Fulvic acid organic fertilizer is a high-efficiency organic fertilizer with fulvic acid (the smallest molecular weight, most active, and fully water-soluble component of humic acid) as its main component, widely used in modern agriculture. Its main functions and effects can be summarized as follows:
I. Water Retention: Fulvic acid is a colloidal organic substance that loosens the soil, absorbs a large amount of water, improves aeration and moisture retention, prevents drought, and provides favorable water, air, and heat conditions for seed germination and seedling growth.
II. Improvement of Saline-Alkali Soil: Due to its small molecular weight and high activity, fulvic acid can adsorb harmful cations in the soil, thereby reducing the salt concentration and minimizing the harm of salts to seeds and seedlings, thus improving saline-alkali soil.
III. Drought and Cold Resistance:
1. When fulvic acid is sprayed onto plant leaves, it can cause the plant’s stomata to close, reducing water transpiration.
2. The dark color of fulvic acid facilitates the absorption of solar energy; when fulvic acid is decomposed by microorganisms, it releases heat, raising the soil temperature and thus contributing to cold resistance.
IV. Pest and Disease Resistance
Fulvic acid can increase the activity of enzymes in plants, thereby enhancing their resistance.
V. Prevention of Heavy Metal Pollution
Fulvic acid participates in ion exchange reactions in the soil, adsorbing and fixing heavy metal ions to prevent them from entering the biological cycle.
VI. Improved Fertilizer Efficiency
1. Nitrogen Fixation: Nitrogen applied to the soil easily volatilizes into the atmosphere or is washed into rivers by soil erosion. Fulvic acid can adsorb nitrogen in the soil, reducing its volatilization and loss, and improving its utilization rate.
2. Phosphorus Release: Phosphorus applied to the soil is easily fixed by the soil. Fulvic acid can chelate with phosphorus, releasing it from the soil for plant absorption, thus improving phosphorus utilization.
3. Potassium Activation: Most potassium applied to the soil exists in the form of potassium salts and cannot be directly absorbed by crops. Fulvic acid can convert insoluble potassium into soluble potassium through ion exchange, increasing the available potassium in the soil and improving potassium utilization.
4. Micronutrients: Fulvic acid can chelate with insoluble micronutrients to form humic acid-micronutrient chelates that are easily absorbed by crops, thus facilitating the absorption of micronutrients by roots and leaves.
VII. Promoting Crop Growth and Development
1. Fulvic acid stimulates root growth, ultimately leading to a significant increase in the crop’s ability to absorb water and nutrients.
2. The stimulating effect of fulvic acid promotes vigorous growth of the above-ground vegetative parts of the plant, manifested in plant height, stem thickness, and leaf thickness.
3. Fulvic acid has a good effect on tillering and reducing empty grains, increasing the thousand-grain weight and yield of grain.
VIII. Regulating Soil pH: Fulvic acid has many functional groups, allowing it to combine with both acids and alkalis, thus regulating soil pH according to crop needs.
Improving Soil Structure and Aggregate Structure. Fulvic acid, a type of humic substance, influences soil properties, promoting a more stable soil aggregate structure. It increases the content of soil aggregates ≥0.25mm by 10-20% and organic matter content by 10%, helping the soil retain moisture and improve aeration, which is beneficial for crop growth.
It enhances soil water retention. Fulvic acid is a hydrophilic colloid with a strong water absorption capacity, exceeding 500%. It can absorb more than twice its own weight in water from saturated atmosphere, much more than typical mineral colloids. Fulvic acid inhibits crop transpiration, slowing down soil water loss and correspondingly increasing soil moisture content.
It enhances soil nutrient retention. As an organic acid, fulvic acid increases the dissolution of minerals in the soil, providing nutrients, and also increases nutrient availability through complexation. Fulvic acid, as an organic colloid, carries both positive and negative charges, allowing it to adsorb cations and anions. This helps retain nutrients in the soil, preventing them from being lost with water and improving fertilizer utilization, which is particularly significant in sandy soils.
Promoting Micronutrient Absorption and Addressing Deficiencies: Fulvic acid chelates micronutrients to form highly mobile fulvic acid chelates that are easily absorbed by crops. These chelates are then transported to the deficient sites in the crop, effectively addressing nutrient deficiencies. Fulvic acid can chelate with micronutrients such as iron and zinc to form fulvic acid-micronutrient chelates with good solubility and easy absorption by plants, effectively solving the problem of leaf yellowing caused by iron deficiency.
Improving Crop Quality: Fulvic acid functions as a surfactant, reducing the surface tension of water and emulsifying and dispersing pesticides. It can also form hydrogen bonds or ion exchange reactions with many pesticides to varying degrees; and it can promote earlier fruit coloring and ripening, similar to the ripening effect of ethylene.
Strong Disease Resistance
1. Fulvic acid directly increases soil organic matter content, providing an excellent environment for beneficial microorganisms. Beneficial populations gradually develop into dominant species, inhibiting the growth of harmful pathogens. Furthermore, plants themselves grow stronger due to the improved soil conditions, enhancing their disease resistance and significantly reducing the occurrence of diseases, especially soil-borne diseases.
2. Fulvic acid has a significant inhibitory effect on fungi, effectively controlling many fungal diseases.
3. Fulvic acid contains phenolic and phenylcarboxylic acid structures such as carboxyl and hydroxyl groups, which are similar to the active ingredients of some phenoxycarboxylic acid and phenolic pesticides, possessing certain antibacterial and antiviral effects.
Fulvic acid is a component of soil humus, not only reducing crop burden, increasing soil fertility, and enriching the substrate for soil bacteria, but also improving crop yield and quality, thus helping farmers achieve the long-term goals of increased production, improved soil quality, and soil conservation.
