The grass is greener…
wherever Key Input is used.
Keeping grasses healthy and free from disease can be a real challenge in today’s environment. Dangerous herbicides, pesticides, and fungicides are still used, but they are under tremendous scrutiny. And many of the consumers of today simply refuse to have them applied on their properties. That creates an absolute need for more natural and/or organic methods of treatment. The key to keeping grasses, flowers, trees, and every other type of plant healthy is to make sure the soils are loaded with large numbers of beneficial microorganisms. The exciting thing is that turf and ornamentals of all kinds actually grow better and healthier using biologicals versus the conventional methods. Why?.....because it is what nature wants!
+ Click here to expand on microbiology’s role on turf and ornamentals
Microbes have had a symbiotic relationship with plants from the beginning of time. We have long believed that bacterial strains were the first live microorganisms on Earth. We are now rethinking that concept as we learn more about archaea, but the concept still remains the same. That means that bacteria or archaea (we’ll say microorganisms) started life on this planet. We also know based on research that multi-celled organisms, including plants and every component of those plants, were all developed from the action of single-celled organisms getting together to fulfill a common goal or task. If that is the case, then we can even assume that microorganisms played an integral part in the entire evolution of plants. And if plants have used microorganisms as their building blocks, it only makes sense when you think about it that they play an important role in their growth.
There are numerous studies that display the important relationship between plants and microorganisms. One example is the case of mycorrhizae, a beneficial fungal type that was instrumental in working with plants to evolve from existing only in the ocean to moving onto land. In order for plants to obtain water and nutrients for life, it required the long skinny hyphae of the mycorrhizal fungi to dig deep into the soil and extract them. The fungus in this instance worked with the plant to retrieve the nutrients it needed for life. Without that relationship the plant would have dried up and died. This is just one of many examples of the importance of microbes to plants.
We have only scratched the surface in our understanding of how and to what extent microbes and plants interact with one another. What we have learned is quite amazing. We have learned that microbes play a vital role in breaking nutrients down in our soils to usable forms for plants. What you hear the most about is the “nitrogen fixing” bacteria, which take atmospheric nitrogen and process it into a usable form for plant roots to uptake. This is how plants have historically received a large portion of their nitrogen. But nitrogen fixers are only a small portion of the beneficial microbes. There are other microbes that break down unusable phosphates, potassium sources, as well as a whole myriad of micronutrients, and make them available to plants to use. We are also learning that these microorganisms often times even move into and out of the plants themselves. This makes a lot of sense when we look at how microorganisms move in and out of the human body. Why wouldn’t microbes do that in plants, too? Well we now know that they do. Just as “probiotics” (fancy word for microbes in your gut) aid in our efficient digestion of foods, microorganisms work in plants to improve translocation of nutrients as well as improve the movement of the nutrients in and out of the cells. So they help plants digest food better, too. And if that isn’t enough, beneficial microbes work as a natural defense mechanism for plants. Microbes view the soils they live and the plants that they interact with as their home. When an invader (pathogenic microbe) attacks their home, they are quick to go to the defense, attacking the very microbes that are invading their territory. This gives a natural defense against disease for plants under beneficial microbes’ protection.
Key Input Solutions’ Bio-D products are 100% organic and designed with vast diversity in mind.
Using composted materials as part of our proprietary process we developed over the last forty (40) years we are able to repopulate an environment with the vast array of microorganisms that nature wants. Our Bio-D products include hundreds, if not thousands, of beneficial bacteria, fungi, and even archaea. We challenge any other products on the market to contain the biological diversity that is contained in Bio-D products. Our processes were not only developed in order to guarantee that massive beneficial microbial diversity exists in our products, they also guarantee that the pathogenic microbes are eliminated.
Beneficial bacteria have many advantages to plants of all kinds. Turf grasses will grow healthier roots, thicker stalks, and be more vibrant green. Flowers will grow heartier stalks, which will make them stand better. More flowers in vibrant colors will also result. Trees and shrubs will look healthier. And the microbes will also go to work on defense. By increasing BRIX levels (sugar levels) in plants the overall health of the plants are increased. Better health means elevated resistance to plant stresses, such as drought, flood, disease, and insect attack.
When we developed the Bio-D lineup of products we had application complexities in mind. We designed our powders to easily tank mix with little to no agitation required. We design granular products for specially for each individual application to ensure that proper spread patterns occur. And our products all have long shelf lives with very few storage restrictions. Easy storage……easy application……incredible efficacy. What more could you ask for?
Bio-D products on your turf and ornamentals will:
increase organic matter
improve nutrient uptake
increase BRIX levels
increase root mass
thicker and greener turf
make flowers more vibrant
reduce disease
Key Input Solutions builds (but is not limited to) the following types of organic products for turf and ornamental:
Turf maintenance
Ornamental maintenance
Tree and shrub health
Turf protection from pet urine
Specialty agglomerated and sparged products
Private label products
Keep in mind that we are a research and development company. The vast majority of what we produce is specially designed for customers that sell our products on their private labels. If you have an idea of what you would like to accomplish, then tell us about it. We’ll see what we can do to build a product to fulfill your need. We have the ability to develop and produce products that are soluble powder, granular (agglomerated or sparged), and liquid.
— TESTIMONIAL —
Cooke’s Hope (Easton, MD)
“Root development is key to healthy plants of all kinds. This picture shows roots from grasses pulled up in two locations in the Cooke’s Hope subdivision, one with standard NPK’s used and the other using Bio-D SP biological soil amendment. The plant health advantage to using Bio-D products is quite evident.”
32 Days after standard NPK fertilizer application (left side)
32 Days after one application of Bio-D SP (Right Side)
Ratcliffe Rhodedendrons
These rhododendrons were woefully infected with phytopthora at the beginning of the season. After applying Bio-D SP throughout the season the plant fully recovered. See the before and after pictures below.
Beginning of the season infected with phytopthora (left)
End of the season fully recovered (right)
Jim Piavaso,
Wholesale Rosehill Plantery
“I have been using biological stimulant type products for many years at my nursery, raising annuals, perennials, and ornamental plants. Bio-D SP has performed far beyond every other biological product I have ever used. I have increased my poinsettia yields without using fungicides or insecticides for White Fly for the past two seasons in our greenhouses. The roots of the vegetable starters and the annual flower plants are much stronger and denser. Using Bio-D SP I have been able to increase the value and the quality of our products.”
Mark Wichlinski
(Turf and Ornamental Care Specialist)