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Viresco (UK) Ltd Tel: 44 (0)1845 525585 Fax: 44 (0)1845 523133 Email:sales@viresco-uk.com

Viresco (UK) Limited is a company registered in England and Wales with company number 5079726 VAT No: 481 9223 35 © 2003-2012

Suppliers of speciality products for the amateur pondkeeper and gardener worldwide

Horticultural Trials

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Three Root Biomass and Bacterial Count Trials
using Humate and Viresco

Bacterial Counts on Leaf - Longevity of Bacteria

During the summer 2000, a trial was carried out using a foliar Viresco™ product on grass leaf. This test looked at populations of bacteria on the leaf and their longevity.   

There is a commonly held, but incorrect belief, that applying bacteria to leaf is pointless as they quickly die because of the damaging effect of ultra violet radiation in sunlight. There is no question that UV does kill bacteria. However, our foliar Viresco products are formulated so as to give considerable protection from UV light to the bacteria they contain.

There is available a piece of equipment that golf greenkeepers use daily to "brew up" microbial mixes for immediate application to golf greens. This equipment is not needed as our foliar products can raise dramatically and keep at a high level for many days the bacterial counts on leaf. During the summer of 2000, London University carried out a test on turf grass to look at this question.

The product used for the trial is a 50% constituent of Viresco™ Foliar. Prior to application to the grass leaf, bacterial counts were done on ten replicates. Further counts, expressed as millions per sq. cm., were done on a regular basis and the results were as follows:

Prior to the experiment 5.60 million
After 1 day 12.44 million
After 7 days 13.52 million
After 14 days 8.99 million
After 21 days 5.66 million
After 28 days 6.73 million
After 35 days 4.59 million
After 41 days 4.34 million

It can be readily seen that the bacterial count immediately increased after application and whilst there was then a falling back in numbers, reasonably high counts were maintained for over 14 days.
It is worth pointing out that no other application of either Humate or Viresco™ was made to the soil in which the grass was growing. We believe that if a full Humate/Viresco™ programme had been in place then the bacterial counts would have been larger and lasted longer at the higher levels.

Comment

Very impressive increases in bacterial counts can be made and maintained when Humate and Viresco™ products are used on greens and sports fields. However, the bacterial counts on golf greens vary considerably according to the pH of the soil and the type of green.

Microbes have many functions and high counts are important in regard to good turf management. These functions include the breakdown of organic compounds including lignin and cellulose, the formation of humus, the stabilisation of soil, nutrient recycling, fixing of nitrogen from air and disease suppression.

The trials showed that an extremely large increase in root biomass can be achieved in a relatively short period when the Humate and Viresco™ products are used. Greenkeepers and groundsmen are constantly striving to increase the root biomass on their turf. Our Humate and Viresco™ programmes can give them, and others, what they are seeking!

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