By: Lauren Pelayo
Every person called to the task of working with soil is in search of the right fertilizer to help give the earth a boost in the nutrients it needs to thrive. Fertilizers are meant to replace lost nutrients in your garden's soil but conventionally used chemical fertilizers can be harmful to the health of our environment, wildlife, and even our own biology. Because of this it’s best to choose high quality products that are sustainably sourced.
Recently, America Natural has introduced two brand new products RegenSea Kelp Meal Fertilizer and Sea to Soil Seaweed Fertilizer from the Montauk Seaweed Supply. Whether your goal is to grow tall blooming flower beds or lush juicy vegetables; these new seaweed products can sustainably provide your garden with the nutrients it needs.
I know what you’re thinking: “Seaweed? For my garden, no way.” But it’s loaded with tons of nutrients that help maintain healthy soil, and has been utilized by many cultures across the globe. “Seaweed” or “Sea Kelp” is the garden of the ocean. When you incorporate this amazing product into your gardening routine it will take your growing experience to an entirely new level. Seaweed is an algae that can vary in color from green to brown; and is rooted in the sea floor.
Here’s how it works:
- Vegetables fertilized with kelp meal or liquid kelp grow larger and are less likely to become soft after harvesting.
- Flowers grown with kelp fertilizer produce more and larger blooms, which typically last longer as cut flowers.
- Kelp fertilizer makes all plants stronger and healthier and better able to resist diseases and pests.
- Plant roots fed with kelp grow faster, branch better and develop greater mass.
- Kelp fertilizer not only provides unique nutrients for your plants but also makes them better able to extract additional nutrition from the surrounding soil on their own.
- Kelp meal contains ample Cytokine. The Cytokine hormone mobilizes nutrients in plant leaves to improve the chlorophyll content, and increase the growth rate and fullness of plants.
Montauk Seaweed Supply harvests their sugar kelp from “small scale ocean farmers off the coasts of Maine and Connecticut”. While most of their annual harvests are used to manufacture food, they rescue and manufacture the ‘waste’ and nonfood grade portions of their crops to make healthy fertilizer to strengthen your soil.”
Since the materials used in their products are sourced locally, Sea to Soil and RegenSea are known to have the “lowest carbon footprint and least fertilizer miles.” In contrast, most synthetic fertilizers are produced using energy intensive processes that strain our Earth’s natural resources.
When it comes to climate change co-founder Sean Barret says, “When you begin to look at how much time we have before the damage of climate change becomes irreversible, versus what our realistic available options are as far as solutions, you realize that super aggressive carbon capture activities like kelp and seaweed farming are urgently needed if we are going to succeed in saving this planet.”
For both Sea to Soil and RegenSea, Montauk Seaweed Supply Co. recommends mixing 1-2 lb. of product per 100 square feet and mixing it in with the top 3” of soil. You can also apply 1-2 teaspoons of either product into a transplant hole, or side dress each plant with 1-2 teaspoons applying every 30 days throughout the growing season.