What are biostimulants?

Biostimulants are substances and/or microorganisms whose effect consists of:

Improving nutrient absorption.
Reducing the damage caused by stress situations, both biotic and abiotic.
Improving soil conditions.
Promoting the development of the crop by enhancing the root, the plant growth, the flowering, the fruit setting or the fattening.

What is the difference between a fertilizer, a biostimulant and a phytosanitary product?

Fertilizer: it provides nutrition, necessary for the plant to develop.
Biostimulant: it improves the nutrition provided by the fertilizer, enhancing the absorption of nutrients, helping the crop against stress conditions and acting on the biochemical processes that improve the plant metabolism, allowing us to obtain higher quality and quantity productions.
Phytosanitary product: it protects the crop against plagues, diseases or weeds.

What types of biostimulants can we find on the market?

On the market we can find a large number of biostimulant products, although the main ones are:

Humic substances.
Amino acids.
Algae extract.
Microorganisms (PGPR).

What are humic substances?

Humic substances are organic matter, all of natural origin, capable of increasing the water retention capacity in the soil, increasing the fertility and nutrient retention of the plant, promoting the development of microorganisms and improving the rooting and development of the crop, among others.

These substances include both humic acids and fulvic acids:

Humic acids are larger in size and they are mainly known for having a more continuous and long-acting effect over time and improving the CEC (Cation-Exchange Capacity) and the nutrient uptake.
Fulvic acids are smaller and they are known for having a high solubility, a fast and brief effect, and a nutrient complexing and biostimulant effect, and for being soil detoxifiers.

What are amino acids?

Amino acids are constituent elements of proteins, essential in all living beings due to their structural, enzymatic, hormonal, defensive and transport functions. They can be obtained by chemical, enzymatic or microbiological hydrolysis or by chemical synthesis.

Plants produce amino acids naturally, but they spend energy doing so. Therefore, it is important to apply amino acids exogenously. This way, the amino acids necessary for its development are provided to the plant, avoiding the energy expenditure it needs to produce them and saving some energy that can be used in another physiological process.

Plants absorb free amino acids both at foliar and root levels, although they are also capable of taking amino acids found in short chains, called peptides, capable of penetrating inside and providing a strong biostimulant power.

When amino acids are applied exogenously, it must be taken into account that only L-amino acids are part of the proteins used by plants and that they are the only amino acids active in plant metabolism.

Amino acids have an effect on many physiological aspects of the plant: they can be applied in any stage of cultivation and enhance the stages of rooting, growth, flowering, fruit setting and fattening. In addition, amino acids makes the plant resistant to stress situations, have a nutrient complexing effect, enhance photosynthesis and stomata opening, and promote cell division, among many other benefits.

What is algae extract?

It is a component obtained by physical or chemical extraction of macro or microalgae from different sources. Among the most common: macroalgae such as Ascophyllum nodosum, Laminaria sp., Fucus sp., Macrocystis pyrifera, or microalgae such as Spirulina Platensis.

Herogra Especiales, specifically, works with Ascophyllum nodosum algae, one of the highest quality and most studied algae on the market. This algae is collected in the North Atlantic Ocean, so it survives in extreme conditions with strong tidal changes and very low temperatures. This habitat makes this algae produce a large number of secondary metabolites, which have a strong biostimulant effect on the crop.

Among the most important components of algae we find vitamins, macro and micronutrients, betaines and mannitol, organic acids and carbohydrates.

The functions of the Ascophyllum nodosum algae extract are: to improve plant development and crop yield, to improve tolerance to extreme conditions, and to improve crop quality and plant nutrition.

What are PGPR microorganisms?

Bacteria known as PGPR (“Plant Growth Promoting Rizhobacteria”) are a special type of microorganisms whose natural habitat is found in the plant rhizosphere.

Due to this connection between both types of microorganisms, there are mechanisms developed by both to enhance the growth of each other, leading to a symbiosis where both the plant and the bacteria benefit both in growth and in nutritional conditions.

Microorganisms improve the nutrient intake by the plant, have a biostimulant effect, especially in root development, improve soil fertility, feed the plant through root exudates and represent a great nutritional contribution thanks to the organic matter.

Herogra Especiales offers a wide variety of biostimulant products to enhance the different stages of cultivation.

Regarding humic substances, Aminofulvat® (ECO) stands out as a product with a high content of fulvic acids, but that also includes amino acids, potassium, organic carbon, GABA, betaines, organic matter and micronutrients, which makes it a very complete product to support the crop from the beginning to the end of its cycle.

Meanwhile, Leonar 15 (ECO) is a biostimulant based on humic acids to improve soil and crop conditions.

If we consider products with amino acids, Herovital® Serie Oro (ECO) has a high content of short-chain peptides with a strong biostimulant power in the plant.

Likewise, Herovital® Vegetal (ECO) is a biostimulant based on amino acids of plant origin, thus having a strong biostimulant power and supplying protection to the crop against stress conditions.

Regarding products that contain algae extract in their composition, Heromar is a product based on the highest quality Ascophyllum nodosum algae extract, specially designed to reduce the damage caused by stress situations and to biostimulate the crop.

Aminomar Forte is also an NPK biostimulant that includes Ascophyllum nodosum algae extract, amino acids and micronutrients, which provides biostimulation, stress tolerance and nutrition, all in one.

Finally, if we talk about biostimulants and Herogra Especiales, we must mention the two last-generation biostimulants that are revolutionizing agriculture:

ECOTOP (ECO) is a product specially designed to boost the fruit setting phase and the fruit yield. To do this, it includes the most important micronutrients for the fruit setting, as well as Ascophyllum nodosum algae extract, and the exclusive st14 fruit setting enhancer, unique on the market, which is made up of bioactive compounds specially selected to enhance the fruit setting stage.

TOTEM® is a product based on natural ferments from extremophile microorganisms, which has a strong rooting and biostimulant power. Its progressive application grow the plant root, improves the soil, enhances foliar development and increases the final production from the crop.