Thanks to great team work, Cambrian Biotech had a successful presence at the ACRES Conference in St Louis last week.

FEDEX delivered on time, our booth looked sharp and Bruce & I looked totally irresistible in our yellow Cambrian logo’d shirts.  The bowl of candy on the table assured that we got the attention of every next generation organic grower visiting this prestigeous international event. In fact, some even visited multiple times. Ever watch the faces of grown-ups when kids move in to take over? They all light up with broad grins – so did we!

An interesting comment was made as we departed the Hyatt Regency Station Hotel by the heavily over coated doorman. Not a youngster, he commented that he had never experienced such a pleasant group of people visiting his hotel - friendly, courteous and cooperative. It sure was a pleasure mingling with thousands of folks indiscriminately smiling and nodding ‘good morning’ at each other.

We met old friends and made a whole lot of new ones. Too many to recount but memories were made and bonds were established with growers, distributors and formulators alike. We look forward to contributing to the organic movement by being of service both on a technical level and as dependable bulk material suppliers.

We remained at our post until the last moment. When the lights flashed to signal the end of the enjoyable event, we dismantled and packed at a furious speed. It was not fast enough however; the result was that a connecting flight was missed and I had the pleasure of enjoying the home comforts of Atlanta airport from 8 pm to 9 am the following morning. Made friends with a number of the early morning cleaning crew. The benches however, were no match for my hard but comfortable mattress back home! All in the line of duty.

Our thanks go to all who visited, too many to mention; a few deserve a special word though –  Jim, Leonel, Terry, Nate, and Paula (of ACRES). We look forward to meeting you all again at next year ACRES event.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if we could be of service.

Home, sweet home..

Regards, SP

Well folks, the bags are stuffed and boxes heavy; all packing off to St Louis, MO tomorrow to attend and mingle with the organic like minded at the ACRES Conference. 

This a premier event, drawing visitors from around the globe. So different from just 5 years ago, there is no doubting the ‘power of going organics’ anymore!

The Cambrian Biotech team has burned late oil for this event; our thanks in particular go to Jack and his professional team at Black Out Design, Scranton, PA. for pulling through.

Bruce Keltner and I are exited and eagerly looking forward to meeting good friends such as Jim Anderson, of Seagrass Recovery Inc.  – Jim has got some real interesting ‘growing organic underwater’ experiences – and Leonel Fernandes, – Cambrians materials resource associate just back from South Africa  – at Cambrian Biotech booth, #12B

 An adventure is about to begin. Hope to see you there at the Hyatt Regency Converance Center, St Louis; anytime from Thurday 4th to Saterday 6th December. Please stop by for some candy and Ecklonia kelp talk. 

Back here Monday 8th to drop a blog note & mind the store with Julie.

Keep warm, SP.

Going back to the late 70′s. seaweed products were considered plant growth mineral supplements and used by growers as such..

Plant hormones were, at that time, only recently discovered and their function in plant growth not yet fully understood.  It is therefore understandable that the seaweed processes in existence back then did not consider hormonal presence in seaweed and the potential significance of these natural compounds.     

It was clearly obvious, after foliar spraying beans and roses with mechanically processsed cytoplasm of freshly harvested & processed Ecklonia kelp, that the resulting growth & flowering ‘explosion’ could not be ascribed to a fertilizer growth reaction as Ecklonia’s  N, P & K levels are rather insignificant.  It had to be a hormonal growth response.

So, where to find a hormonal analytical expert?

It turned out that a world leading expert in this field was a couple of hundred miles away, based at The University of Natal.  

Prof. Hannes van Staden was gracious and receptive to our appeal and initiated a research study which, it turned out, led to the elevation of Ecklonia kelp from being a micronutrient source to an organic hormonally active, valuable plant growth stimulant with the capabilities to significantly increase and improve crop yields. The stage was set & the course clear.

 Today, 28 years later, we know with absolute certainty that Ecklonia kelp contains high levels of natural auxin-like and cytokinin-like compounds. These natural compounds, based in a kelp-sourced micro nutrient soup, have the proven capabilities to increase and improve food production around the globe.

G’night. SP

Cambrian Biotech is all about Ecklonia maxima.  ‘Why Ecklonia’ you might ask.

Well, here is some background:

Mankind has been using seaweeds for centuries in an ever-growing variety of materials & products. Numerous industries; human & animal foods, textile, medical, paper, agricultural, chemical and cosmetics, all utilize seaweed products in one shape or another. These all benefit from the vast and varied properties and compounds present in marine algae.

At this point, it might be helpful to define seaweed and kelp.

Seaweed is grouped in three main groups, depending on color –

1.      Phaeophytes, or brown seaweed or kelps,

2.      Rhodophytes, the red seaweed group and

3.      Chlorophytes, containing all the green pigmented seaweeds.

It is mainly the brown kelp group and the red seaweed group that are exploited for its commercial value. In some areas cultivation of Chlorophytes – unicellular green algae – are underway.

One species of brown kelp, Ecklonia maxima,  a member of the Phaeophyte group grows very large on extensive reefs mainly in Southern Africa. This kelp type, in particular, is proving to be a significantly valuable, multi functional, renewable resource.

These marine plants are demanding; they require cold, nutrient rich, sediment-free (clear) ocean currents, originating in the Antarctica, in addition to a rocky coastline, which is regularly subjected to intense wave action and cross-shore wind energy.

Adapting to this harsh and nutrient-rich environment has imparted Ecklonia kelp with certain attributes not found in other members of the same Phaeophyte group.

These environmental factors have created a unique kelp type with extremely high levels of alginates (gel) which explains the rubbery nature and strength of the tissue, a wide range of trace elements, amino acids, vitamins and hormonal compounds. All these components are critical to Ecklonia’s high growth rate. Highly successful re-colonization after natural beach casting during storm conditions and/or commercial harvesting is also a critical factor.

We’ll take a closer look at the properties and applications of Ecklonia maxima, the king of kelps, tomorrow.

Thanks for visiting. SP

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A thought to share:

There are some aspects that need be considered when shipping, handling and using organic liquid concentrates such as natural fish emulsions, kelp concentrates and humates.

Unlike liquid chemical fertilizers; i.e. formulations which consist of one or a few purified chemical components, liquid organic formulations consist of a much wider spectrum of nutritional elements and organic molecules, i.e.  Vitamins, amino acids, trace elements, macro nutrients, gels and growth stimulants; a true organic ‘fertilizer soup’ one might say.

Some of these components are in true solution whereas others might be contained in a suspended form; all with varied molecular weights.

The effects of this is that such liquid organic concentrates tend to separate in layers of similar molecular weights within the bulk container after a certain shelf  period. A certain amount of sedimentation might also have occurred during a lengthy time period. To ensure a consistent product, it is therefore important to apply effective re-mixing of the bulk material prior to container filling and/or farm applications. ‘Shake, or stir well’ is a good idea.

Also, as any dairy farmer would attest; handling milk requires care & sensible handling and storing practices. For instance, we know that cool, clean environments are preferred to maximize shelf life of milk; the same applies to all organic liquid concentrates. Keep the lids closed and product cool. Organic liquids all require some form of stabilization; by exposing concentrated organic liquid concentrates to open air bug contamination under heat conditions could strain a delicate stabilization system.

And remember not to store diluted product; it has to be applied. Dilution also dilutes the stabilizer balance with potential odorous consequences!  Can’t blame the dog for that one!

Until next time, Take care, SP