What is Humic Acid?

Humic Acid is a Bio-stimulant that is derived from concentrated compressed Carbon based Organic materials in the form of leonardite shale. Elemental analysis of humic acid shows it contains: Carbon 50%, Oxygen 40%, Hydrogen 5%, Nitrogen 3%, Phosphorous <1%, Sulfur <1%. Humic acid is a complex of closely related macromolecules that range in size from less than 1000 to more than 100,000 Daltons, with the lower mass representing the younger material. The exact composition of humic acid varies from one source to another. Our humic acid peat comes right out of our bog just North of Olympia, Washington. Our humic peat has been compacted squeezing out the organic acids and esters present in the vegetation material. This material is very rich and beneficial to plants today because of it's vegetative origins.

Comparisons of Our Humic Peat to Canadian Peat Moss
Our Humic Peat is not the top of a Sphagnum Moss bog like Canadian Peat. Our Humus Peat is mined at a thickness of up to 65 feet. The depth and age of our Peat makes it closer to coal shale than Canadian Peat. Quote about Canadian Peat from Peatmoss.com, "A weakly decomposed peat composed mainly of Sphagnum mosses". Canadian Peat comes from decomposed plants that are still living on the surface of the ground or bog. It is possible to hypothesize that the deeper our peat the more cation exchanges take place. Logic says the deeper the product, the older, more compacted the humic acid is. More research needs to be done to prove this. Our lab tests have proven that our Humus Peat has much the same characteristics as leonardite shale.

How does Humic Acid work?
As a soil amendment with adequate humic acid, we bind (hold on to) cations (positively charged elements). The ability for Humic Acid to chelate positively charged multivalent ions (Nutrients in worm castings, such as Mg++, Ca++, Fe++, and other "trace elements" of value to plants) is probably the most important role of humic acid with respect to the soil. Chelating the ions (nutrients) facilitates the uptake of the ions (nutrients) by several mechanisms, one of which is preventing their precipitation (leaching through the soil), another is the direct and positive influences on their bio-availability. Another benefit of humic acid is to detoxify the soil of heavy metals. Research shows heavy metals can be "bound up" and held with the addition of humic acid.

How does Humic Acid benefit you plants?
Humic acid increases nutrient uptake, seed germination, and holds moisture. The microbial activity in the soil is increased making it an excellent root stimulator. Humic acid increases the availability of nutrients in our worm casting blends. It helps to aerate the soil from the inside, it will also help to stabilize the pH of the soil and flushes high levels of salts of the the root zone.