# Humic Acid - application rates help?



## junglejim1020 (3 mo ago)

I have a bag of this on my hands that I want to use in my sprayer along with liquid fertilizer applications (primarily urea/N at the moment). This is for a cool season TTTF/ KBG lawn in 6b. Slightly acidic soil. 

AMAZON Link - Raw Humic Acid

It is a soluble humic acid, 59% purity (derived from soluble potash if that matters….).

I’m confused by the dosing instructions - The bag says to use “1/8-1/4 TEASPOON per gallon in reservoir for irrigation” which seems like so little. Assuming normal spray rate of 1gallon / 1k SF, it comes out to around 1 or 2 grams of product per 1k sf.

Looking at other products like Humic DG which claims to be 70% Humic acid (more concentrated?!) and calls for 1-2lbs per 1k SF, the instructions and rates on my product seem off.

What gives? And what’s “right”?

Thanks in advance for any help!!!


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## dksmc (8 mo ago)

Just bumping this thread. I'd be interested in any feedback on humic acid rates as well.


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## Bkeller500 (Jul 2, 2018)

I believe there is very little danger in putting on too much Humic Acid.
Dilute it down to a manageable spray and go for it. Overlapping is not a issue. It will not burn the grass.


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## junglejim1020 (3 mo ago)

Bkeller500 said:


> I believe there is very little danger in putting on too much Humic Acid.
> Dilute it down to a manageable spray and go for it. Overlapping is not a issue. It will not burn the grass.


Thanks! I’m still not really sure what stratosphere I should even be in though. My product is 60% pure Humic and says 1/8tsp per gallon while other products are even higher purity and call for pounds of the stuff per 1k SF.
I guess I don’t need precision but I’m looking for some kind of ballpark “X lbs pure humic / 1k SF) like I would have for something like nitrogen. Then I can just back into appropriate dosing based on product purity and weight.


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## e_dawg (5 mo ago)

One of the limiting factors at play here when it comes to applying humic via a sprayer is solubility, as humic acid by itself isn't really soluble in water without a base like potassium hydroxide present. So if it's just humic acid powder in neutral pH water (7.0 - 7.5), the upper limit is probably around 3/4 to 1 teaspoon per gallon.

Anything more than that probably won't dissolve so it might just cling to the walls of your sprayer tank.

So with that, I would recommend something like 3/4 teaspoon per gallon and apply the mixture of over 1,000 sq ft.

A little goes a long way with both humic and kelp / seaweed. Just don't expect it to be a liquid aerator and magically relieve compaction.


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## junglejim1020 (3 mo ago)

e_dawg said:


> One of the limiting factors at play here when it comes to applying humic via a sprayer is solubility, as humic acid by itself isn't really soluble in water without a base like potassium hydroxide present. So if it's just humic acid powder in neutral pH water (7.0 - 7.5), the upper limit is probably around 3/4 to 1 teaspoon per gallon.
> 
> Anything more than that probably won't dissolve so it might just cling to the walls of your sprayer tank.
> 
> ...


Should I apply it as a granular then so I can put more down without dealing with solubility issues? I don’t care if I’m spraying it or spreading it. I’m just really confused about how what you’re suggesting amounts to a few grams of active ingredient per 1k SF while a reputable product like Humic DG is applied at around a pound of active ingredient per SF.

Hopefully I’m not being dense but I just don’t understand why the dosing varies so much or what is “right”.


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## e_dawg (5 mo ago)

No, you're not wrong. It is hard to believe that a few grams of humic are going to be the chemical equivalent of physically core aerating your lawn.

I would say it does nothing close to that. It does seem to improve nitrogen availability with low N fertilization rates, though, so it's not without merit. Again, it's a few grams, so one would only expect minor benefits, but also minor expenditure.

But why not apply an order of magnitude more via the granular route, as you have wondered? Wouldn't that provide much more benefit? Logically, it should, but according to The Grass Factor on YouTube, the results from a couple dozen studies suggest that the benefits from humic are not definitively proven. I don't know what amounts those studies used, but one would think they tried a variety of 'dosing levels'.

So what would I do? If the local cost is reasonable, I'd probably spring for a bag of granular Humic DG to try it out and see for myself (do an experiment -- apply it to half your lawn and see if the lawn does better than the non Humic DG side).

For myself the local cost is $120 CDN ($90 USD) + $18 shipping, so I'm not that keen on trying it out. YMMV.


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