CANNABOOST - a real BOOSTER

To get to the point: A booster should help a plant to absorb nutrients. The uptake of nutrients depends on the health and metabolic rate of the plant. The problem is that most "boosters" are merely supplemental nutrients. Real boosters like CANNABOOST, however, actually stimulate a plant's metabolism and lead to healthier growth. But making CANNABOOST is not easy. In this article, we describe what is needed to make CANNABOOST and how it works in a plant.

What are nutrients?

To understand how CANNABOOST works, we first need to understand what nutrients are. Most people know that plants need nutrients to grow, even if they don't know exactly what plant nutrients really are or what they are made of.

Plants absorb nutrients through their root system from the medium in which they grow. The growing medium can be of natural origin, such as peat or coco, or it can be artificial, such as rockwool or clay granules.

Some plant species, such as many orchids and other epiphytes (plants that live non-parasitically on other plants), absorb nutrients through their leaves. They mainly use their root system to cling to the branches or other structures on which they grow.

Macroelements and trace elements

Nutrients can be divided into macro elements and micro (trace) elements. Macro elements are for example

• Nitrogen (N)
• Phosphorus (P)
• Potassium (K)
• Calcium (Ca)
• Magnesium (Mg)
• Sulphur (S)

These elements are absorbed by plants in relatively large quantities. The first three are primary nutrients: N , P and K. The next three are secondary elements: Ca, Mg and S . Trace elements are required in smaller quantities. These include the following:

• Chlorine (Cl)
• Iron (Fe)
• Zinc (Zn)
• Copper (Cu)
• Molybdenum (Mo)
• Boron (B)
• Manganese (Mn)

Although this last group of nutrients is only needed in minute quantities, it is nevertheless indispensable for a plant's metabolism and health. Carbon (C), oxygen (O) and hydrogen (H) are not listed here, but they are also nutrients. They are taken from the plant's environment.

Even if all the required nutrients are available in optimal amounts, the actual uptake depends on the health and metabolism of the plant in question. This is an important distinction. And this is where a metabolism booster can play an important role. When used in conjunction with a balanced fertilization schedule, a booster can help optimize a plant's performance to grow to its full potential.

Over the past decade, a number of booster-like products have emerged that promise to do just that: speed up a plant's metabolism and improve nutrient uptake. But the actual content of these products has varied widely, and not every booster has the same quality. Many do not even accelerate the metabolic process of plants, but are just phosphoric fertilizers called "boosters".

What makes a booster?

So what is a really good booster product? For us, a booster is a product - preferably natural - that stimulates a plant reaction in which the overall metabolism is improved and, for example, the following secondary benefits are achieved:

• an increased immune response
• faster development and
• improved quality without harmful effects on the plant or potential consumers.

What a good booster product should definitely not do is overload your plant with phosphorus. However, plant extracts on the other hand, whether raw, dried or fermented, have shown clear effects on certain aspects of plant growth, development and even health. These plant extracts are the building blocks of true boosters.

A metabolic booster also achieves secondary benefits such as increased immune response, faster development and improved quality.

How this happens is partly explained by the typical composition of (fermented) plant extracts. Although it does not provide sufficient nutrients to act as a stand-alone fertilizer, it does contain relatively high levels of micronutrients. It is also rich in plant-derived substances such as vitamins, carbohydrates and amino acids. All these elements together improve the growth and development of a plant in small doses and in a pure, natural way. They complement the fertilization of fruit and vegetable crops when added via the substrate or the leaves.

CANNABOOST Accelerator

CANNABOOST Accelerator was launched by CANNA in 2007 following an extensive research project to develop a plant growth booster that would be better than any other product on the market. The result is a liquid metabolic elicitor with high energy content and no additional plant growth regulators.

Some of the active ingredients of CANNABOOST Accelerator are by-products from the production of bioethanol and yeast through the fermentation of molasses from sugar cane or sugar beet and palm. These by-products are called carbohydrates.

There are many types of carbohydrates, a general term for sugar. This simply means that it is a hydrate of carbon (i.e. carbon with a water molecule).

Types of sugar

There are a variety of sugars. The basic molecule is a single saccharide(monosaccharide). Basic monosaccharides are glucose and fructose. When two monosaccharides combine, they become a disaccharide (sucrose or table sugar). Monosaccharide and disaccharide carbohydrates are known as sugars and are edible sweet substances.

They are also the basic building blocks for the structure of plant cells and serve as a source of energy for processes within the cell. These saccharides can combine with each other to form a polysaccharide polymer. For example, cellulose is a long-chain structural polymer polysaccharide that is linked in a way that forms a durable molecule using permanent bonds. Starch is made up of the same molecules, but linked in a different way to form a long-chain storage polymer that can be easily broken down.

When a limited number of these saccharides join together - usually between three and ten - and link with other molecules, such as amino acids and proteins, they form polymers called oligosaccharides (meaning "a few"). These are not sugars, but polymers based on carbohydrates. They can help cells to recognize each other. A simple example is human blood groups. Here, oligosaccharides take the forms A, B or O in the walls of the blood cells.

CANNABOOST: a special saccharide mixture

A microscopic image of plant cells

In CANNABOOST, the oligosaccharide polymer is one of the most important elements; the specific group of oligosaccharides here comes from the decomposition of plant cells and from the fermentation of micro-organic cells into carbohydrates of a certain length and shape.

This is achieved by a very long fermentation process in which the plants are first converted into a viscous substance with a high saccharide content. This is known as a molasses solution, which also contains many other elements, such as vitamins, proteins, amino acids and numerous minerals.

The fermentation process then begins, which converts these simple sugars into ethanol. This ethanol is removed and the remaining components are converted into what we call CANNABOOST: a specific mixture of oligosaccharides, polysaccharides, amino acids, proteins, other polymers and other compounds.

The production process is very lengthy and consists of many steps and just the right types of microorganisms to produce a product that is of the highest quality at all times. In short, the production of CANNABOOST is neither easy nor cheap.

How does CANNABOOST work?

The oligosaccharin products that make up CANNABOOST act as triggers in the plant cells. They trigger increased metabolic processes and can accelerate some activities such as energy production, photosynthesis, metabolite production, gene activation, etc. The remaining components in CANNABOOST serve to improve and support these activities and provide, for example, certain amounts of important nutrients. In the end, there is no molasses left. It has all been transformed by modern organic chemical techniques, all of which are completely natural. These components, together with the trace elements and other remaining components contained in CANNABOOST, interact directly with the metabolic processes in the plant's cells. CANNABOOST is a completely natural, carbohydrate-based product, but it contains very little sugar and no additional plant hormones at all.

The application of CANNABOOST

CANNABOOST can be used as a foliar spray
for an immediate effect

CANNABOOST can be used as a fertilizer supplement for your plants. When used in combination with any liquid fertilizer in the CANNA range, the product has a positive effect on root growth and plant development. The oligosaccharides in CANNABOOST give the plants' root cells an extra energy boost, allowing them to absorb the minerals available to them very quickly. In turn, the improved uptake of minerals helps stimulate flowering and increases the quality of taste and smell. Taste and smell are usually based on the mixture of sugars, acids and minerals contained in the fruit and the metabolites they form. CANNABOOST also triggers a strong response in the plant's defense system, photosynthate production and metabolic rate.

Alternatively, CANNABOOST can be used as a foliar spray applied directly to the leaves for an immediate photosynthesis boost. Due to the amount, type and source of oligosaccharides in the product, the plant cells in the leaves produce extra energy which remains available for the production of sugars and carbohydrates. These are then available to produce more abundant flowers and better quality fruit. Although spraying the leaves can provide an immediate boost, the total amount of product required to achieve the same result as fertilizing via the root system is higher.

Recommended dosage

The recommended concentration of CANNABOOST varies depending on the application: For a substrate or hydroponic application, a dilution of 20 to 40 ml BOOST for 10 liters of water should be used, as the product is distributed in the substrate or plant medium and takes longer to reach the active root area.

For spray application on leaves, a dilution of 20 ml BOOST in 10 liters of water is sufficient. While foliar application has immediate effects, the grower will need to spray more frequently to achieve the same result as with substrate or hydroponic application to the root system.

In general, optimal results are achieved in the range of 20 to 40 ml. Increasing the dosage further flattens the additional growth stages and very high dosages may even inhibit plant development. Which dosage works best for your particular crop will always depend on the grower.

Fig. 1: A series of CANNA research trials with oriental lily varieties clearly showed the effects of CANNABOOST dosage: optimal results at a range between 20 and 40 ml, with reduced and even opposite effects at higher dosages.

A real booster

CANNABOOST has been specially developed to achieve the best results in combination with an optimal fertilization schedule, for example with CANNA fertilizer for flowering plants. CANNABOOST should also be used together with PK 13/14, as this provides the extra amounts of phosphorus and potassium that a plant needs for optimal flower/fruit development in a limited and defined period of time. PK 13/14 should continue to be used after the first flowering, in accordance with the current fertilization schedules.

In general, it is not recommended to mix different fertilizer brands. CANNA fertilizer contains all the necessary nutrients a plant needs for optimal growth when used according to fertilization schedules. Other liquid fertilizers may have a destabilizing effect on the substrate and do not necessarily contain the optimal ratio of nutrients.