VITA-PROTECT
Overview
Vita-Protect is a liquid concentrate consisting of a broad range of minerals and sugars, with humic and fulvic compounds only found in our unique Vitaplex V8 product.
Combine monosilicic acid with biological activators and plant growth stimulants and you have a powerful product that can boost both yields and profits for the farmer.
Since silicon strengthens the cell walls of leaves, disease caused by fungal spores and insects cannot break through the outer epidermis and so the plant is protected, therefore creating an option for crop growers to reduce adding fungicides and insecticides at times when they are usually ranked mixed.
Benefits
Promotes stronger, healthier plants
Helps reduce disease pressure
Helps reduce insect pressure
Increases the phosphate uptake
Protects crops from frost damage
Reduces the stress from temperature
Can nutrition stop disease?
Vita-Protect intensifies the activity of the plant soil system. Photosynthesis is increased so more carbon from the air is fixed into plant tissue.
Energy-rich compounds produced in the leaves by this vigorous metabolism move into the root system and out into the soil, where billions of bacteria, algae, fungi, protozoa and other organisms feed on this energy. The organisms in turn release minerals and growth stimulants for plant uptake - a beautiful symbiosis. Plant stress is reduced, removing growth and yield limitations.
Silicon can help to keep the plant protected but we found that this protection increases significantly when we included our specially formulated VitaplexV8 product cleverly produced from balanced organic compost, converted by worms into Humic and Fulvic acid and other organic molecules. This material is then processed further to make nutrients readily ‘available’ to plants.
Winter wheat
The single most important leaf in wheat is the ‘flag leaf’. In order to protect this leaf from disease, apply Vita-Protect as soon as the leaf is fully open.
This will provide a barrier in the leaf that will protect it from ‘boring’ insects at the same time as raising the pH of the leaf, thereby reducing the risk of mildew spores gaining a foot hold.
Another benefit is in the more erect nature of the leaf, which means it will receive more radiation and reduce limpness often seen in hot conditions.
Apply up to 4 litres per hectare in a minimum of 250 litres of water. For added benefit and to reduce risk from aphids, an application to the ear at flowering or soon after is advisable, when it will prolong the green area index and improve proteins by better utilisation of nitrogen.
Vita-Protect is in a form that plants can readily absorb together with humic/fulvic compounds and essential trace minerals. If you want to grow a healthy crop and reduce the need for chemical applications, then you will need to use Vita-Protect on a regular basis, as part of a biological programme. Not only will this help stop disease, it can also increase yield potential.
The effect of Monosilicic Acid
Monosilicic acid significantly benefits plant health and development. It strengthens cell walls by working in conjunction with calcium and lignin, resulting in stiffer plant stems that are less prone to lodging and leaves that remain rigid, optimizing their angle for sunlight capture.
This compound also mitigates plant stress from heat, drought, wind, and water-logging, allowing photosynthesis to persist longer during adverse weather conditions, leading to larger fruits and grains, improved fruit and grain retention, and quicker recovery from water-logging.
Moreover, monosilicic acid helps reduce the toxic effects of excess manganese, iron, sodium, nitrogen, and phosphate, which often occur when soil is wet in winter and spring. It aids in the even distribution of manganese throughout plant tissues, preventing localized toxicity.
Additionally, it triggers natural plant defenses by facilitating the deposition of phenolics and phytolaxins to combat powdery mildew, downy mildew, botrytis, mites, and other sucking insects. It forms a barrier against fungi and insects by accumulating silicate where the epidermis is penetrated, increasing the leaf surface's pH and inhibiting fungal growth.
Many conventional farming systems suffer from a deficiency in soluble silicates, potentially leading to the increased use of growth regulators and fungicides. In contrast, well-managed organic farms typically experience fewer deficiencies due to the use of organic manures and balanced crop nutrition.
Combining monosilicic acid with organic humic and fulvic acids creates a highly effective crop protection product, significantly boosting yield and improving crop quality.
How does it work?
Silicon is one of the most abundant minerals on the planet. It is also one of the least researched and most overlooked of nutrients. Only now is the importance of this element being appreciated.
Silicon may be abundant in your soils, but it’s not in a plant useable form - no more than the elements phosphorus, potassium and magnesium are, or the other minerals that make up your soil’s nutritional bank. They must be ‘locked-up’ or you would lose them all into your drainage water, the same as you do nitrate and nitrogen.
Plants need high levels of silicon in the form of monosilicic acid. In fact, they need similar amounts of this key element as they do nitrogen and potassium. You may apply nitrogen which does indeed make the plant grow quickly, so much so that the cell wall is weakened and this allows disease to enter.
If you also had high levels of silicic acid, this would strengthen the cell structure, make the leaf stronger and more erect. In order for a pathogen to penetrate living tissue, the pathogen must get through the wax layer first and then penetrate this hard rigid layer of silica material, before it then reaches the cell wall. Pests and disease just cannot get through the strong silicon barrier.
