Lawn care
Despite a rather homogeneous aspect, lawns are generally constituted of several types of grasses and sometimes small plants.
Depending on the end outcome targeted, the lawn developer will carefully pick the most appropriate type(s) of grass and management treatments and techniques existing.
Lawns can indeed be built up for design landscaping, public parks, private gardens or sport pitches; depending on the end use, the selection will be different but in all the cases, the lawn will be subject to stresses.
The stresses can be of various origins, from the weather conditions (rain, frost, draught, sun burns…), to the pathogens (fungi, mosses, viruses, nematodes…) and stresses can also come from garden users (patch scratches, trampling…). In addition, the management of the lawn can also induce pressure on the general health of the grass such as regular mowing, scarification or chemical treatment.
OGT along with specialised researchers have been carrying out some field trials to look at the effects of stress relief of AlgaeGreen products on various types of grasses. Several “stressing” parameters have been studied such as draught and nematode infections.
The results have shown quick stress relieving effects even with low but regular doses of AlgaeGreen foliar applications.
In addition to a perfect integrity of chelated minerals and complex sugars, the low-temperature process (see process tab) also maximizes the presence of plant hormones, simple sugars and a wide range of natural antioxidants such as polyphenols, vitamins and small amino acids.
The presence of and the natural combination of these effective compounds explains the efficient results observed on grass.
In addition, the trials have confirmed the positive effects of AlgaeGreen uses in root development via prolonged root dipping and soil conditioning.
Visually, the treated lawns are denser with strong roots and a natural green colour. This illustrates the general good health of the grass.
AlgaeGreen is sold under its brand name or mixed in lawn feed liquid in several major “Home and Garden” national and international shop brands.
AlgaeGreen products have been included for the last 3 years in the management scheme of the major top golf clubs in the world (see testimonials); AlgaeGreen acts as a natural biostimulant and is regularly applied by the greenkeepers on greens, tees and fairways.
Private gardens
Since several centuries, farmers living close to the shore have been using seaweed to upgrade the soil quality of the nearby lands. Originally, farmers were collecting drifted brown algae on the beaches to use it on fields up to a kilometre inland. They would not do this much anymore because of the weight of the wet macroalgae is heavy and difficult to handle. In areas such as Brittan, Scotland and Ireland, farmers used to harvest it using knives and sometimes boats; this practice has been carried out on most of the coastal area's of the globe.
With the development of science and analytical techniques, scientists being biochemists, plant agronomists, soil specialists or pest management developers have been working for the last 60 years on understanding the mechanisms againest the benefits of seaweeds on the plants. Several books have been written on the subjects to date (see A. nodosum pages) and hundreds of reports and scientific studies have been published
In vitro and field trials have demonstrated the following benefits to fruits and vegetables:
- stimulate root formation and root growth
- increase yields by improving the size and/or number of fruits and vegetables (depending on species)
- improve the shelflife of the harvested fruit or vegetable
However, among these results, a lot of variability and efficiency have been observed in these effects mainly due to the great variations on seaweed extracts.
Seaweed extracts can vary from the origin of the seaweed species, the process used and the stability of the end product. All these aspects will have an influence on the results after application.
One of the main results observed with low-temperature extract AlgaeGreen, in addition to the benefits desrcibed above is, a great improvement of the plant in resisting to weather stresses such as draught or freezing. Also, an enhancement of the resistance to pathogens such as viruses and nematodes. This is due to the effectiveness of the seaweed species used, Ascophyllum nodosum, the process limiting excess temperatures and the facility on feeding the plant with this 100% soluble product, either by foliar spray and/or soil applications.
This explains why, in parallel to all the scientific studies, many professionnals in flower cultivation, fruit and vegetable production are regularly using AlgaeGreen products in their production systems.
Application Rates
The application rates depend on the AlgaeGreen product concentration, the type of end user targeted and the equipment capacity.
For any indications on application and dilution rates, please, feel free to contact OGT's staff.