humic acid supplements

From: Lester Kallus <lkallus at earthlink.net> on 1999.07.05 at 14:15:53(3486) My tree service folks were here this past week. They asked if I wanted a humic acid supplement applied to some of my tropicals. I declined after I looked at the ingredients. The ingredients included (and I'm doing this from memory) Vitamin B1 & B6 and "Essential Amino Acids". There were also some trace elements. +More It seemed a bit bogus to me. As for the Vitamins, I thought plants made them, not needed them. As for the Amino Acids, they're "Essential" for humans in that we can't synthesize them and so must obtain them from our diets. I wasn't aware there were plants that can't synthesize them but require them. Am I correct in assuming that what this offered therefore was the humic acid (for whatever that's worth), trace elements plus a nitrogen source in the amino acids and the vitamins? Thanks, Les

From: "Guerin, Chelsea MI USA zone 5b NARGS Great Lakes" at cissus.mobot.org on 1999.07.06 at 04:41:18(3487) The first 'humic acid' supplement that was marketed in a big way to tree service professionals was/is a product named ROOTS, which was developed at some level (maybe by some grad students, I really don't know) at the Yale School of Forestry. Many other companies have followed suit. Most of the products that I am aware of are derived from kelp. It's quite concentrated. I expect they may be of some benefit to the overall microflora and microfauna (there is -- or least should be -- some complexity to the soil ecosystem, certainly mycorrhizal fungi have been found to be essential). The products may or may not include nitrogen -- Guerin Wilkinson +More Chelsea Michigan USA

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