Organic Biostimulants

Specific Modes of Action (MoA)
The product you choose needs to solve a real problem for your customers. Too many times you will see marketing material for biostimulants where the only discernible MoA is "increases plant growth". That is not good enough nowadays. The more detail the better, and even better if this can be linked to scientific literature or studies to back the claims up. Below I have grouped together some extremely broad areas of biostimulant actions for products already on the market. However, you should demand far more information than a simple sentence or two on the subject of mode of action. At the same time, beware of "panacea" products that claim to have every MoA under the sun.

Unique Selling Points
Avoid generic products already well-established in the market or be prepared for a tough sell. That is unless you have obtained an especially generous deal with your supplier that will allow you to undercut your competitors.

Quantifiable Active Ingredients
For some biostimulant products the active ingredient may be accounted for down to the specific chemical compound, while for others it may simply state that it "contains plant extracts". So you will need to determine how much information you require.
The supplier may be unwilling to divulge active ingredients. I believe that this reticence usually stems from four reasons:
●They want to protect their intellectual property. This is understandable, but it can make products look like magic potions that just need "trusting".
●They think it will add to the product's kudos; whereby they replace "contains seaweed extract" with something like "PHYCCOTRONICS INSIDE" because it sounds fancier.
●They aren't the primary manufacturer and so want to hide that fact from the customer (who might go direct to the real manufacturer).
●They do not have the legal right to sell the product under their own name from the original supplier.
Regardless of whether the active ingredient and their concentrations are revealed, I believe it is always advisable to analyze samples yourself for their composition, rather than rely on data from the supplier. While you might not have a fully equipped laboratory on hand, there are plenty of analytical laboratories offering their services for modest fees. This was not always the case, especially when it came to determining the species and concentration of microbial products. However, the price of these analyses has dropped dramatically in the last few years (going from tens of thousands of pounds to a few hundred at most).

Lack of "Unwanteds"
Will sodium levels, heavy metals, allergens, or microbial contaminants be an issue for your intended use? For some customers, color or odor may even be the critical issue.
Allergens could feasibly be an issue when working with by-products from the seafood and nut processing industries, while microbial contaminants could occur in both extract and microbial products if preserved and stabilized incorrectly. It is therefore advisable to send samples to a third-party lab to confirm the levels of any compounds/microorganisms that you may be concerned about.
You may also want to check that the biostimulant has not been "spiked". By this I mean adding plant nutrients to ensure that the crops respond in an obviously positive way. Yes, applying a biostimulant with 3% nitrogen will stimulate vegetative growth, but is it the biostimulants or the fertilizer producing this effect? Spiking may be fine for you if the fertilizer component is disclosed, but don't be sold a "pig in a poke". In all cases, you will want to avoid buying any product combined with a pesticide which may be effective, but is going to run afoul of many regulations and laws.

Formulations That Work for You
This could be clearly a topic in its own right, but to summarize, you will need to check that the product is:
●Tank mix compatible with any agrochemicals and biologicals that will regularly be co-applied.
●Fully soluble/miscible, or if an emulsion/suspension that it doesn't block filters.
●The correct concentration: too high and users struggle to handle it accurately and too weak and you end up selling mostly water.
●Contains the correct adjuvants to maximize action (i.e., surfactants, wetters, anti-foaming agents).
●Preserved in a way that maximizes shelf life, that doesn't impact the product's performance, that is organically certifiable (if an issue), and is safe for the user.

Reliable Independent Trial Results
This is one of the trickiest features of biostimulants to try and navigate. It essentially comes down to "do you trust the authors of the trial reports?" Field trials conducted by the company selling the product (or farmers receiving the product free of charge) are fine as an indicator of how to use the product, but don't hold much rigour. Conversely, if the trial was run by an organization or institute you know to be of the highest integrity and with no declared financial interest then this is clearly an extremely valuable tool for evaluating a product. Often the best trials are conducted by industry bodies, and are what I term "beauty pageants" comparing a range of products from different suppliers.

Primary Manufacturers
As with sourcing any raw material, it is usually best to identify the primary manufacturer. If not, you could be paying far too high a price. However, this might not always be possible, due to exclusive distribution agreements already in place. It might also be better to use a trader when you want limited quantities, or they are offering generous credit terms or additional services. If this is the case, it should still be possible for you to be informed who is the original manufacturer. Therefore, be skeptical of companies claiming to be primary producers if site visits are off the table and/or the supplier is based at an office or residential address where the product could not feasibly be manufactured. At Plater Bio, for example, we always extend an open invitation to all distributors to tours of our site to observe their products being manufactured and discuss the products with our technical team.

Strategic Partnerships
Seek suppliers who will support your business by innovating and testing their products and telling you first about their findings. You should also find a supplier who will minimize competitors challenging your business with the same product. The obvious way to do this is to seek exclusivity agreements or rebate schemes to create barriers to entry for new competitors.

Compliant Safety Documents
Substances and mixtures must now be classified, packaged, and labelled (CLP) in compliance with the UN Globally Harmonized System (GHS) as enacted by the CLP Regulations within the EU.
Compliant Safety Data Sheets need to be produced and supplied to the downstream customer at or before the first order is received and again in case of significant revision. Despite being globally harmonized, some variations in requirements exist between the different global trading blocks, so be aware of this when importing biostimulants. The (supply and transport) hazard labels attached to the product container and to the outermost layer of packaging need to comply with current and relevant legislation.

Beneficial Living Organisms (Biologicals)
Living beneficial bacteria and fungi can be added to both the seed and the soil in the form of inoculants to help mineralize nutrients in the soil as well as promote nutrient uptake in the plant by forming a symbiotic relationship with the plant roots. Biologicals may have difficulty surviving processing, storage, and introduction to a foreign field, which can limit their efficacy.

Microbial Foods
Products in this category focus on feeding the native microbes in soil that do important jobs for the plant. These include molasses, fish by-products, and algae like seaweeds and kelp. Different beneficial microbes do different jobs in the soil, so microbial foods that promote microbial abundance and diversity are ideal. Microbial foods can have a wide range of quality and consistency (seaweed/kelp that are naturally harvested can be inconsistent) as well as C:N ratios (molasses is mostly sugar), making their nutritional benefit for microbes vary widely.

Humic and Fulvic Acids
A group of chemicals formed when plants and animals break down – they are found in humus, the major organic fraction of soil. While they both have origins in the organic materials in soil, humic and fulvic acids act upon soil differently because of their different molecular weights (size), charge, nutrient holding capacity, and the pH at which they become soluble. These acids are attracted to the root "depletion zone" (i.e., where the root uptakes nutrients from the soil), improve cation and anion exchange capacity (CEC & AEC) and prevent important nutrients and minerals from leaching away through the soil or volatilizing to the atmosphere.

Biochar
A charcoal-like substance produced by burning agricultural wastes (such as crop straw) in a controlled process called pyrolysis. This process converts the organic biomass into a stable form of carbon. Biochar is applied to the soil and can increase soil fertility, prevent leaching of important nutrients, and adjust soil pH. Biochar can also serve as a habitat for microbes below ground. Biochar is an excellent way of keeping carbon out of the atmosphere and returning it to the soil.

Hydrolysates
These are proteins and enzymes that have been extracted from formerly living plants and animals through a process called hydrolysis. Hydrolysates can be applied to the soil or through foliar, and it's still unclear whether hydrolysates work on the plant directly, with microbes, or both. Different hydrolysates can have different results on different crops, from activating plant defenses to inhibiting pathogens to increasing growth and chlorophyll in plant leaves by impacting the diversity of the phyllosphere microbial community.

Blends
Biostimulants can be mixed to form a blended product. The goal of these blends is to try and provide growers with an "all-in-one" product. Blends should be tailored to the needs of the soil and the crop by mixing products with different modes-of-action and complimentary benefits.