Earth Smart Solutions eco-friendly products are formulated using naturally occurring and sustainable ingredients. Our natural products are designed to help sustain and enhance the health of eco systems and organisms when applied.

Our product ingredients include macronutrients, micronutrients and additional vitamins, minerals and trace elements.

Many of the ingredients which go into our products for plants are essential for plant health.

Our product formulations include many of these ingredients, but also an assortment of amino acids and enzymes, bacteria and fungi, and natural ingredients including molasses, yucca and kelp.

The success of our collection of products for plants is based on a tailored blend of beneficial microbes, beneficial bacteria, amino acids and fungi that all play a role in the health of a plant throughout the plant’s life and growth cycle.​​

Our assorted products include different blends of these ingredients in order to maximize plant potential throughout the various stages of the plant's life cycle. ​​

This blog will focus on the Micronutrients that we use in many of our products.

MICRONUTRIENTS

Micronutrients are essential elements that are required in smaller quantities than macronutrients.​

Micronutrients used in many of our products include:​

• Copper (Cu)​
• Boron (B)​
• Iron (Fe)​
• Zinc (Zn)​
• Molybdenum (Mo)​

Micronutrients are not of lesser importance than macronutrients as per the Law of the Minimum:  If any micronutrient is deficient, the growth of the entire plant will not reach maximum yield.​

COPPER

• Essential element for plant growth.  Without adequate copper, plants will fail to grow properly. ​
• Key to the formation of chlorophyll and required in the process of photosynthesis.​
• Essential in several enzyme systems ​
• Activates some enzymes in plants which are involved in lignin synthesis. ​
• Essential in plant respiration ​
• Assists in plant metabolism of carbohydrates and proteins ​
• Plays an important role in nitrogen utilization ​
• Serves to intensify flavor and color in vegetables and color in flowers ​
• Copper deficiency in soils has been correlated to lodging in cereal crops, mainly because copper is a nutrient involved in lignification or straw strength, which determines the standability of the plant. ​
• Low copper can also cause increased disease, increases in ergot and melanosis, twisted flag leaves and an increase of aborted seeds in the head. ​
• Inadequate levels of copper can lead to poor growth, delayed flowering, and plant sterility. 

IRON

• Of the micronutrients, iron is needed in the greatest quantity ​
• Iron is a constituent of several enzymes and some pigments. ​
• Plays a critical role in metabolic processes such as DNA synthesis, respiration, and photosynthesis. ​
• Many metabolic pathways are activated by iron and it is a prosthetic group constituent of many enzymes. 
• Iron plays a significant role in various physiological and biochemical pathways in plants. It serves as a component of many vital enzymes such as cytochromes of the electron transport chain, and it is thus required for a wide range of biological functions. ​
• In plants, iron is involved in the synthesis of chlorophyll and is essential for the maintenance of chloroplast structure and function. Without iron a plant can’t produce chlorophyll, can’t get oxygen and won’t be green. ​
• Assists in nitrate and sulfate reduction and energy production and enzyme functions within plants ​
• Helps to carry important elements through a plant’s circulatory system such as oxygen. 

ZINC

• In plants, zinc is a key constituent of many enzymes and proteins.​
• Crucial to plant development, as it plays a significant part in a wide range of processes such as growth hormone production and internode elongation. ​
• Zinc activates enzymes that are responsible for the synthesis of certain proteins.  ​
• Used in the formation of chlorophyll and some carbohydrates​
• Involved in conversion of starches to sugars ​
• Its presence in plant tissue helps the plant to withstand cold temperatures.  ​
• Zinc is essential in the formation of auxins, which help with growth regulation and stem elongation. ​
• Zinc deficiency is probably the most common micronutrient deficiency in crops worldwide, resulting in substantial losses in crop yields and human nutritional health problems. ​
• Symptoms of zinc deficiency include one or some of the following: ​stunting - reduced height, interveinal chlorosis, brown spots on upper leaves and distorted leaves 

MOLYBDENUM

• Molybdenum is the only micronutrient that is mobile within the plant. ​
• In plant growth, it helps in the nitrogen, oxygen and sulfur cycles. ​
• Molybdenum is an essential component in two enzymes important for nitrogen fixing and nitrogen reduction (nitrogenase and nitrate reductase), that convert nitrate into nitrite (a toxic form of nitrogen) and then into ammonia before it is used to synthesize amino acids within the plant.  ​
• It is also needed by symbiotic nitrogen fixing bacteria in legumes to fix atmospheric nitrogen.
• Plants also use molybdenum to convert inorganic phosphorus into organic forms in the plant. ​
• In the absence of enough of the mineral, leaves turn pale and eventually die, flowers fail to form and some plant species experience malformed leaf blades in a condition called whiptail. ​
• Sandy soils and acidic soils contain less available molybdenum for plant growth. ​

Please contact us at 1-866-444-7174 or via email at info@earth-smart-solutions.com if you have any questions and for more information on our products for plants which include:  Defender Plant Protector & Soil Conditioner, Inspire Seed Starter and Propel Foliar Fertilizer.

Stay tuned for future blogs about additional ingredients which go into our products and their amazing benefits.

Learn more about Macronutrients in our Blog: Macronutrients Required for Plant Growth

Sources:

Gardening Know How: Copper And Soil – How Copper Affects Plants: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/soil-fertilizers/copper-for-the-garden.htm 

Copper Alliance: https://copperalliance.eu/about-copper/applications/farming-and-agriculture/ 

Grainews: https://www.grainews.ca/features/the-role-of-copper-in-plant-nutrition/ 

Pro-Mix, Role of Copper in Plant Culture: https://www.pthorticulture.com/en/training-center/role-of-copper-in-plant-culture/

Gardening Know How: Iron For Plants: Why Do Plants Need Iron? https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/soil-fertilizers/iron-for-plants.htm 

https://www.pthorticulture.com/en/training-center/role-of-iron-in-plant-culture/ 

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/soil-fertilizers/iron-for-plants.htm 

Reviews in Agricultural Science, Role of Iron in Plant Growth & Metabolism: https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/ras/3/0/3_1/_article 

Gardening Know How: Zinc And Plant Growth: What Is The Function Of Zinc In Plants: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/soil-fertilizers/zinc-and-plant-growth.htm 

Pro-Mix, Role of Zinc in Plant Culture: https://www.pthorticulture.com/en/training-center/role-of-zinc-in-plant-culture/ 

SMART Fertilizer Management: https://www.smart-fertilizer.com/articles/zinc-in-plants

Gardening Know How: What Is Molybdenum: Information On Molybdenum Sources For Plants: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/soil-fertilizers/what-is-molybdenum.htm 

https://www.pthorticulture.com/en/training-center/role-of-molybdenum-in-plant-culture/ 

US National Library of Medicine, National Institute of Health, The Role of Molybdenum in Agricultural Plant Production: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4247040/