A late-season application of BioMax™ Dual Action + amplifies root development and beneficial soil microbial activity

BioMax™ Dual Action + is a powerful multi-faceted soil fertilizer that was designed to address the new realities nut growers face.

• Decreasing water supplies.
• Increasing soil salinity.
• The 2014 European Union ruling on phosphite residues in nut meat, which prevents growers from using phosphite products.

Orchard management practices must account for and adjust to these new realities. A strategy that can address these challenges is to improve beneficial soil microbial populations and diversity. These natural allies help improve soil tilth, which aids in managing overall root health, root growth, water efficiency, salinity tolerance and soil health.

BioMax™ Dual Action + is a powerful multi-faceted soil fertilizer that has been designed to help nut growers address these demanding issues. BioMax™ Dual Action + is part microbial food source, part root development agent, part micronutrient and part soil conditioner.

A fermentation-derived food source in BioMax™ Dual Action + directly feeds beneficial native soil bacteria and fungi. Plus, a uniquely formulated seaweed extract directly feeds and encourages root development. EDTA zinc and manganese are added to supply key micronutrients needed in the preferred soil-available form to maximize root growth and health. And a soil conditioning agent ensures that BioMax™ Dual Action + penetrates into the rhizosphere where it can be most effective.

Protecting root health the natural way
The loss of phosphite creates a troubling void in root protection. But by directly feeding the soil biology, BioMax™ Dual Action + increases populations and diversity of beneficial microbes that compete against and help promote a less hospitable environment for anaerobic and pathogenic organisms. BioMax™ Dual Action + also directly feeds roots to promote growth and productivity.

Plant roots naturally exude carbohydrates and organic acid compounds that feed bacteria and mycorrhizae. In return, these organisms help solubilize soil nutrients for root uptake and help protect overall root health. Vigorous root systems are better able to mobilize the plant’s own natural protective systems.

Improving water efficiency
When microbial activity is amplified and fed, the result is internal aeration or “opening-up” of the soil, which improves moisture penetration into the rhizosphere. Increased microbial activity leads to better soil aggregate formation and increased soil moisture holding capacity.

In irrigated high-value cropping systems in arid growing regions, this increased moisture holding capacity is beneficial for improving irrigation efficiencies, which is now more important than ever in the West.

Increased reliance on ground water irrigation has created salinity issues that are negatively affecting tree health. Ensuring that beneficial microbial activity and diversity is maintained and maximized is important in managing salinity levels. An “open” soil that BioMax™ Dual Action + helps promote allows for easier leaching of salts below the rhizosphere.

Apply late-season to spur spring response
BioMax™ Dual Action + promotes a larger, stronger root mass that is more effective at foraging for nutrients and moisture to produce and size a high-quality nut crop. A late-season application of BioMax™ Dual Action + coincides with the normal fall root flush that trees experience to recover from the stresses of the season’s production and to increase nutrient uptake for over-wintering.

This flushing process ensures the plant has sufficient nutrient reserves for next spring when root function is limited in cool and wet soils. Applications of BioMax™ Dual Action + at early fall in conjunction last irrigation and as part of a robust fertility program can help optimize next spring’s early-season emergence and production.

Increased microbial populations and activity also improve the efficiency of ground applied fertilizers so growers get optimum value for their fertility investment.

A dynamic, powerful nutrition partnering
BioMax™ is Agro-K’s fermentation-based soil fertilizer containing enzymes, fermentation co-factors and micronutrients that together constitute a complex microbial food source which stimulates and increases native, existing beneficial aerobic bacteria and soil fungi such as mycorrhizae. BioMax™ contains no humic acid or living microbial agents.

Instead, BioMax™ targets and feeds naturally existing bacteria and fungi already present in the soil environment. Pre-packaged “living” soil biological products are cultured in sterile environments and are not adapted to a grower’s specific soil, crop and environmental conditions. This can limit their longevity and effectiveness.

Living microbial products may also require specific storage conditions and often have a limited shelf life, all of which can result in inconsistent field performance. In addition, the per-acre cost of living microbial additives is a bottom-line consideration.

The companion aspect within BioMax™ Dual Action + is Agro-K’s proprietary seaweed extract technology designed to promote root growth, plant growth, and overall tree vigor.

Agro-K’s seaweed products are the result of more than three decades of experience perfecting seaweed formulations for targeted agricultural use. Agro-K’s unique soil seaweed blend, which includes species like ascophyllym nodosum, goes through a unique stabilization manufacturing process that helps preserve and maximize key metabolites to create a potent soil fertilizer promoting root growth, development and function.

This “dual” strategy combining Agro-K’s fermentation soil microbial food source technology, along with Agro-K’s seaweed-based root growth promoting technology, creates a powerful nutritional tool for the new realities of producing nut crops.

Innovation in action
BioMax™ Dual Action + is an innovative new fertility product designed to:
• Increase populations and diversity of beneficial microbes that compete against and promote a less hospitable environment for anaerobic and pathogenic organisms.
• Target and directly feed soil microbes to enhance overall soil tilth to improve water efficiency – both moisture penetration and retention.
• Address increasing ground salinity issues –1) by improving moisture penetration and airflow so that rainfall can better leach salts; 2) by increasing natural root exudate and organic acid production within the rhizosphere to aid in buffering salinity effects.
• Improve beneficial microbial population, diversity and activity to help manage soil health and to improve nutrient cycling and root uptake to maximize tree productivity and long-term orchard health.
• Speed new plantings into bearing sooner, with increased production because of improved root health.

Vigor and Dextro-Lac® for foliar nutrition
BioMax™ Dual Action + is best used as part of a comprehensive plant physiology-based nutrient program utilizing foliar products in Agro-K’s Vigor and Dextro-Lac® line. These products can be used prescriptively when soil and/or tissue tests indicate specific nutrient imbalances, or when stages of development such as bud break, bloom, hull development, veraison, and kernel fill are known to trigger peak demand for certain nutrients.

Vigor and Dextro-Lac® products are compatible with most other foliar crop inputs, including customary mid-season applications for pest control, such as those at hull split and for codling moth. Agro-K’s exclusive Vigor process adds additional value and performance using a proprietary biological finishing technique that improves plant response.

Helping plants and growers cope and succeed
As has been true for nearly 50 years, Agro-K continues to provide the nutrition programs, strategies, and products growers can trust to optimize yield and quality. The recent focus of Agro-K research and development has included a response to the climate and production challenges facing orchards, vineyards and farms today. The result is this new BioMax™ Dual Action + nutrition program supporting the use of both soil-applied and foliar feeding technologies.

Dextro-Lac is a registered trademark and BioMax is a trademark of Agro-K Corporation.
© 2015 Agro-K Corporation.