CANNABOOST - a real BOOSTER
To put it in a nutshell: A booster should help a plant 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. True 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 take up 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 use their root systems primarily to hold onto the branches or other structures on which they grow.
Macroelements and trace elements
Nutrients can be divided into macroelements and micro(trace) elements. Macroelements are, for example:
Nitrogen (N)
phosphorus (P)
potassium (K)
calcium (Ca)
magnesium (Mg)
Sulfur (S)
These elements are taken up 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 needed in smaller amounts. They include the following:
Chlorin (Cl)
Iron (Fe)
Zinc (Zn)
Copper (Cu)
Molybdenum (Mo)
Boron (B)
Manganese (Mn)
Although this last group of nutrients is only needed in tiny amounts, it is still essential to 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.
CANNABOOST - a real BOOSTER
Even though 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 fertilizer schedule, a booster can help optimize a plant's performance so it grows to its full potential.
Over the past decade, a slew of booster-like products emerged promising to do just that: speed up a plant's metabolism and improve nutrient uptake. But the actual content of these products varied widely, and not every booster has the same quality. Many also do not even accelerate the metabolic process of plants, but are just phosporic 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 the following secondary benefits are achieved, for example:
an increased immune response
faster development and
improved quality without harmful effects on the plant or potential consumers.
What a good booster product definitely should not do is overload your plant with phospor. However, plant extracts on the other hand, whether raw, dried or fermented, showed significant effects on certain aspects of plant growth, development and even health. These plant extracts are the building blocks of true boosters.
CANNABOOST - a real BOOSTER
A metabolic booster also achieves secondary benefits such as increased immune response, faster development and improved quality.
How this happens is partly explained by its typical composition of (fermented) plant extracts. Although it does not provide sufficient nutrients to act as a fertilizer on its own, 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 through the substrate or leaves.
CANNABOOST Accelerator
CANNABOOST - a real BOOSTER
CANNABOOST Accelerator was introduced by CANNA in 2007 after 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 in CANNABOOST Accelerator are by-products from the production of bioethanol and yeast through the fermentation of molasses from sugar cane or sugar beets and palms. These by-products are called carbohydrates.
There are many types of carbohydrates, a general term for sugars. It simply means that it is a hydrate of carbon (i.e., carbon with a water molecule).
Types of Sugar
There are a variety of types 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 such a way that it forms a persistent molecule with the help of permanent bonds. Starch consists of the same molecules; however, it is 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 combine with each other - 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 then not sugars, but carbohydrate-based polymers. They can help cells 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
CANNABOOST - a real BOOSTER
A microscopic picture of plant cells
In CANNABOOST, the oligosaccharide polymer is one of the most important elements; the specific group of oligosaccharides here comes from the decay of plant cells and from the fermentation of microorganic cells into carbohydrates of a specific length and shape.
This is achieved by a very long fermentation process in which the plants are first converted into a thick substance with a high saccharide content. This is called molasses solution, which also contains many other elements, such as vitamins, proteins, amino acids and numerous minerals.
Then the fermentation process begins, which converts these simple sugars into ethanol. This ethanol is removed and the remaining components are transformed 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 as well as 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 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 enhance and support these activities and provide, for example, certain amounts of important nutrients. Finally, 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 cells of the plant. CANNABOOST is an all-natural, carbohydrate-based product, but it contains very little sugar and no additional plant hormones at all.
The use of CANNABOOST
CANNABOOST - a real BOOSTER
CANNABOOST can be used as a foliar spray to give an
to achieve an immediate effect
CANNABOOST can be used as a fertilizer additive for your plants. When used in combination with any liquid fertilizer in the CANNA range, the product has positive effects on root growth and plant development. The oligosaccharides in CANNABOOST give the root cells of plants an extra energy boost, allowing them to absorb the minerals available to them very quickly. In turn, the enhanced uptake of minerals helps stimulate flowering and increases the quality of taste and odor. Taste and odor 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 reaction in the defense system, in the production of photosynthates and in the metabolic rate of the plant.
Alternatively, CANNABOOST can be used as a foliar spray applied directly to the leaves for an immediate photsynthesis boost. Because of the amount, type and source of oligosaccharides in the product, plant cells in the leaves produce extra energy that remains available for the production of sugars and carbohydrates. These are then accessible to provide more abundant flowers and fruits of better quality. Although spraying the leaves can provide an immediate boost, the total amount of product needed to achieve the same result as fertilizing through 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 of BOOST for 10 liters of water should be used, as the product is dispersed in the substrate or plant medium and takes longer to reach the active root zone.
For spray application on leaves, a dilution of 20 ml of BOOST in 10 liters of water is sufficient. Application to foliage has immediate effects, but the grower must spray more often to achieve the same result as with substrate or hydroponic application to the root system.
Generally, optimal results are achieved in the 20 to 40 ml range. Further increasing the dosage flattens the additional growth stages and very high dosages could even inhibit plant development. Which dosage works best for their particular crop will always depend on the grower.
CANNABOOST - a real BOOSTER
Fig. 1: A series of experiments conducted by CANNA Research with oriental lily cultivars clearly showed the effects of CANNABOOST dosage: optimal results at a range between 20 and 40 ml, with reduced and even opposite effects at stronger dosages.
A real booster
CANNABOOST is specifically designed to give 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, because 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 bloom, in accordance with current fertilization schedules.
In general, it is not recommended to mix different brands of fertilizers. 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 nutrient ratio.
