Micronutrients and Plant Growth

Micronutrients are essential to satisfactory plant growth. When these mineral elements are available to the plant in the proper amounts and balance, the results are satisfactory growth and greater yields. While 95% of the green net weight of a plant may be made up from carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, and only 5% is constituted of mineral elements, without these minerals there can be no satisfactory growth. Since the soil and the plant are antagonistic systems which are in permanent competition for plant nutrients, achieving the proper balance through the root system alone is almost impossible. The twenty elements known to be essential to plant nutrition are classified as follows:

Response contains chelated micronutrients that aid plant growth. The word chelate (kee'-late) by definition means to combine with a metal (mineral). It is the bonding between a mineral and an organic molecule. The organic molecule aids in the absorption of the mineral while it also protects the mineral from being prematurely broken down, therefore making chelated minerals more stable.

Chelated basically means "firmly attached", usually to an amino acid or other organic component so that the two do not disassociate in the digestive system. By supplementing the seaweed extract base, the proper balance of these chelated trace elements has been ensured. When the metallic elements (molybdenum, copper, manganese, iron, boron and zinc) are linked or joined with the respective protein masses, they become activated enzymes. The chelated status of the critical elements enhances their ability to enter the leaf and to be transported throughout the plant.

Since NPK content is naturally low in seaweed extracts, Response has been formulated to fortify the NPK content and to insure a proper balance of the following trace elements: