Kelpak vs. Bloom City Fertilizer

[meterstick29]

My 1L bottle of Kelpak will be used up soon, and I've been thinking of perhaps trying other seaweed extracts.

Amazon sells the Bloom City Organic Liquid Seaweed and Kelp Fertilizer Supplement...it's a bit cheaper than Kelpak. Does anyone have any experience using it vs Kelpak?

[estación seca]

I've never tried it. Kelpak definitely works, and isn't very expensive. I don't see any reason to change.

[Louis_W]

My guess is that the two are not the same thing. Im sure Ray will chime in and tell us.

[Dusty Ol' Man]

From what I've read the difference is the way the extraction works. Kelpak is collected by a crushing process that doesn't destroy any of the enzymes from the kelp, where other methods employ heat. Like you said, Ray will set this straight soon enough.

[Ray]

Two things seem to have the most significant impact on the efficacy of seaweed extracts, the species used and how it is processed.

The three most commonly used species are Ascophyllum nodosum, which may have some phytohormone content, but is mostly used for its mineral content. Laminaria digitata, which is almost exclusively used for the minerals, and Ecklonia maxima, which is what Kelpak is made from.

The selection of raw materials is important, but how those are processed can play an even bigger role in determining whether the phytochemicals are preserved or destroyed.

For example, most ascophyllum products are crushed, ground, or otherwise pulverized. Some are chemically digested by breaking them down in a sodium hydroxide (lye) bath. Any of those methods drastically degrades the chemistry of the product, usually rendering it no more effective than as a fertilizer. Dried products are worse yet, as any complex active chemicals cannot survive that treatment.

Products made from ecklonia may also be similarly mechanically reduced, but Kelpak is unique because it is treated with a low-pressure gradient process that causes the cell walls of the plant to burst, releasing the internal fluids with all their ingredients, without degrading them. Because those fluids are so pristine, the product is far more chemically active than any other kelp extract on the market, retaining all of the nutritional, stimulant and protective properties.