Biological Stimulants
Linnburn uses a number of simple bio-technologies that can be purchased or made on the farm to help improve soil condition, stimulate plant growth and improve plant health.
The products that Linnburn uses in its biological stimulant mixes are:
Fish Hydroslate, seaweed, seawater, brewers yeast, molasses, fulvic acid, seeds, EM, protozoa tea, decomposed plants, vermicast, humic acid & fine lime.
If you need help with any of these substances please get in contact with us.
Understanding the different biological technologies
The main types of agricultural bio technologies are:
- Aerobic: these are made in high oxygen environments where microbes adapted to oxygen are cultured. The best known examples are aerated Compost and Compost tea.
- Fermentation: these are made in conditions of low/no oxygen levels. Effective Microorganisms (EM) and Biofertilisers are some examples.
- Vermi-products: these are based on the products of worms as they transform organic materials into stable products. Worm Leachate and Worm Castings are two examples.
What are bioferments, biostimulants & biofertilisers
There are a wide range of bacteria, yeasts and related organisms that do not use oxygen to breathe. They are known as anaerobic microbes. They live by a process called fermentation. Other microbes can live with either oxygen or no oxygen. These are called facultative microbes. Some microbes also only live in low levels of oxygen. Fermenting microbes live without oxygen but like all other organisms they need energy and nutrients to survive. Fermentation is where these microbes are cultured in no oxygen conditions. A home brew is an example of fermentation!
During fermentation these microbes create a number of compounds known as fermentation products. Most of these products are beneficial and include vitamins, enzymes, amino acids and organic acids. Some fermentation products however like gases and alcohols can be toxic to plants at certain concentrations. The aim when making fermentation-based bioferments, biostimulants and biofertilisers is to ensure a balanced complete fermentation process that results in a range of beneficial stable compounds and microbes.
Bioferments should contain plant growth factors and sometimes microbes and they can provide a number of
beneficial functions to soils and plants including:
• Improving the cycling of nutrients
• Chelating nutrients
• Stimulating root growth
• Reducing plant stress
• Increasing plant health
If you are interested in learning more or would like product please get in contact with us.
When culturing microbes it is important to remember that they all need:
1. Energy – they get this from carbohydrates like sugars
2. Nutrients – they need a full range of elements and trace elements
3. Ideal oxygen levels – either no oxygen, low oxygen or high oxygen levels
4. Water – they need clean water
5. Ideal ambient temperatures – not too hot and not too cold.
Always use non-chlorinated water
Always use clean equipment
Always seal your fermentations properly.
Hieracum in the process of decomposing
Biological Stimulant Mixing Area
Vermicast
In 2018 Linnburn used 30 tonne of worm castings (vermicast) along with some gypsm in an attempt to help with the repair a twenty five hectare area that had a very high base saturation of salt.
Nicole Masters of Integrity soils says that ‘Worms have been tirelessly toiling away, building soil in the same manner as their ancestors 600 million years ago. The work that they do may be one of the most important and undervalued positions, but through their physical action and the castings produced, worms create the elixir for life. In my mind nobody does it better, the castings produced by worms are unrivalled by any packaged fertiliser product and I’m not alone in that sentiment”, Professor Clive A. Edwards at Ohio University stated in 1995; “Vermicompost outperforms any commercial fertiliser I know of.”’
So in 2020 Linnburn prepared its own worm farm to produce vermicast. Our plan is to use it in our biological brews that we spray in the spring of 2020.
