What's humic acid

Humic substances can be divided into three different components based on their solubility;

Humic acid: the component of humus that is not soluble in water, with a very low pH value, that becomes soluble as the pH rises. Through a unique process we have managed to make the humic acid soluble.

Fulvic acid: the humus component that is soluble at any pH value.

Humin: the component of humus that is insoluble in water at any pH value.

The precise structure and properties of humus substances are highly dependent on the source from which they are isolated and the methods of extraction.

Humic substances are the most common organic macromolecules in nature and have a high carbon content. They are an important component in the soil; they have an effect on the physical and chemical properties of the soil and they improve soil fertility, but also increase the disease resistance of plants/crops so that they can better withstand stress. Humus improves the structure and processability of the soil and increases its moisture retention capacity. Humus also stimulates soil life and increases soil resilience. In nature, humus is replenished faster than it disappears, giving you a build-up of humus and a continuous improvement of the quality of the soil, and yet modern agriculture means that more and more humic acid disappears from our soil every year, impoverishing our agricultural land and decreasing crop yields.

A high quality Humic Fulvic Acid product would incorporate only 100% soluble Humic Fulvic Acids to keep filters and drippers free from blockages. But, 1 in every 3 products contained high levels of fine insoluble particles that could potentially block irrigation equipment.

We found three main types of insoluble products:

precipitated Humic Fulvic Acids that had become insoluble during storage remnants of the raw material that remained after processing micronised raw materials A high quality product is designed to avoid the precipitation of Humic Fulvic Acids during storage and across seasons. Regarding raw materials, while it is inevitable that a small quantity of these will remain in the final product, there were large variations in insolubles levels between the products analysed. Most high quality Humic Acids should not contain any raw material remnants that will not pass through a 200 mesh (74 micron) sieve to minimise the risk of blockages.

In some cases, when the insoluble particles of the product were removed, there were little to no soluble Humic Fulvic Acids remaining. This indicates that micronised Leonardite, or other unrefined or unpurified micronised materials were utilised in the product. As a result, the Humic and Fulvic Acids in these particular products would not have been available in the soil, or to plants, possibly for decades.

A high quality Humic Fulvic product would be highly refined by the manufacturer, with all of the Humic Fulvic Acids delivered in a soluble form (either liquid or highly soluble granule / powder) for immediately functionality when applied to the soil, or sometimes in the case of Fulvic Acids the crop.