A complete liquid fertilizer that contains every essential plant nutrient has been the holy grail of liquid fertilizer manufacturers for decades. That is why the development of Gold Leaf by Plater Bio is such a major achievement.
Plater Bio, founded in 2016 in the UK, has been developing Gold Leaf for the last two years.
“The aim when creating Gold Leaf was not only to produce a product that contained every essential nutrient, but which was also buffered to the exact pH that plants need for optimal growth and with all the micronutrients in a chelated form in order to keep them available to the plant,” says Plater Bio founder Russell Sharp.
The immediate and most obvious use for Gold Leaf is as a hydroponic fertilizer. Currently, hydroponic systems rely on two- or three-part products that all need to be kept in separate tanks, blended, dosed, pH-controlled and monitored for electrical conductivity. All these tasks need to be completed before fertilizer can be applied to the crop. In contrast, Gold Leaf is simply mixed with water at the desired rate and is then ready for use.
While Gold Leaf was initially designed for hydroponics, it is now being trialed in other agricultural systems, such as in field crops.
“We are finding there is a lot of interest in Gold Leaf from conventional farming,” says Sharp. “This is because, as a complete nutrient solution, Gold Leaf reduces the number of products that need to be applied to a crop, thus saving farmers time, money and water.”
While there are suspension products already available that contain lots of plant nutrients, they contain solid material suspended in liquid. The problem with suspension fertilizers is that the solid part (calcium phosphate and calcium sulfate) are completely insoluble, even when diluted down and left for days. This is not surprising, as calcium phosphate is the principal component that makes animal bones. This means the calcium and phosphate are not available to the plant; in addition, the solid particles can block applicator filters.
The lack of calcium in conventional compound fertilizers has limited crop yields globally, as calcium is essential for many metabolic processes in plants. This has meant crops regularly suffer from physiological disorders caused by calcium deficiency, such as blossom end rot in tomatoes or bitter pit in apples. In addition, it is now widely accepted that modern fruits and vegetables contain far fewer mineral nutrients (such as calcium) that are essential to meeting human nutritional demands. As such, Plater Bio believes that Gold Leaf is set to become a major new tool employed by growers in all sectors in the near future.
Gold Leaf is not yet registered for use in the U.S., but it is being tested by potential distribution partners globally. Plater Bio is happy to speak with organizations about partnerships.
Gold Leaf is now being tested by potential distribution partners globally, and Plater Bio is happy to speak with organizations looking to partner on realizing the full potential of Gold Leaf.
.jpg)