The Black Stuff
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FAQ
What is it?
The Black Stuff is a humate. Humates are vegetative matter
that has decomposed in anaerobic conditions, usually lakes.
The Black Stuff formed over 10’s of thousands of years in
unique circumstances that concentrated the humic and fulvic
acids.
The Black Stuff is the gold standard in humates having high
concentrations of humic and fulvic acids in an available form.
No chemical processing is needed to activate The Black Stuff.
The Black Stuff, Vang Vieng, Lao PDR
Is The Black Stuff a fertiliser?
No. The Black Stuff is a soil conditioner that improves soil health and promotes the growth
of good micro-biome. The Black Stuff has a strong cation balance that means it holds water and fertiliser. This enables plants to more readily take up fertiliser and nutrients. The Black Stuff reduces water and fertiliser needs.
Tropical Race 4 affected banana farm. The Black Stuff shown to control Tropical Race pathogens.
Is The Black Stuff a fungicide?
The Black Stuff has natural properties that inhibit
harmful bacteria while promoting the growth of a
beneficial micro-biome.
Fulvic acids in The Black Stuff have a low molecular
weight that enables them to pass through cell walls
of bacteria.
Humic acids are taken up by the symbiotic fungi and
microbes that enable plants to access nutrients
otherwise unavailable to them.
The Black Stuff improves soil health and suppresses
harmful bacteria.
How long does The Black Stuff last?
In trials that have been conducted, The Black Stuff is still present and active 5 years after application. The Black Stuff has lasted thousands of years in the ground. Most manufactured humates have been formulated to be water soluble and applied through fertigation. Soluble humates need frequent applications in some case every 2 weeks. The soluble humates lack the water and fertiliser holding properties or the persistency of The Black Stuff.
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The Black Stuff will need to be topped up dependent upon soil types, rainfall, irrigation, chemical use, topography and the specific crops. The Black Stuff is typically only depleted by physical removal. For example being washed away in a storm or blown away in a dust storm.
Where The Black Stuff is made.
Is The Black Stuff organic?
The Black Stuff is a naturally occurring organic humate. The humates formed in a volcanic marr, Lynch’s Crater, over 10’s of thousands of years. There are NO chemicals or other additives. The Black Stuff is 100% natural.
The Black Stuff is not a manufactured product. The humic and fulvic acids are naturally active and available.
How are other humates manufactured ?
Most humates are a manufactured by grinding brown coal to a dust that is then treated with a strong alkali like ammonium or potassium hydroxide to release the humic acids bound up in the brown coal. The resultant Potassium Humate is a highly concentrated form of humate. This is a very toxic process that does not always activate the humic acids.
Other Humates are produced using toxic chemical extraction methods.
How much do I put on to my crop ?
The Black Stuff have been applied to many crops and plants. Application rates vary with the
plant/crop, the soil chemistry, rainfall, irrigation, and local topography. Optimum application
rates are set out in our plant/crop specific guides. Test and measure to your specific crop and
circumstances. Optimum results generally have resulted from rates of 3 cubic metres/hectare.
How is The Black Stuff applied ?
The optimum method is dependent upon the crop/plant and equipment available.
Methods:
Spreading – Belt or auger type spreaders are the most efficient means of spreading over large areas for crops like sugar cane, rice and bananas To ensure even spreading for auger spreaders the weight to volume ratio of the humate should be 90/100 or less. The Black Stuff is hydroscopic and in high humidity will clump and may foul auger spreaders.
Inter-row channel – Disc plough a channel inter-row, fill with humate and cover. Suitable for crops like grapes and passionfruit.
Apply in circle around root zone – work humate into channel around the root zone of the plants. Suitable for bananas and blueberries.
Is The Black Stuff affected by water or heat ?
The Black Stuff should not be allowed to dry out. Keep covered until used. If dried out the humate becomes water repellent and needs to be rehydrated. The Black Stuff tolerates extremes of heat and cold and water saturation. It remains bioactive. The Black Stuff was borne in the wet tropics with annual rainfall of 3 m+ pa.
Click to see oil spill clean up
What are the other uses of The Black Stuff ?
The Black Stuff is a natural organic oil cleanup solution. Spread over the oil spill till the oil clumps. The stabilised oil will breakdown into a fertiliser over time. The Black Stuff is the quick natural and organic oil spill clean-up.