FAQs

First of all, our products have a long history of success worldwide. We’ve been selling our products overseas for over 20 years well before the organic agricultural movement had taken hold. We believe in organic based products. Products that use nature’s ingredients in combination to deliver what all plants need without impacting groundwater or sensitive environments. While we offer an OMRI (Organic Materials Review Institute) certified product, all of our products are composed of organic elements and support sustainable agricultural practices. We are very proud of that fact as we have competed for years overseas against chemical based fertilizer and delivered a cost effective solution with superior performance.

We’ve been able to take a broad spectrum of macro and micro nutrients and minerals and combine them into a soluble solution that can be used as a foliar spray. The intellectual capital that was invested to achieve this undertaking was substantial.

Dr. James Erickson, the founder of Ecotech, the manufacturer of our foliar fertilizer products, spent years working overseas for the U.S. government helping developing countries in very challenging environments (poor soil conditions, heat, drought, nutrient leaching, etc.) to produce higher quality agricultural products for export. These venues served as quasi lab environments for product testing where continual product refinements were being made to produce an end product that could be applied consistently, be cost effective and deliver the greatest performance impact. It was a very unique situation and an invaluable process that contributed significantly to the exceptional products that we offer today.

Our products are much more complex that the simple NPK values that they represent. Years of study, tests and trials went into discovery the how the various combination of elements could impact plant nutrition. Even the most obscure elements in trace amounts can give substantial boosts in yields and plant health. It’s the combination of macro and micro nutrients, chelated minerals and other trace elements that together create a synergy resulting in the production of extraordinary products. For example, the importance of trace elements lies mainly in the formation of enzymes. Enzymes play an important role in all living organisms because they act as catalysts, without which many important functions such as the sugar production in a plant would not take place. It’s unquestionably the level of testing that our products have endured that has resulted in a unique combination of ingredients that give our products a considerable performance advantage in the fertilizer market.

Our key products are Agrostim™, Agrostim FVO (Farm Verified Organic)™ and Supergrow™. They are all natural foliar fertilizers that are specifically designed to restore the soil's natural agro-ecosystem by developing soil fertility that energizes soil microbial activity and activates the microbial processes critical for conversion of nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium and sulfur into forms that can be utilized by plants. Our product, Agrostim FVO (Farm Verified Organic)™, is an OMRI certified product for those organizations under or pursuing organic certifications like CCOF (California’s organic certification). Most of our clients opt to use Agrostim™ given its balanced composition unless they are pursing organic certification. There are certain micronutrients and chelated minerals in Agrostim™ that are important to the performance of the product but not OMRI certified. Supergrow,  given its high level of potassium makes for a great early and late dressing. Given its high level of potassium it also accelerates the impact and positive results of using compost. The combination of the two products delivers a very powerful one-two punch on the vines.

Again, a unique aspect of our products given their organic base is that they can be mixed with most anything allowing the farmer to incorporate our product into their particular spraying regime. They can be mixed with fungicides, anti-mildews, sulfur, calcium, boron, zinc, etc. without any negative impact on the mixed product performance, our product’s performance or the plant itself.  Our products compatibility with other applications means that there doesn’t have to be a separate labor cycle added just to apply our products and they can be integrated with the established spraying practices or be applied via fertigation or through the drip system.

We haven’t had any issues with compatibility including low volumes sprays at 30 gallons per acre all the way up to higher volumes at 100 gallons per acre.

Our ideal recommendation is 1 to 1.5 lbs. of product per 50 gallons per acre per application depending on the soil condition and overall health of the plants. We recommend 4-6 applications per growing season (2 prior to bloom and 4 after). Or looking at it another way, we would like to see our customers apply 4-6 lbs. of product per acre per season and depending on the spraying frequency, our ratio of product to water volume may be modified with less product being used per application as the spraying frequency increases. We would not recommend diluting our product less than ½ lb. per 50 gallons.

Our recommended spraying regime is a minimum of four (4) up to eight (8) sprays during the crop cycle. A plant has certain “windows” where it can more readily process nutrients. Trying to determine when the windows are available is complicated but by having a more frequent fertilizer application process like a foliar spray, the chances are much greater that you will capitalize on those plant uptake windows.

Application amounts need to be adjusted as frequency levels increase. Our minimum dilution rate is ½ lb. of product to 50 gallons of water. Examples of spraying regimes for applying 6 lbs. of product during the growing season would be as follows:

There is flexibility in product application based on the number of applications and the number of gallons earmarked for a particular spray if you keep in mind that 1 to 1 ½ lbs. of product to 50 gallons of water is close to an ideal mix ratio and never to dilute the mix greater that ½ lb. of product to 50 gallons of water.

Products can be used in commercial sprayers or applied via irrigation and drip systems. All products are water soluble and shouldn’t clog emitters or sprayers if they are first mixed into a 5 gallon bucket or similar container to dissolve the product thoroughly prior to placing into the sprayer holding tank or fertigation feeder system. By placing the products in large container and mixing prior to full application, the product has greater likelihood of fully dissolving.

Our products don’t require constant agitation in a commercial sprayer but there is absolutely no downside of using tank agitation.

When applied as a foliar spray the nutrients are directly available to the plant. The foliar application causes the plant to accelerate its uptake of soil nutrients through the roots that creates a longer term effect as well. While nutrients are absorbed more efficiently through leaves than roots, the foliar spray works as a stimulant for the plant to take the nutrients up through its root system. Consistent application of fertilizers is much more achievable using a foliar than dry applications. A foliar spray has almost an immediate effect on a plant. If there is a pest infestation, the foliar application has the ability to more quickly mitigate its impact.

Given their organic base, our products can typically be mixed with anything else that you’re applying (i.e. fungicides, anti-mildews, sulfur, calcium, boron, zinc, etc.) without any negative impact on the mixed product performance, our product’s performance or the plant itself.  We don’t recommend mixing with oils but we haven’t had a specific issues associated with our products use with oils. It’s just a raised risk factor to avoid if possible. We haven’t had any issues with compatibility including low volume sprays at 30 gallons per acre all the way up to higher volumes at 100 gallons per acre.

We have been successfully selling our products overseas for over 20 years. We still maintain extensive product sales overseas but the company’s recent focus has been selling to vineyards in the Sonoma and Napa Valley’s as well as farms and nurseries across the Northwest.

Our products deliver farmers the edge that they are looking for in the marketplace given their breadth of nutritional value for plants.

When Dr. James Erickson developed this line of products, he looked at the core macro and micro ingredients required and made every effort to locate the best possible sources for these core ingredients throughout North America. For example, we purchase our seaweed from Nova Scotia as its coldest water seaweed in the world with the highest natural nitrogen levels and alginic acid and mannitol that act as effective chelating agents for micro-nutrients and contribute to building the appropriate soil structure. In addition, we purchase our blood meal from a plant in the Eastern U.S. that practices a slow drying methodology that preserves the enzyme matter and it’s completely soluble. This means that the blood meal breaks down immediately and can readily be absorbed by microbes accelerating nutrient processing for the plant.

Our main manufacturing facility is located in Auburn, California but we have another mixing and packaging operation that we use located in Princeton, California just north of Half Moon Bay.

We have packaging available in 5, 6, 15, 25 and 50 lb. quantities. Our minimum order is 25 lbs. The smaller quantities are placed in a large plastic commercial container with screw off lid. The larger quantities, 15 lbs. and more, are placed in cardboard boxes with a polypropylene lining.

The majority of our products are sold direct. We have a warehouse in Auburn, California and can typically have product delivered within a week via UPS or other local trucking companies.

Andaman has sold or had product trialed at Beckstoffer, Flora Springs, Hoot Owl Creek / Alexander Valley Vineyards, Durell Vineyards, Clos Du Val, David Abreu Management, Jackson Family Farms, Lake County Grapevine Nursery, Pine Ridge, Pina Vineyard Management, Viader and more.

The product has a fishy smell after application but it doesn’t last long. The enzymatic digestion process is anaerobic and because of this, the final product has a distinctive anaerobic smell. The process needs to be anaerobic because in an aerobic process too many nutrients would become volatile and in an anaerobic environment a substantial content of the auxins is preserved.

Andaman is the worldwide exclusive distributor of Ecotech manufactured products. The company distributes agricultural and aquaculture products in Asia Pacific, and Central and South America. The company’s founder is Deac Jones who spent years working in Asia working for Connell Bros., a wholly owned subsidiary and overseas distribution arm for Wilbur-Ellis. Deac grew up in Boise, Idaho and always had a passion for agriculture having worked on a local ranch after high school and during the summer through college. Deac graduated from Colorado State University in Fort Collins and has an MBA from University of San Francisco graduating Magna Sum Laude and Beta Gamma Sigma.

Our products have a huge advantage over conventional fertilizers because Nitrogen runoff into streams and infiltration into ground water is a non-issue in agricultural areas that are increasingly subject to regulatory scrutiny.