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Entry Date
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Nick Name
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Location
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Sunday, August 03, 2008
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Big Kahuna 26
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Ontario, Canada.
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Entry 75 of 127 |
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Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC), Humic Acid and Atlantic Giant Pumpkins (AGP).
Humic acid is one of the major components of organic substances. It is dark brown and a major component of soil organic matter. Humic acid and its cousins Fulvic acid and Humus can be found in most soils, manure, marsh water courses and boggy peat moss. These substances are the end result of years decaying plant organic matter which has been continually broken down from its prior Humus form. Humic acid can also be found in overlying coal deposits called leonardite in various forms and compostion.
In the garden humic acid is simply the best natural chelating (nutrient holder) product Mother Nature can offer. Cation Exchange Capacity or simply the total amount of nutrient a particular soil can hold is raised by its porosity. By supercharging the CEC of the surrounding soil it can hold calcium and other nutrients in easy uptake able forms ready for roots to feed upon. Humic acid contains numerous negatively charged (-) anions that attract or hold onto positively charged cations in the soil. These cations include a host of elements good for growing vegetables. Calcium (Ca++), Ammonium (+), Magnesium (+), and Iron (+) are main ones we focus on. This chelation or carrying of cations or holding onto is probably the most important role of humic acids with respect to the garden. The cation exchange capacity (CEC) of most popular brands of humic acid is in the range of 500 to 600 milliequivalents (me) per 100 grams. This is about five times greater than the CEC of good quality peat moss and twice as high as the CEC of soil humus.
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