Possibly the most overpriced supplement on the market.

[Mospeada]

Like all businesses, to a certain degree they rely on a customer's laziness. Take me for example, just spent $14 USD on this bottle of humic acid. 1% Leonardite 99% inert. That's $14 for something like 10g of powder and 990ml of water lol.

Just looked it up. A 4.5kg bag of premium granular Leonardite sells for $32. If it's the same stuff that's in this bottle that bag would be enough to make 450 bottles. $6300 dollars worth.

I will admit straight up I'm bad at Math. However, I still can't see how this isn't the most overpriced thing in the fertilizer world. It's 99% water.

 

[BigCube]

The leonardite in the bag is not the same thing. It's a powder, not fully soluble in water. It needs significant processing to derive Humic acids from it.. you cam google the process. Needless to say there are many steps involved.

You can buy a $300 hand made knife, that took the maker hours and hours to make, even though the metal it's made from only costs about a dollar.

Doesnt mean you're getting ripped off.
We often take for granted the amount of actual work that goes in to simple things. I agree, it does seem like a rip off, but once you see what it takes to make it, it seems less so.

Probably still overpriced, but probably not as much as it seems at first glance.

 

[BillFarthing]

If you're paying for 99% water, you're probably getting ripped off. I would buy 70% humic acid leonardite and add 3 oz to a quart jar. Titrate h2o2 peroxide slowly until the quart jar is full. It will bubble up for a few days as it oxidizes. After a week and the bubbling has stopped, add 15 ml to gallon of feed water. For soil applications.

Alternately, to a food safe gallon jug, add 100 grams leonardite and fill half way with water. Add 10 grams potassium hydroxide. Fill the rest of the way with water, leaving a bit of head space. Add citric acid until the pH is 2-3. Let sediment settle for a couple weeks. Add 30 ml to a 5 gallon bucket of feed water. For soil applications.

 

[Edinburgh]

It does not say water it says inert ingredients, what ingredients are inert? While i do agree the stuff is way overpriced but to make your own you need to find out what inert ingredients are in it, take atami bloombastic a tiny bottle is $50 bucks, all it is is potassium but i dont use much so i pay, im shure if i look around i could find a much cheaper replacement but it works great i dont use much so i pay but i do see your point thats how the rich get rich find a cheap product that can be mass produced, add some slick label a bit of advertising and bingo i just ripped off a bunch of fools and now im rich, unfortunately that is called capitalism not price gouging.

 

[pdasterly]

golden tree is expensive, maybe im just cheap

 

[BillFarthing]

golden tree is expensive, maybe im just cheap

Naw, crab meal is cheaper.

I pay $0.10 a gallon with biostimulants. The hydro store is the one that sucks.

 

[cemchris]

Ferti-Organic makes cheap soluble humic. It's $12 a lb. 50lbs is $190. It's also 60%. This is USA tho so don't know about availability across the pond or the maple syrup border.

 

[BillFarthing]

Ferti-Organic makes cheap soluble humic. It's $12 a lb. 50lbs is $190. It's also 60%. This is USA tho so don't know about availability across the pond or the maple syrup border.

Ferti-Organic is a good company with good products for the money. That said, they use outdated V&B testing to pump up their fulvic acid number.

Using the modern AOAC or ISO standards, they come in at ~14% fulvic acid content. BioAg does the same thing and Ful-Power comes in at 0.15% fulvic.

 

[Ramseyc2006]

Like all businesses, to a certain degree they rely on a customer's laziness. Take me for example, just spent $14 USD on this bottle of humic acid. 1% Leonardite 99% inert. That's $14 for something like 10g of powder and 990ml of water lol.

Just looked it up. A 4.5kg bag of premium granular Leonardite sells for $32. If it's the same stuff that's in this bottle that bag would be enough to make 450 bottles. $6300 dollars worth.

I will admit straight up I'm bad at Math. However, I still can't see how this isn't the most overpriced thing in the fertilizer world. It's 99% water.

Get you some biochar. A 40lb bag cost about the same.

 

[Foutwenty71]

The leonardite in the bag is not the same thing. It's a powder, not fully soluble in water. It needs significant processing to derive Humic acids from it.. you cam google the process. Needless to say there are many steps involved.

You can buy a $300 hand made knife, that took the maker hours and hours to make, even though the metal it's made from only costs about a dollar.

Doesnt mean you're getting ripped off.
We often take for granted the amount of actual work that goes in to simple things. I agree, it does seem like a rip off, but once you see what it takes to make it, it seems less so.

Probably still overpriced, but probably not as much as it seems at first glance.

That's an intelligent outstanding answer