Climate change… Give trees a fighting chance (2)
24/09/2020 - 09:14
Recently 2 articles appeared in the German press. We've translated them into English. This is the second one...
Soil conditioners: 95 percent of stored water is available for plants
Translated from "Bodenverbesserer: Gespeichertes Wasser zu 95 Prozent für Pflanzen verfügbar" (Pro Baum 3 - 2020)
Lush trees in the city contribute to people's well-being. However, they can only fulfil this task if they have healthy root growth from the moment they are planted in order to absorb sufficient nutrients and water. The last couple of years have proven this: it is necessary and sensible to improve the soil of the planting sites.
TerraCottem Arbor, the effective 3 in 1 soil conditioner, meets all requirements for woody and perennial plantations in dry locations.
Key component number one: highly effective water and nutrient storage granules. Once introduced into the soil during planting, the granules remain active for eight years. TerraCottem can store about 8 litres of water per 100 grams, 95 percent of which is available for the plants. The growth and survival rate can thus be significantly improved, and the time-consuming irrigation cycles can be extended. In the long term, the water reservoir will completely decompose which is an important environmental aspect of the product.
The water storage capacity is already a plus, but special root growth activators (biostimulants), component number two, are crucial for a good start. They have been proven to stimulate root growth and help the trees in the new location to quickly gain a foothold. It is precisely this fraction of the mixture that makes the difference to other soil additives. Active root growth is not only essential for anchoring in the soil, but also for water and nutrient absorption.
Component number three ensures sufficient nutrition: the NPK fertiliser mixture together with humic acid. It consists of water-soluble, rapidly released and coated mineral fertilisers with long-term effects of up to twelve months and a proportion of synthetic-organic nitrogen fertiliser to cover the entire initial phase.
Humic acid additionally improves the water retention capacity, soil structure and microbiological activity.
The all-in-one soil conditioner is a dry, well spreadable, fine-grained granular mixture which can be easily and homogeneously be incorporated into the soil during planting in dry weather.
Photo: Practical example from Berlin-Neukölln: Alnus Cordataim planted in a substrate mixed with TerraCottem in April. Due to bark damage, the tree had to be replaced after only six months. The root development in the meantime was extremely good.
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