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The science behind iGrow Carpet lawn seaweed booster 8%

The seaweed that is in iGrow Carpet lawn seaweed booster is called Ascophyllum Nodosum, and it grows along the west coast of Ireland and in the Northern Hemisphere.
It is a brown seaweed, not to be confused with kelp.

What makes the Ascophyllum Nodosum unique?

Is it the environment that it grows naturally within: it grows 50% of its life in the water and 50% of its life out of the water.

Over the last hundreds of years, the plant has had to build up a very strong immune system to survive.

Ascophyllum Nodosum contains high levels of carbohydrates. Amino acids, micronutrients, and vitamins are all essential for the plant to survive in a stressful growing environment.

What is seaweed?

One of the questions that often comes up on my YouTube Channel, I've used seaweed and sometimes don't see the results that I was hoping to see from seaweed.

But you've got to remember that seaweed is a product that's high in carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are essential for plants to produce energy, and for us, they are a vital source of energy.

The more energy we provide to the plant, the healthier it becomes.

When we talk about a healthy plant, it produces good density, good colour, and more importantly, it starts to develop a strong and healthy root system.

Seaweed’s double duty: feeding soil and turf

One of the things that people don't know about seaweed is that seaweed not only helps the plant, but it also helps the ground that the plant grows in, and healthy soil equals a better lawn.

Most people feed the grass, but they never feed the soil in which the grass has grown.

When you apply iGrow Carpet Seaweed Lawn Booster 8% and spray it onto your lawn, around half of the nutrients, including carbohydrates, amino acids, vitamins, and micronutrients, are absorbed by the leaf.

However, the remaining nutrients that's not absorbed by the leaf is washed off the leaf and down into your soil profile, feeding beneficial macrobacteria.

That beneficial macrobacteria then start to break down all the dead organic matter. And for us, that is where the magic happens.

How does seaweed help the roots of your lawn?

When you apply iGrow Carpet lawn seaweed booster, one of the things that you will notice after some time, or after a series of applications, is the acceleration of growth in the root system. One of the reasons this happens is that seaweed contains what's called auxins.

These are plant hormones, and they can actually help the plants to help themselves.

Auxins are natural plant hormones found in seaweed that help stimulate cell elongation and division, so you get that boosted root growth after a few applications.

Alongside auxins, seaweed boosters often carry cytokinins and betaines, which further support vigour and stress tolerance.

Planning your seaweed applications

When considering the application of iGrow Carpet lawn seaweed booster, it's essential to plan ahead.

Why? Well, because abiotic stress is a significant factor that leads to the thinning out of the lawn. And so, if we want to prevent that, we can apply seaweed all throughout the year in advance of the lawn, which will help it withstand cold stress or heat stress.

Another benefit of applying seaweed is that it enhances the evenness of germination and accelerates growth during the early stages of development.

This gives these plants a slight advantage because, when they're very young, they're pretty vulnerable to pests and diseases.

And so, one way to mitigate this is to encourage growth during the early phases of development.

Why using a root drench on other plants in your garden is beneficial

You can apply iGrow Carpet lawn seaweed booster as a foliar spray or a root drench. The difference between these two is evident in how they are used and in the volume in which they are applied.

A foliar spray typically applies the product to the surface of the plants, while a root drench allows most of the product to enter the soil. This is usually done with a watering can. The iGrow Carpet lawn seaweed booster 8% can be used at higher application rates for this.

Both can benefit the plants, and what we know is that just like in the lawn, you can very subtly change the microbial profile in the root zone.

What happens is that the roots become occupied by organisms called endophytes. These live inside the roots. These can really help with things like nutrient acquisition and extending the roots through hyphae.

These are small strands that extend from the roots, and they can really help with anchorage and the recruitment of water. Bio stimulants and seaweeds can really help with water use.

It is crucial to consider incorporating a program into an ornamental plant's lifespan early, as it can help develop a more robust root system. Additionally, it can help with the onset of flowering and increase the number of buds.

If you have a plant which is maybe struggling, you can help it ahead of summertime when you would expect the flowering to be peaking.

And this can also help because during the heat of summer, abiotic stress will rise. And so, incorporating a plan that includes seaweed products early will help the plant be primed against that abiotic stress before it occurs.