VolcaMin (Zeolite)

VolcaMin (clinoptilolite Zeolite) – Nutrient Efficiency System for Horticulture

VolcaMin works as a fertiliser battery, charging when free nutrients are available, holding them from leaching and releasing them to plant demand as required.  Volcamin is not effected by temperature and reduces the leaching of nutrients under hot tropical conditions, holding them for use by the plant instead.

Volcamin is also an excellent capillary distributor of water due its highly porous properties, assisting infiltration, holding water higher in the pot and distributing water and nutrients more evenly through the mix which is important especially under drip irrigation. It is used in several leading wetting agents.

Use of Volcamin will soak up excess ammonium and other cations in mixes often released under hot conditions, preventing root burning.  Volcamin is marginally alkaline and a source of available calcium so its use with fertilisers can help buffer pH levels thus reducing the need for lime applications.

Volcamin carries a negative ionic charge which naturally attracts positive charged cations like ammonium, potassium, magnesium and calcium. The open crystalline structure of Volcamin has many storage sites for these ions which hold naturally through a loose chemical bond. These fertiliser ions are available to plants. Volcamin has a very high cation exchange capacity and thus increases the mixes ability to hold and release nutrients. As cations are water soluble they escape from mixes by leaching.   Volcamin is the perfect planting partner as it is a natural wetting agent and distributor of water as well as an electrically charged fertiliser magnet.

It helps water penetrate sandy non-wettable soils and will evenly distribute water around drippers and soak lines. It should be used in planting holes, mixed with the top 10-15cm of soils or a mulch.

As a planting amendment, it makes a permanent difference as it won’t break down or be eaten by microbes in the soil. Volcamin has ten times the nutrient holding capacity per litre than peat and helps prevent environmental leaching of nutrients into waterways.

The Complete in Soil Nutrient Management Solution 

Incorporating VolcaMin into your soil conditioning and fertiliser program is a long term investment in the productivity of your soils and return on your fertiliser investment. Mixed into holes at planting, banded or applied around existing plantations or mixed with fertiliser blends, VolcaMin will improve plant available nutrient uptake and conversion to yield. Volcamin dramatically improves poor soils and as it doesn’t break down and is not consumed by microbes it is a permanent amendment and conditioner.

Benefits

• Reduces leaching dramatically
• Selective for ammonium potassium calcium & magnesium
• Stores up to 2% of its own weight in molecular ammonium, potassium, calcium & magnesium
• Improves nutrient availability
• Volcamin improves water infiltration
• Volcamin improves capillary distribution through the soil
• Drains freely, won’t clog the soil
• Solution to poor soils under tropical rainfall
• Stores nutrients that are normally washed away
• Reduces environmental impact on streams & rivers from reduced farm nutrient run off
• Enables better growth through permanently improved water & nutrient retention
• Mixed in from 1% to 5% of root zone soils
• Applied with Fertilisers
• Natural wetting agent
• Total Porosity 42.4%
• Water holding by volume 26.6%
• Capillary water holding without loss of drainage
• Nutrient holding through high cation exchange
• Permanent, isn’t consumed by microbes or plants
• Selective for ammonium potassium calcium & magnesium
• Reduces leaching dramatically

With Volcamin Inclusion		Without Volcamin Inclusion
	Water and soluble fertilisers pass through the low cation exchange capacity soil profile with nothing to attract and hold them Valuable nutrients are leached through Plant available nutrition is poor Particularly true of poor soils under tropical rainfall Although drainage is good, water retention is poor Runoff water becomes nutrient contaminated		Water and soluble fertilisers are attracted and held in the soil profile or growing media Valuable nutrients are not leached but exchanged onto the Volcamin Plant available nutrition is much better as the plants can harvest the Volcamin Hydraulic conductivity is not affected Capillary distribution is much better More water is held higher in the profile Higher yields from better nutrition Reduced Environmental leachate

Application Rates & Inclusion

• Growing Mixes
  • 2.5% of mix volume = 25Kg per M³
  • 5% of mix volume = 50 Kg per M³
  • 10% of mix volume = 100 Kg per M³
• Field Application
  • The efficiency of NPK fertilisers can be increased by the inclusion of Premium Horticultural Grade VolcaMin at 25%-50% of blend
  • Soil Amendment 1-5 tonnes tonnes/Hectare
• Tree Rates Tropics
  • At Planting 5-10 Kgs per planting hole
  • Circle Trenching 3-5 Kgs per tree

Volcamin will also remove ammonia odour from organic manures and improve the fertiliser value of Volcamin treated manures.

Product Properties

Typical Chemical Analysis – XRF – %

Typical Physical Properties