The Most Important Soil Amendment You’ve Never Heard Of

Marshall Grain Co.
Jul 1
5 min read

Humate: The Secret Ingredient That's Missing From Your Soil

hands holding rich looking soil — Even if your soil looks healthy, it's probably missing this amazing ingredient.

The goal of every North Texas gardener is to grow bigger, better-looking plants. We want eye-popping color, robust, nutrient-rich vegetables, and thick, deep green lawns. But a high-performance garden is like a professional athlete. To stay in peak physical condition requires the constant replenishment of the energy pulled from your soil.

But how do you achieve that? First by building an organically-maintained landscape. And second by adding nature's secret ingredient — Humates.

Plants have natural, built-in defense systems against pests and diseases. But, these defenses are only effective if the plant is healthy and proper nutrition is available. Chemical fertilizers attempt to short cut this natural processes by putting food, primarily nitrogen and phosphate, into the soil. In the process, they kill off the natural soil life, making the soil unproductive. As a result plants must be regularly force fed. Stop feeding it and the plant will go into decline.

In an organic landscape, your soil acts as a self-renewing reservoir that stores the millions of beneficial microorganisms, minerals, and other life needed to facilitate nutrient uptake and provide immunity to pests and diseases until the plant needs them. Millions of bacteria, fungi, and microscopic animals assist with moisture retention, facilitate nutrient uptake, and fight off potential problems. The continuous process of decomposition replenishes these resources making it possible for plants to draw nutrients from the soil as needed. Having an abundance of organic matter and a diverse population of these microorganisms is the essential to achieving the healthiest soil possible. And over time, your landscape will require less time, money, and effort to maintain.

Healthy soil is the key to a more beautiful and productive lawn and garden. Humates enhance the soil to make it even more productive.

North Texas native soils are notoriously poor. They're frequently either heavy, compacted clay, or overly porous sand. Both need to be amended heavily to make them productive. However, even typical organic yards are often still missing a powerful ingredient: Humates.

What Is Humate

Humates are essentially a special type of soil amendment that are super-rich in all of the above ingredients. But where do they come from? And how do you get them into your garden?

For thousands of years, people have known that adding carbon, in the form of charcoal, to the soil super-charges this process and increases productivity. But carbon comes in other forms as well, including coal and peat. Humates, another carbon source, are the best form for your garden.

As Old as Dirt

Humates are fossilized carbon, similar to coal, formed from the decomposition of ancient plant and animal matter over thousands years. Essentially, the older it is, the better is. One Humate deposit in New Mexico is estimated to be 75 million years old and is considered to be one of the best in the world!

Humate-rich soil is easy to spot, as it is darker and richer than our native soils, and it is primarily composed of humic acids, fulvic acids, and humin, each of which plays a unique role in soil health.

Just a teaspoon of Humate-rich soil contains over 900 million beneficial bacteria, protozoa, nematodes, archaea, bacteriophages and miles of fungal material. These tiny life forms are what makes food for plants. Some live in a symbiotic relationship with the plants attaching to them and colonizing plant structures. Others protect the plant from insects and disease. They combine minerals to make them into organic compounds that can be ingested by plants more easily.

A Dramatic Difference

The benefits of adding Humates are often dramatic. Thin grass that is struggling turns a deep green and rapidly thickens. Crop yields increase by as much as 100-fold. Some experts even report that the nutritional quality of edible crops is superior. Problems with parasitic fungus decline. Plants show greater resilience to stresses of drought and heat.

They also work much faster. Without Humates, building a self-sustaining organic landscape can take one to three years or more, depending on the original condition of your soil. With them, it's possible to achieve the same result in about half the time.

Adding Humates to your soil will:

Loosen clay soils
Increase the biological activity of sandy soils
Turn grass a deep green faster than adding nitrogen
Reduce water usage
Produce stronger root systems
Increase the growth and vitality of turf, vegetables and ornamental plants
Help to remove salts and toxins from the soil

Humates Improve Soil Structure

Humates increase soil porosity and aggregation, which enhances aeration, water infiltration, and root penetration. They loosen clay and other compacted soils that can prevent roots from spreading and strengthening, so they're free to expand and develop more fully.

Humates Hold Nutrients

Humates act like a sponge by holding onto nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, preventing them from leaching away and making them more accessible to plants over time.

Humates Enhance Microbial Activity

They provide food for beneficial soil microorganisms and fungi, thereby supporting a healthy soil ecosystem and optimizing nutrient usage.

Humates Increase Water Holding Capacity

Their unusual molecular structure helps soils retain water, which is especially valuable in drought-prone or water-restricted areas like North Texas.

Humates Boost Plant Growth and Stress Resistance

Humates stimulate root growth, improve nutrient uptake, and help plants resist environmental stresses like drought, salinity, and disease.

Humates Improve Seed Germination

By creating a favorable environment and providing essential nutrients, Humates enhance seed germination rates and seedling vigor.

Humates Reduce The Need for Fertilizers

By improving nutrient efficiency, Humates can decrease the need for fertilizers, making farming more sustainable and cost-effective.

Ways to Add Humates to Your Garden

Marshall Grain offers the MicroLife line of organic soil amendments, which includes: Humates Plus 0-0-4, an organic soil amendment that provides over 100 minerals; vitamins; natural plant hormones and stimulators; essential sugars, amino acids, carbon, and proteins; plus billions of beneficial microorganisms. Humates Plus can be applied to your lawn with a fertilizer spreader. It is also available as a liquid.

Conclusion

If you want to rapidly and dramatically achieve a healthier, better looking landscape, consider applying Humates to your lawn and garden.

Let Us Do It For You

Marshall Grain serves residents of the Greater Grapevine-Colleyville Texas area, offering comprehensive organic estate gardening services, including the application of Humates and other soil amendments, as well as fertilization, pruning, planting, identifying and treating for pests and diseases, and general clean up.