‘Tururururu, tururururu!’ My phone is ringing, caller unknown. Usually, it’s a salesperson of some sort. Since I’m in a good mood, I decide to answer the call for a change. Company X, offering a biostimulant, promising 20 percent production growth… yada, yada. I thank him kindly for his call, telling him I will call him back if I’m interested.
If I were to believe every claim of increased production ever made, we would be producing 200% more than we ever did. While the Netherlands seems to have some amount of regulation today, this is not the case in Kenya. The country is infested with biostimulants, accompanied by the most fantastic claims. We only use biostimulants from reputable companies. Even so, careful testing is needed; one agent will have a positive effect on your crop, another won’t. And then the question remains: how many different products can one and does one want to use?
Our supplier of irrigation equipment recently showed up with two different magnets to influence the magnetic field of our drip irrigation system, supposedly meant to ensure a better absorption of nutrients. This immediately reminded me of Char, so I laughed it off. What on earth could a small magnet, placed on the main pipeline carrying dozens of cubic metres of water every hour, possibly do? But hey… nothing ventured, nothing gained. The guy was going to install them for free and would only bill us if the results were positive. Long story short: one magnet reduced growth, while the other one improved growth. I was flabbergasted, but you’ve guessed correctly: all our plants are now on magnetised water!
