsible for cell division within the cell walls.

As I'm not fortunate enough to live by the coast, I have to make do with buying a ready made formula, from Maxicrop, which is happily named liquid kelp fertilizer, that I've been using on its own or mixed in with my own homemade organic fertilizer nutrient solution, for the last fifteen years now, and when poured, looks just like crude oil does, except that it smells a whole lot better than oil does, "well I think so."

There is two ways of using of using kelp liquid fertilizer, either mixed with, "preferably rain water" then mixed and poured directly on soil, or used as a foliage spray.

Spray directly to your plants foliage being very affective, as uptake is up to ten times more affective than just watering alone.

Another form of kelp fertilizer is the dried granular kelp, that's often mixed with bulking agents and other fertilizers, making the overall kelp extract, diluted.

To Conclude
Liquid seaweed will improve the success rate, of taking plant cutting, germinate seeds quicker and also encourage plant root formation, making your plants ability to fight diseases, also adds flavour and colour to any plant, all these benefits help to maintain a strong healthy, disease and insect free plants.

So if there's one plant supplement you do buy, make sure it's a kelp extract solution.