A carefully formulated new portfolio of high performance biostimulants – The Vitalnova Nursery Range – has been added to ICL’s biological plant health range, helping UK ornamental growers maintain high plant quality throughout the growing season.
“Stimulating natural processes, quality biostimulant products have been scientifically proven to enhance nutrient uptake and efficiency, increase tolerance to abiotic and biotic stress as well as improving crop quality,” explains ICL’s Martin Donnelly. “Healthy, well-nourished plants grow and perform well and have a much higher disease-resistance threshold; as such biostimulants have an important role to play in modern horticultural production.”
Helping the industry become more resilient and sustainable, ICL’s first two proven biostimulant products – Vitalnova Prime and Vitalnova Guardian – fortify plants.
“Derived from yeast, saccharomyces cerevisiae, Vitalnova Prime is rich in amino acids and peptides which are natural elicitors,” explains Marin. “Stimulating plants’ natural defenses to increase plant health throughout the season, elicitors reduce the need for conventional chemicals. This is known as induced resistance and is a form of ‘plant memory’ - similar to how our bodies respond to vaccines.”
Derived from natural polyketides and foliar-applied nutrients, Vitalnova Guardian delivers a rapid response fortifying leaves to help plants cope with, abiotic and biotic stresses.
“Biostimulants are not a replacement for precise, targeted nutrition and robust IPM practices; however, they are another useful tool for growers to employ to optimise plant quality throughout the season,” says Martin.
“Unlike traditional plant protection products, biostimulants are not silver bullets. In the early days, guidance for biostimulant use was sometimes rudimentary and resulting efficacy could be erratic. Fast forward several decades and ICL is working with companies leading this field to bring proven biostimulant products to the UK ornamentals market, as always, supported by in-depth technical backup.”
For more information:
ICL Group
Epsilon House, West Road, Ipswich.
IP3 9FJ
T: +44 (0)1473 237100
F: +44 (0)1473 237150
E: prof.sales@icl-group.com
www.icl-group.com
www.icl-sf.co.uk
www.icl-sf.ie