Longer Shelf Life for Fruits and Vegetables

Why Throw Away Those Two Week Old Fruits and Vegetables

Most people get a sick feeling when they must throw away fresh fruits and vegetables that have become too ripe to eat.  Estimates are that as much as 40% of fresh fruits and vegetables are thrown away because they have become too ripe to eat. 

Ideally fruits and vegetables would ripen until they have reached their maximum in freshness and flavor, and then cease the ripening process at that point.  This would allow the produce to be at its best when the consumer is ready for it, and it would not become too ripe to use.

The ripening of fruits and vegetables is caused by the ethylene gas that it produces.  Once fruits and vegetables have matured on the vine they begin to expel ethylene gas.  This ethylene gas causes the ripening process and continues until decay begins, and the food is no longer suitable for consumption.  This window of time after it is ripe but before it begins to decay is commonly referred to as ‘shelf life’.

The benefits of neutralizing the Ethylene gas that the fruit produces.

It is now possible to neutralize the ethylene gas that the fruits and vegetables produce and slow the ripening process.  While neutralizing the ethylene gas doesn’t stop the ripening process, it does slow it down.  This product, BioWash Fertilizer Enhancer, is made from 99% plant-based ingredients, is non-toxic, non-carcinogenic, and readily bio-degradable.  BioWash is primarily used to improve how efficiently plants absorb nutrients, but can also be used as a ‘veggie wash’ for fruits and vegetables after harvest.  Washing vegetables in BioWash for 2-3 minutes has shown to be beneficial in removing remaining dirt and pesticide residues, and also in extending shelf life by one to two weeks. 

Shelf life is typically extended by 2 weeks after ethylene gas is neutralized. 

Photos shown here re photos demonstrate the effects of washing fruits and vegetables in BioWash after harvest.  The net result is that consumers can remove any remaining farm chemicals AND make their fruits and vegetables last longer.     

The tomato on the left was washed in BioWash, the one on the right was not.

Reduce Environmental Impact of Agri-Chemicals

Get More Benefit From Your Fertilizer

Throughout history the use of various chemicals has been an important part of farming.  Chemical fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, and fungicides are applied regularly on most farms.  However, more and more safety concerns are being raised about such wide usage of chemicals in the agricultural industry. 

One source of concern is for those who consume the produce.  Most chemicals sprayed onto fruits and vegetables are oil based so that rain won’t wash them off.  However, this also means that they are more difficult to wash off during post-harvest washing, and may find their way onto the kitchen table.    

The second concern is for the risks to farm workers who apply them.  Chemicals can enter the body through both breathing fumes and through skin contact.  Repeated exposure to toxic chemicals during the mixing and application process can lead to health issues over time. 

Thirdly, continued chemical applications can result in a buildup of unused chemicals in the soil.  If fertilizers are not in a form that plants can easily absorb, much of the fertilizer remains in the soil.  Plants only absorb a small percentage of the chemical fertilizers that are applied, which is costly to farmers and damaging to the environment.  The residual chemicals often leach down into groundwater or are washed away through runoff into streams and lakes.  If they reach lakes and streams, chemical residue causes the formation of excessive algae in the water.  All this algae reduces the amount of oxygen in the water available for fish, and reduces the amount of sunlight that can reach underwater plants.  These concerns make the efficiency of agri-chemical usage a key issue. 

The impact of chemical fertilizers is reduced if plants uptake more of the chemicals in the soil.   Plant roots use electromagnetic attraction (called Cation Exchange) to draw nutrient ions from the soil.  Quantum chemistry has now been used to develop a groundwater safe product known as BioWash Fertilizer Enhancer that increases the Cation Exchange Capacity in plants so that a higher percentage of the fertilizer is used by the plants.  A sister product, BioWash Soil Amendment, is applied directly to the soil and breaks down residual fertilizers, making nutrients in the soil more easily absorbed by the plant roots.

This increase in fertilizer efficiency not only reduces the probability of pollution from these chemicals, the increased nutrient intake by the plants also produces larger, healthier, plants which produce a larger crop.  Because the cost of BioWash is only about $6.00 per application per acre, the farmer can not only reduce his environmental impact, but he can also reap higher profits from the increase in crop production using fertilizer that would otherwise go unused and contribute to environmental problems.              

Increase Fertilizer Efficiency

Healthier Plants Mean Larger Crops

We all recognize farming to be a challenging endeavor.  In addition to planting, growing, and harvesting their crops, farmers face continuing struggles with rising costs for labor, fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, and fuel.  There is also added pressure on crop prices brought about by imported produce, and even concerns that soil fertility is declining on American farmland - thereby reducing crop production.    

One way to improve profitability is to use farm resources as efficiently as possible.  For example, we know that plants absorb only a relatively small percentage of applied fertilizer, so improving the efficiency of plant nutrient uptake would yield immediate results.  Making use of more of the applied fertilizer would help both economically and environmentally; as fertilizer that isn't absorbed by the plant is wasted, and is often washed away through runoff, eventually finding its way into lakes, streams, and groundwater.  

Plant roots absorb nutrients through an electromagnetic attraction to the nutrient ions in the soil.  An Increase in this electromagnetic attraction will help the roots draw in more of the nutrients from the soil.  Quantum chemistry has now provided a way to do just that with a product made from plant-based ingredients called BioWash that increases the electromagnetic attraction (Cation Exchange Capacity) in the plant’s roots.  Plant roots absorb more of the available nutrients, and the plants become healthier, grow larger, and produce more fruits and vegetables. 

Improved Cation Exchange Capacity increases root growth

In addition, when this groundwater-safe ‘fertilizer enhancer’ is applied directly to the soil, it breaks down residual nutrients from chemical fertilizers already in the soil that the plants could not previously absorb.  Once broken down, those nutrients are more easily absorbed by the roots.  The benefits are 1) the nutrient absorption rate of the plants is increased and 2) more nutrients in the soil are usable by the plants. 

Actual farm tests have proven that plant size and crop yield have increased by 10% to 30% with the addition of BioWash to the normal regimen of nutrients.  A recent test on corn in Iowa showed an increase from 170 bushels per acre to 189 bushels per acre on a test plot with three applications of BioWash.  At a cost of only about $20 per acre for those 3 applications, this added crop yield can make a real difference in the farmer’s profit for his crop.

More information and a video about improving Cation Exchange Capacity is available at www.biowash-usa.com          

Provided by:  Ag Solutions 

Improve Seed Germination

New Science Helps Seeds Germinate

Improving seed germination rate is a straightforward way to improve the efficiency of farming.  Seeds that don’t germinate cost as much to purchase as those that do, so a farmer doesn't get as much for his money when a needlessly high number of seeds don’t produce anything.

Seeds are simply embryonic plants resting in dormancy surrounded by stored food inside a seed shell.  Germination begins when the soil temperature is within a suitable temperature range, and the seed comes in contact with water.  As the seed absorbs the water, the enzymes and food supply stored inside the seed become hydrated. Once hydrated, the enzymes become active and the seed increases its metabolic activities to produce energy for the growth process. The growth activity inside the seed soon creates pressure in the cells as they enlarge causing the seed coat to split open.

The root (also called the radical) emerges from the seed coat first, then the shoot expands and emerges shortly thereafter.  Root growth slows after the shoot emerges and begins to grow. The shoot will grow upward and emerge from the soil, where it gains exposure to sunlight, and photosynthesis begins to generate energy to accelerate growth. 

Planting depth is important because the seed contains only enough stored food for a short period of growth.  The seedling must emerge from the soil and establish an external food source quickly or it will run out of food and die before the shoot reaches the surface of the soil.

Stages of Successful Seed Germination

A common practice to aid and accelerate seed germination is to soak the seeds in water immediately before planting.  Soaking provides plenty of water to hydrate the enzymes and food supply inside the seed.  Once the plants roots have emerged from the seed coat they begin to draw nutrients from the soil and become the main food source. 

Obviously, the more nutrients provided by the roots, the better the seed germination rate will be and the faster the plants will grow.  Adding fertilizer to the soil can make more nutrients available, but too much fertilizer can cause chemical burn to seeds. So a better way to get the highest germination rate is to ensure that the seeds absorb as much of the available nutrients as possible, so that only a relatively small amount of fertilizer is needed.

Plant roots use electromagnetic attraction to draw nutrients from the soil.  BioWash Fertilizer Enhancer is a product made from plant extracts that has proven to increase electromagnetic attraction (also known as Cation Exchange Capacity or CEC) in plant roots.  Adding a mild solution of BioWash to the soak water will allow the roots to to absorb more of the nutrients available in the soil as soon as the roots emerge from the seed.  This improved draw of nutrients will improve the probability that seed germination will be successful without the need to increase the amount of fertilizer and risk possible seed burn.   

An example of how BioWash improves germination rate became evident recently to a gardener in Alabama who has been having problems with low germination rates with spinach seeds for the past 3 years. 

On February 8^th, 2013 he planted a 2.5’ X 10’ area with seeds that he had soaked for 24 hours in plain water prior to planting.  On March 9 (after 29 days) he saw the first sprouts and subsequently estimated the germination rate on those seeds to be approximately 75 – 80%.     

On February 28^th he planted another 2.5’ X 10’ area using seeds from the same batch as the previous planting.  He repeated his 24 hour soak prior to planting, however, this time he added a small amount of BioWash to his soak water.  On March 11, 2013 (after only 11 days) he noted that sprouts about 3/8” tall were visible.  His evaluation was “the germination rate has to be close to 100%”. 

He does stipulate that colder than usual temperatures in February may have been a factor in the results of the first batch, but slow germination rates had regularly been a problem on his spinach plantings for the last 3 years.  His results from this informal test led him to state “I will be using the BioWash soak in the future”.

Soak times will vary based on the seed type.  Seeds with a soft seed coat may hydrate considerably faster than seeds with hard coats (spinach seeds as discussed above have a hard coat).  Also, the continued application of BioWash to the plants as they mature will improve plant health and increase crop yield.

Additional information about BioWash is available at www.biowash-usa.com.