Hi All,

Some of you may remember Jose's post in the "other" forum which turned into another Dan vs. Al slugfest.  The topic involved the use of humic acid in container culture.  While I agree with Al that the degradation of organic matter will supply the trees with humic acid, I wasn't sure how long before the amount in the container reached beneficial levels and how long the benefits would last.  I decided to experiment in November with 30ish cuttings from a large tree still growing in my backyard.

I figured I would need to buy some HA to conduct the experiment anyway, and it couldn't hurt to use it now.  So I bought some to use on my rooted cuttings.  While it is way to early to tell, I did see something which could be potentially interesting.  I have some of my plants on the lid of a plastic tote.  After watering the trees, some of the run off, including the HA, pooled in the center of the lid.  I had two 'Violet de Bordeaux' trees which the roots at the bottom of the container were in contact with the run off (see pic).  In one of the trees, the roots seem to be larger in diameter and more "fuzzy" where it was in contact. 

I have three 'LSU Purple' trees which are identical which I decided to do a small trial with this year.  I took the best looking (in terms of root growth) and marked it not to get HA, the other two will get it along with the other cuttings during normal watering.  We'll see how it goes.

~james

I had thought about trying a humic acid dip as a rooting "hormone", ala "willow tea" which I have read is helpful in rooting many things. I got side tracked by using compost and perlite as a rooting medium and think that the "compost tea" which results from adding water to this mixture acts as a rooting stimulant n much the same way. Humic acid was tiraled as a root stimulant at Cal State Univ Pomona (I think that is right). a few years back and was found to have near miraculous affects on root growth, and consequently on general plant growth, development and health.

Can't think of any willows in my neighborhood. Would making a "tea" from well-decomposed mulch be a good source of humic acid? Would a commercial product be better, and if so, is there a specific one you'd recommend?

Ken, as I understand it, the helpful part of willow tea from from something leaching out of the bark. Humic acid is a different chemical from a different source (a form of coal) and does not come from willow tea. I just theorized that the humic acid might serve the same purpose of the willow tea's chemical.

After reading about the benefits of humic acid, I had the same thought of soaking sphagnum moss for rooting.  In the past, I have used a weak tea and SuperThrive (Vitamin B and Auxim) when rooting in containers and this year as a soak for SM.  As I mentioned, I'll see how many cuttings I can get off my tree when it goes dormant and play around.

Sorry Ken, last night when I responded to the post, only Jon's first post showed up. 

I found this at one of the do it yourself websites:

Do You Need to Add Humic Acid to Your Compost?     

There are some companies that produce humic acid as an additive for compost and compost tea. Compost by itself creates humic acid. Unless your soil is sterile, the humic acid produced naturally by composting is all you need.     

Should You Put Humic Acid in You Compost Tea?                                                                

Commercially produced humic acid can be a useful additive in compost tea. It is a food substrate and food source for microorganisms. Plants being given compost tea with humic acid added to it will benefit from its ability to aid in water retention and nutrient uptake. Humic acid can also increase the fungal content of your tea.   

While it can enhance the effects of compost tea, commercial humic acid is not a necessary additive for composting.

The only liquid humic acid I could find in my area (maybe I should say I bought the first one I found) is the MedinaAg Humate.  It is derived from Leonardite.  I would guess that most of the liquid humic acids are close to the same. 

~james

Thanks, Jon & James, for the info. When I read the initial posts on this thread, I wondered if applying willow tea or humic acid (not realizing there was a difference) to my UCD cuttings at this point might speed up/enhance their rooting (I'm getting shoot growth but no visible roots yet). However, based on info gathered from other postings, I had already included a little sphagnum and compost in my medium, so I'm guessing everything's okay with regard to humic acid. I suppose what I need now is the one ingredient hardest to come by--patience. If I could only find a source for that....