Speaking of pumpkins and kelp . . . no today’s Halloween, but we’re speaking of kelp processing.

We’re traced the history of kelp usage and processing up through the 1950’s and the Norwegians.  Although their processes did allow for storage of kelp and transport, the process was certainly not kelp-friendly.  In fact, all the methods developed to process kelp other than the one that we use are not kelp-friendly.

They’re harsh. They utilize steps such as dehydration, high alkalinity or chemical digestion (hydrolyses), and/or heat to remove moisture from the seaweed sludge.  This results in a dark brown, water soluble seaweed powder.  This powder retains the seaweed minerals, but the natural plant growth stimulants – the biostimulants – contained in fresh kelp seaweed are mostly lost and destroyed.

Not too different from your mother saying don’t boil the vegetables too long so you don’t lose the vitamins.

And, vitamins have me thinking of non-vitamin things like candy.  So tonight I’m off early for a little trick-or-treating with the kids.  Enjoy your Halloween and share that candy!

If you’ve just joined us, we’re looking at how you can use kelp to help increase your crop yields, improve your golf greens, or receive more benefit in your hydroponic operation in these tough economic times by using kelp.  We also think that we can save you on costs at the same time that you improve results.

So back to kelp’s history: the Norwegians we were discussing worked with Ascophyllum seaweed in the 1950′s.  They developed a process to concentrate the components of kelp and improve the shelf-life of it.  This allowed them to market and ship their kelp product to agricultural areas far from the source of the kelp deposits.

Of course, during the 1950′s our scientific knowledge of plant physiology was less sophisticated than today.  Agronomists did understand the importance of the three major plant nutritional chemicals:  nitrogen, potassium and phosphates.  They were just beginning to learn about the contribution of various trace elements such as molybdenum, iron and zinc to plant growth.  So applying trace elements was very rare.  And, the idea of plant growth stimulants or “hormones” was completely unknown.

That means that the Norwegian focus of processing the kelp was simply to concentrate the major and trace minerals found in the seaweed.  No one gave any thought to other plant growth values.  Well, again it grows late.  I’ll continue this ramble down kelp history lane tomorrow.  You’ll soon see why kelp processing matters and how the use of kelp will improve your bottom line.

Agriculture has had a tough year with escalating fertilizer costs.  Many of you are wondering how this will all shake out, and more importantly in these uncertain economic times, how to make each dollar invested in your business stretch further.

We at Cambrian Biotechnologies would recommend incorporating kelp into your plant growth plans.  You may not realize that kelp seaweeds have been used by man for centuries to assist and encourage crop growth and yields.  The earliest known usage of this natural material was when farmers collected cast kelp from the ocean shores and transported it to nearby fields.  They then spread and dug it into the soil where, of course, natural composting processes would break the material down and convert the organic seaweed compounds into forms available for plant nutrition.

In those days, this practice was limited to farming areas situated close to shorelines where kelp deposits were regularly available.  This meant that the use and beneficial effect of kelp on plant growth was known in only certain coastal areas of a few countries.

All this changed in Norway in the 1950′s, but more about that tomorrow.  The night grows long, and as Chief Technology Officer for Cambrian, I must off to bed before another day of kelp projects begins.