Horticulture

Horticulture Products

Algaegreen Plant Feed


Algaegreen Granular

Introduction

A unique organic cold process seaweed liquid extract for applications in agricultural to achieve higher quality and increased yields.

AlgaeGreen Horticulture is a unique cold process seaweed liquid extract produced from fresh hand harvested Ascophyllum nodosum. This species of seaweed  is collected along the unpolluted bays  of North West Ireland. AlgaeGreen Horticulture is specifically designed to improve crop yield and helps  produce a better quality of fruits and vegetables. More than a traditional seaweed extract, AlgaeGreen represents a new generation of potent extracts with strong R&D and QC backups.

Analysis

OGT has developed a complete Quality Analysis scheme in order to assess the natural variations of some of the compounds of the raw material, Ascophyllum nodosum. This scheme includes very regular complete analyses of the key compounds by a GLP accredited independant laboratory.

For some of the more specific compounds requiring adapted analytical expertise, OGT is securing agreements with the relevant research groups or private companies in order to carry out these analyses on a regular basis.

In light of these small variations, OGT is able then to adapt the production process to ensure a reasonable continuity on the AlgaeGreen range of products.

Batch representative analytical results are available on demand to OGT's staff.

 

Specialty Formulations

AlgaeGreen Agriculture products are specially designed for horticultural intensive production systems including fruit, vegatable, tree and flower production.

These products, in particular,  AlgaeGreen 500,  the highest seaweed concentration which constitutes a unique starting material for specialty formulation targeting individual species such as tomatoes, strawberries, grape etc...

AlgaeGreen not only constitutes a plain seaweed extract but, due to the low-temperature extraction process it is issued from, represents a starting material containing a wide range of compounds beneficial to the plants. AlgaeGreen is indeed a starting material with a pool of key bioactive compounds inlcuding complex polysaccharides (long carbohydrates), antioxidants, plant hormone-like molecules and a wide variety (more than 60) of chelated elements.

Each formulator can then work from the analytical sheet provided by OGT to complement in relevant compounds such as Nitrogen, Iron or Plant hormones for example.

AlgaeGreen's range of products has been successively mixed with a wide variety of compounds to date.It is adviced to contact the staff at OGT to check the compatibility with some unusual compounds.

OGT can, on demand from clients, carry out formulation before final packaging directly in Kilcar, according to the required volumes.

Application Rates

The application rates depend on the AlgaeGreen product concentration, the type of  vegetable, fruit, flowers or trees produced and the  equipment capacity (spraying, dripping etc...).

For any information on application and dilution rates, please feel free to contact the staff at OGT.

Packaging

AlgaeGreen products can be packaged, according to client demand and requirements, in any of the following volumes:

Containers
Volumes
Small Drums
5 Litres
10 Litres
20 Litres
Drums
200 Litres
(occasionally 100 Litres)
IBCs
1000 Litres

In order to minimise the transport costs, the best options for palletizing are discussed between OGT's team and the client.

Labelling options are up to the client decision.

AlgaeGreen benefits to plants

AlgaeGreen horticulture products are natural biostimulants for fruit, vegetable, tree and flower production.

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 of up to a kilometre inland but not anymore because wet macroalgae (seaweeds) are heavy and difficult to handle.

Through the development of science and analytical techniques, scientists have been using their talents of being biochemists, plant agronomists, soil specialists and pest mnagement developers and have studied to discover the benefits of seaweeds on the plants. They have been working on this over the past 60 years. Several books have been written on the subjects to date (see A. nodosum pages) and hundreds of reports and scientific studies have been published.
 
OGT’s team has gathered more than 100 scientific studies and reports looking at the uses of seaweeds in horticulture, from composting to foliar applications via soil amendments. If you have any queries or would like a copy of this review please contact the staff at OGT.
 
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 through the great variations on seaweed extracts.
 
 
From variable snake oil effects to constant and reliable bioactive extract
 
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 and partly explain the disparate results obtained from one "extract" to another. This is a huge variability in extract quality, and therefore results have limited the trust of professionnal producers vis-a-vis the use of seaweeds in high yield production systems.
 
In the Ascophyllum nodosum tabs, a clear description of why this seaweed species is one of the best for plant applications, is presented.
OGT’s process is a low-temperature extraction technique which, instead of using heat or/chemicals to explode the seaweed cells, uses a combination of technical processes marrying physic and mechanic. The resulting product is a smooth green-olive juice rich in all the natural compounds of the fresh seaweed, as intact as possible due to the low temperatures applied.
In order to guarantee a constant product with low variations in the main bioactive components of the product, OGT has developed a low temperature concentration technique and regular QC/QA controls via analysis through several GLP laboratories. In addition, OGT has been developing soft preservation techniques for the different concentrates in order to guarantee a workable shelflife from production to end user and taking into account the distribution steps.
 
 
The benefits of AlgaeGreen products on plants in general and trees
 
AlgaeGreen, like other seaweed extracts, mainly due to the presence of a wide variety of micro- and macro-minerals directly available to the plant (chelated) brings, at different levels, most of the effects described above. In particular these would include root development, benefits in yields and quality of the end products.
More importantly, one of the main results observed with low-temperature extract AlgaeGreen is, in addition to the benefits described above, 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. On the harvested products such as cut apples or strawberries, the conservation duration is also slightly improved.
In addition to the natural stock of more than 60 elements, OGT's low temperture allows to keep intact a combination of key compounds:
-         the polysaccharides, in particular the sodium alginates and laminarans;
Alginates, on their fully structured form, are complex carbohydrates which can play a role in soil structure by binding two key elements avoiding them to lixiviate, entrapping water molecules and, feed the bacteria beneficial to plant developments.
laminarans are beta-glucan, known precursor of the immune system of the plants and part of biostimulant properties
-         mannitol, some small amino acids which all tend to decrease with temperature and well known in plant defence systems especially against draught and salinity stresses
-         the plant hormone-like molecules, with mainly auxins and gibberellins involved in cell growth, cell regulation and basic physiological processes such as flowering
-         the antioxidants, with mainly polyphenols (tannins) and also some vitamins like Vit. A and Vit. C and also important pigments such as fucoxanthin - a pigment of the beta-caroten family.
 
The observed effects on plants to date are predominantly due to the efectiveness 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.
 
These results have been obtained through comparative trials either with OGT’s most reliable clients or in collaboration with the Dept. of Applied Plant Science in Queen’s University in Belfast (U.K.).