Testing the microalgae "smoothies" is an initial step in the REALM project. The team will furhter process the smoothies from microalgae that have a positive effect on tomatoes, and perform new tests. The final marketable biostimulants will also be processed microalgae cultures. From microalgae to biostimulants - find out more here: realmalgae.eu/plant-biostimulants-with-microalgae/
That actually sounds very tempting. We are definitely very keen on sharing information about the versatile algae research, and enjoy learning more and more about it ourselves with every new video we make.
1:30 'I like food and I like tomatoes. So that's why I enjoy working with plants' Very sympathetic. 😆 But apart from that, is there a particular reason why tomatoes are used to test the biostimulants? Do they have unique characteristics that make them a good model plant for this kind of research? And are biostimulants being tested on other crops? 🤔
These are important questions! Tomatoes are among the major crops produced worldwide, which makes it interesting to test biostimulants on them. Aside of tomatoes, the REALM team is also going to test the microalgae-based biostimulants on other crops, like berries.
It would be interesting to compare the microalgae biostimulant performance with that of some conventional chemicals used as biostimulants. That would help convince farmers to change.
This is a very good point and part of the research plan of the REALM project. The team will later compare the effect of the biostimulant to conventional chemicals. However, biostimulants will not replace chemical/organic fertilisers, but work together with them. They make the nutrient uptake of crops more efficient, so less fertiliser is needed.
Congratulations! Great to see this intuitive "win-win" system being successful in practice ! Next step, i guess, is to find out what are the key factors/compounds resulting in this great growth enhancement ?
It is definitely an interesting question to find out the mechanisms behind the enhanced growth. The REALM team will work on other tasks instead. They plan to process the algae culture that had an effect on crops in the greenhouse experiments. Because alive micrcoalgae cannot be used directly in agriculture. Processing will include breaking the algae to release their compounds, separating them into different portions (called fractions) and testing these. The fraction with the growth promoting effect can then be formulated into the actual product - the biostimulant.
Testing the microalgae "smoothies" is an initial step in the REALM project. The team will furhter process the smoothies from microalgae that have a positive effect on tomatoes, and perform new tests. The final marketable biostimulants will also be processed microalgae cultures. From microalgae to biostimulants - find out more here: realmalgae.eu/plant-biostimulants-with-microalgae/
Microalgae are so versatile I'm surprised ESCI hasn't made a second channel fully dedicated to algae yet
That actually sounds very tempting. We are definitely very keen on sharing information about the versatile algae research, and enjoy learning more and more about it ourselves with every new video we make.
1:30 'I like food and I like tomatoes. So that's why I enjoy working with plants'
Very sympathetic. 😆 But apart from that, is there a particular reason why tomatoes are used to test the biostimulants? Do they have unique characteristics that make them a good model plant for this kind of research? And are biostimulants being tested on other crops? 🤔
These are important questions! Tomatoes are among the major crops produced worldwide, which makes it interesting to test biostimulants on them. Aside of tomatoes, the REALM team is also going to test the microalgae-based biostimulants on other crops, like berries.
It would be interesting to compare the microalgae biostimulant performance with that of some conventional chemicals used as biostimulants. That would help convince farmers to change.
This is a very good point and part of the research plan of the REALM project. The team will later compare the effect of the biostimulant to conventional chemicals. However, biostimulants will not replace chemical/organic fertilisers, but work together with them. They make the nutrient uptake of crops more efficient, so less fertiliser is needed.
Congratulations! Great to see this intuitive "win-win" system being successful in practice ! Next step, i guess, is to find out what are the key factors/compounds resulting in this great growth enhancement ?
It is definitely an interesting question to find out the mechanisms behind the enhanced growth. The REALM team will work on other tasks instead. They plan to process the algae culture that had an effect on crops in the greenhouse experiments. Because alive micrcoalgae cannot be used directly in agriculture. Processing will include breaking the algae to release their compounds, separating them into different portions (called fractions) and testing these. The fraction with the growth promoting effect can then be formulated into the actual product - the biostimulant.