Seasol, A Seaweed Product For All Seasons
March 19th, 2020 | News | Comments Off on Seasol, A Seaweed Product For All Seasons
Mr Fothergill’s Seasol seaweed concentrate has a wide range of benefits and can be used almost the whole of the gardening season. At the start of the new season, it’s good to give seeds a natural boost. Studies confirmed that soaking seeds in Seasol prior to sowing, or watering with Seasol immediately after sowing, gives seeds the best possible start in life and leads to more vigorous, uniform plants.
Mr Fothergill’s trials team took seeds of Delphinium ‘Raider Mixed’, which is known to be tricky to germinate, and set about two separate trials. In the first, two seed trays were half-filled with multi-purpose compost and sown with delphinium seeds which were covered with vermiculite. One tray was soaked from below with water, while the other was soaked from below in Seasol solution. Both trays were then left to germinate with no further watering.
Trials Manager Brian Talman said: “The overall percentage of germination was better in the tray treated with Seasol, but it was the quality and the size of the seedlings that was visibly better. The cotyledons were slightly bigger and without any deformities, as opposed to the tray with Delphiniums that had not been treated with Seasol.” Two weeks on, seeds treated with Seasol had produced bigger and better plants, with more vigour and no deformities.
A second trial found that soaking seeds with Seasol prior to sowing offered improved germination. Two batches of fifteen seeds of Delphinium ‘Raider Mixed’ were sown in two 11cm pots of multi-purpose compost and covered with vermiculite – but only one batch of seeds had been soaked in Seasol for 15 hours prior to sowing, using 10ml of Seasol concentrate mixed in 500ml of water.
Brian added: “Even though 7 seeds germinated in both pots, the advantage was once again clear for the Seasol-treated seed. The seedlings germinated quicker, were visibly bigger, with better vigour and no deformities. In comparison, the untreated seeds were slower to germinate and had slightly deformed cotyledons.” As plants were grown on, those treated with Seasol proved to be more vigorous, leading to bigger plants.
Overall, the trial found that seed treated with Seasol led to healthy plants with better colour and a more developed root system.
Seasol, a seaweed-based complete garden health treatment derived from a blend of the finest brown kelps, is proven to stimulate root development, promote healthy growth of plants, flowers and vegetables, enhance flowering and fruiting and increase resistance to heat, drought, frost, pests and diseases.
Seasol 1-litre (RRP £7.99) and Seasol 4-litre (RRP £19.99) are available from selected garden retailers. To find out more about Seasol and the rest of the Mr Fothergill’s range, log on at www.mr-fothergills.co.uk