1. Promotes Beneficial Fungi

Humic acid is a powerful revolutionizing agent in agriculture because it directly promotes the growth of different kinds of beneficial fungi, including the all-popular mycorrhizal fungi, which is now being mass-produced and is commercially available to hydroponics growers because it helps improve nutrient uptake in plants and also helps reduce the incidence of root diseases.

As you may already know, root diseases can become prevalent in hydroponics setups because the roots of the plants are constantly in contact with the nutrient solution.

By adding humic acid, fulvic acid, and mycorrhizal fungi to the equation, you will be creating the perfect environment for your crops to thrive minus the threat of molds and root issues.

2. Increases Cell Growth, Elongation, and Heightens Nutrient Uptake

By buffering the immediate surroundings that affect plants, humic acid is capable of improving nutrient absorption of plants by as much as 40%, and it can also help prevent the incidence of the dreaded condition called nutrient lock.

Nutrient lock is triggered by one or both of the following conditions: there are too many mineral salts in the system or the pH level has fluctuated so much that the plant roots can no longer utilize available nutrients.

So there are plenty of nutrients in the nutrient solution, but not enough of it is being utilized by the plants, leading to plant malnutrition. Humic acid is able to improve the uptake of nutrients by working on the permeability of the plant’s cellular structure.

Additionally, it also contains an auxin-like promotant that increases the rate of cellular elongation and growth. All in all, if you want a much bigger harvest this year, there really is no reason for you to no try applying humic acid and fulvic acid.

3. Improves The Quality of Your Nutrient Solution

Humic acid is known for having a high CEC or cation exchange capacity. What does this mean?

What it essentially does is it binds to micro elements in the soil or water and holds them in a form that is easier for plants to directly absorb for sustenance and growth.

It has plenty of negatively charged ions that attach themselves to positively charged cations in the nutrient solution. The cations contain nutrients like calcium, magnesium, etc. In short: humic acid essentially frees the nutrients available in the solution so your plants can actually use them.

Think of HA and FA as a means of turbo-charging your systems ability to sustain its crops. The process of binding negatively charged ions to positively charged cations is called chelation.

Both soil humus and peat moss contain natural FA and HA, but the commercial variant can offer up to five times what occurs in nature. With this in mind, it is easy to imagine what the regular application of humic acid can easily do to you crops, especially if they have been struggling for quite some time now.

4. Regulates The Depletion Zone

The area around the roots of the plants (whether it’s soil or a nutrient solution) can be come easily depleted because plants uptake macro and micro nutrients continually.

What HA and FA do is they reduce this depletion zone precisely because they can bind to positive cations, and they essentially act as large storage boxes where plants can just reach in and get nutrients whenever they need to.

Humic acids have a natural affinity to plant roots, so what happens after they bind to positive cations is they are drawn to the living root structure of the plant, where the root network is ready for the uptake of nutrients.

The process takes place repeatedly, throughout the day, and with sufficient application of humic acids, you can be assured of a truly bountiful harvest, even if you haven’t been growing crops hydroponically for a long time.

5. Improves Hydroponic Media

One of the more recent observations of experts is that humic acids are actually capable of improving the quality of grow media, like clay, which is the base material for expanded clay pellets.

Continuous exposure to humic acids can make clay softer, more porous, and aerobic too. One of the reasons why expanded clay pellets are often combined with perlite or vermiculite is due to its less than stellar record when it comes to aeration of the plant roots. Low oxygen conditions are never a good thing in hydroponics, and can easily lead to a host of problems that can greatly affect the quality of your harvest.

What is interesting here is that despite the fact that clay is not really organic matter per se, it still yields to the complex compounds found in humic acids. In addition to improving the aerobic capacity of clay, experts have also discovered that the clay, after long exposure to humic acids, can also drain moisture more quickly.

And let’s not forget that in addition to its clay-binding properties, humic acids are also capable of stimulating plant growth, increasing nutrient uptake, and they can also help remove toxic chemical compounds and heavy metals from the plant’s immediate environment.

Whether you are a conventional farmer or a modern hydroponics grower who is always on the lookout for the latest innovations in soil-less cultivation, you really cannot go wrong with applying humic acids.

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