Last week Andaman Ag introduced Pacific Gro and the comments from Bob Wilt at Sunset Valley Organics in regard to Pacific Gro’s application were excellent and worth repeating:
Many growers think that their job of taking care of their fertility programs for their perennial crops is done at the end of harvest until the following spring. This is totally wrong. After harvest the plant is very low on energy and needs to prepare for winter, stock piling carbohydrates (sugar) to get through the winter and initial spring and new growth. Also these “sugars” act as antifreeze when it gets cold and will help the plant get though freezing conditions. Many growers experience “alternating years” where they have a heavy crop one year and a light crop the next. This is a perfect example of a lack of energy post harvest. After harvest, if the plant is short of energy it will take the low road and go in to vegetative the following year. Conversely if the plant has adequate energy in the fall it will produce a heavy crop the following year. I’ve experienced this situation many times until I started understanding the energy needs of the plant. Now that I feed post harvest I consistently have good yields with high quality (nutrient density) every year without winter damage. I accomplish this by applying a couple of soil applications us Pacific Gro along with minerals and other carbon sources. This gets the soil biology revved up which in turn recharges the plant. Often the results will be subtle in the fall and very obvious in the spring. – Bob Wilt, Sunset Valley Organics / Western Aglands
Here’s another great explanation from Trent Graybill in Yakima, Washington:
There is also a balance between growth vs reproductive energy. For example, if there are post-harvest applications of nitrate nitrogen, you will have more leaf buds rather than fruit or flower buds in the coming spring, because nitrate is growth energy vs ammonium which is reproductive energy or flower promoting. This is why Pacific Gro fits so well in a post-harvest fertilizer program. It provides a balanced growth vs reproductive energy, because the nutrients including nitrogen are in organic, protein, non-leaching forms. Also it stimulates soil microbiology which will release nutrients in the spring as well as the fall before the plant goes dormant. Pacific Gro also contains multiple micronutrients which enhance bud set. Probably the most desirable effect from post-harvest applications of Pacific Gro, is the calcium availability it provides. It stimulates soil microbiology to release calcium to the plant while also providing a very plant available form of calcium from the ingredients in Pacific Gro. – Trent Graybill, Soilcraft, Yakima Washington
Again, Pacific Gro is a unique oceanic cold processed hydrolysate combining salmon and micronized crab and shrimp shell in a fertilizer that delivers an organic source of N, P, K and Calcium, as well as a great range of other nutrients, minerals, amino acids, fatty acids and vitamins. The low temperature processing protects the amino acids, vitamins, hormones and enzymes. The naturally occurring enzymes and vortex action digests the shells and fish bones into a fine colloidal suspension. Chitin from the shell material becomes micronized and bio-activated and then acts as a chelator of nutrients. This unique combination of materials makes the product much more dynamic than just a fish emulsion.
