if you have been organic gardening a million years you probably don't need to use humates and humic acid...we here in america have depleted most of our soil...by disturbing soil, plowing, tilling, roads, building etc....also compaction, also pesticides etc..roundup...if i was starting a small garden, i would begin by using the ruth stout method, start in fall...learn to make your own compost, learn how to use humic acid to soften soil (deep)....build back minerals using volcanic rock dust...the dirtdocter says you may have to till once in beginning....also add biochar (once)...the indian

Humic acid is a principal component of humic substances, which are the major organic constituents of soil (humus), peat, coal, many upland streams, dystrophic lakes, and ocean water. It is produced by biodegradation of dead organic matter. It is not a single acid; rather, it is a complex mixture of many different acids containing carboxyl and phenolate groups so that the mixture behaves functionally as a dibasic acid or, occasionally, as a tribasic acid. Humic acids can form complexes with ions that are commonly found in the environment creating humic colloids. Humic and fulvic acids (fulvic acids are humic acids of lower molecular weight and higher oxygen content than other humic acids)are commonly used as a soil supplement in agriculture, and less commonly as a human nutritional supplement. As a nutrition supplement, free form (unreacted) Fulvic acid is found in a liquid form along with mineral colloids。 Fulvic acids are poly-electrolytes and are unique colloids that diffuse easily through membranes whereas all other colloids do not. Fulvic acid supplements consisting of a neutral pH are very weak fulvic compounds and do not deliver the benefits of free form fulvic acid (fulvic acid that remains unreacted with other substances or unboundto minerals) that exhibits a much higher concentration and lower pH[citation needed]. Fulvic acid branded as “ionic” is not free form fulvic acid, more accurately they are fulvic compounds or fulvate salts. According to the International Humic Substances Society all fulvic acids are colloids. Formation and description Humic substances are formed by the microbial degradation of dead plant matter, such as lignin. They are very resistant to further biodegradation. The precise properties and structure of a given sample depend on the water or soil source and the specific conditions of extraction. Nevertheless, the average properties of humic substances from different sources are remarkably similar. Humic substances in soils and sediments can be divided into three main fractions: humic acids, fulvic acids, and humin. The humic and fulvic acids are extracted as a colloidal sol from soil and other solid phase sources into a strongly basic aqueous solution of sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide. Humic acids are precipitated from this solution by adjusting the pH to 1 with hydrochloric acid, leaving the fulvic acids in solution. This is the operational distinction between humic and fulvic acids. Humin is insoluble in dilute alkali. The alcohol-soluble portion of the humic fraction is, in general, named ulmic acid. Gray humic acids (GHA) are soluble in low-ionic-strength alkaline media; brown humic acids (BHA) are soluble in alkaline conditions independent of ionic strength; and fulvic acids (FA) are soluble independent of pH and I. Chromatography and liquid-liquid extraction can be used to separate the components that make up a humic substance. Substances identified include mono-, di-, and tri-hydroxy acids, fatty acids, dicarboxylic acids, linear alcohols, phenolic acids, and terpenoids. Chemical characteristics of humic substances Example of a typical humic acid, having a variety of components including quinone, phenol, catechol and sugar moieties A typical humic substance is a mixture of many molecules, some of which are based on a motif of aromatic nuclei with phenolic and carboxylic substituents, linked together; the illustration shows a typical structure. The functional groups that contribute most to surface charge and reactivity of humic substances are phenolic and carboxylic groups. Humic acids behave as mixtures of dibasic acids, with a pK1 value around 4 for protonation of carboxyl groups and around 8 for protonation of phenolate groups. There is considerable overall similarities among individual humic acids.[4] For this reason, measured pK values for a given sample are average values relating to the constituent species. The other important characteristic is charge density. The molecules may form a supramolecular structure held together by non-covalent forces, such as Van der Waals force, π-π, and CH-π bonds. The presence of carboxylate and phenolate groups gives the humic acids the ability to form complexes with ions such as Mg2+, Ca2+, Fe2+ and Fe3+. Many humic acids have two or more of these groups arranged so as to enable the formation of chelate complexes.[6] The formation of (chelate) complexes is an important aspect of the biological role of humic acids in regulating bioavailability of metal ions. Here is a link that might be useful: Saint Humic Acid

One thing you all need to learn is that humic substances have the most amount of misinformation spread about them in the agricultural industry and even more in the hydroponic industry. To answer a couple of questions. 95% of fulvic products, usually potassium fulvate are not what you think they are. Anyone who talks about a super concentrate is a salesman. Pure fulvic will read ppm the only thing that won't is pure water. Humic acid and fulvic acid are the two main organic acids extracted from humic substances. Humin is another but is of no use in hydroponics as it is completely insoluble. When people talk about solubility of humic and fulvic this is not actually correct. they form what are called colloidal suspensions. Commercially they are extracted from brown coal also called low grade coal or lignite, preferably from a brown coal called leonardite which is more soluble because it is more oxidised and the average oxygen and functional group content is higher. They are also extracted from peat, leonardite is high in humic and low in fulvic generally and peat in comparison has a higher fulvic content and lower humic content. I won't go into the details of extraction and isolation but basically potassium hydroxide is used to get the soluble humic substances into solution and then the humic acid is precipitated to separate it from the soluble fulvic. An array of different additives are used to increase the effiancy of extraction and are usually dependant on the source material of the humic matter. I have worked on humic substances for 15 years consulting all over the world inc. Europe, Russia and China. If you want to make your own home made fulvic the easiest way is to buy some peat, and add about 1.5 litres of vinegar to 500g of peat. Mix well and leave for a couple of days or more. Strain out the peat and your done. If you have a highly decomposed compost this will work as well especially if you have added microbes to your compost.

Gee, thanks, Bob. You have me digesting soil biology so early in the morning, my coffee got cold. I know about mycorrhiza but had to read up on humic acid. I have to tell you, I started with a raised eyebrow and ended up intrigued. Anyway. My thoughts on the matter is predicated on the simplicity of care I am trying to achieve based on the important distinction between outdoor gardening and container gardening. These two ingredients you mentioned occur naturally in the soil, as you know, where plants will have use of them. Containers, though, are closed systems (ish) where you can control most soil factors. It's potentially a simple ecosystem especially for those using plant media with little or no composted ingredients (like gritty mix). If I added mycorrhiza to my media, for example, that's just another thing I have to keep alive (in the very airy gritty mix or pure sifted pumice I use) that my plant wont need since I am regularly fertilizing it anyway. Since the relationship between these fungi and plant roots turned out to be not so simple, I decided not to bother. As for humic acid, it does appear to help with the uptake of the nutrients being added to the potting media, with twice the CAC of soil humus and about 5 times that of good quality peat moss. I'd still have to add all sorts of other stuff that my plant will need in order to thrive (like minerals and micronutrients). But this will probably add zing to some of my adeniums in gritty mix, should I want to push them (probably wont); not so much for my other succulents that I am growing under a strict "no pushing" regimen. If I have a farm, where I have to worry about overall cost, carbon footprint and ROI, it will be a different conversation. In a container though? The short of it is that I can only handle the simple but well executed production of "Tape" with only three characters to direct. I can't handle "Noises Off" in a pot. Great topic though! I learned something. Pagan