C&D Strawberries
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PRODUCT USAGE RATE COMPARISONS
After five years of using energized carbon products, C & D Strawberry Growers - end users of our products, conducts crop trials different than usual.
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Mike Council, the farm's manager, started using carbon based products on their farms several years ago to address a salt problem they encountered with their water, saving over a million recently planted strawberry plants as shown in the timeline below.
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Mike states, "Last year (2010) I had one of the best strawberry crops in the entire state of Florida and continued harvesting over a month longer than usual. My buyers were constantly raving about the quality, firmness, and brix of my berries. In fact, one of our buyers, Kroger Supermarkets, asked if we could extend our harvesting season for 3 weeks due to the quality of our berries versus the rest of the market."
He continues, "These products are worth triple their cost! I try to tell every farmer I know about these amazing products and hope they will try it for themselves. If nothing more, do it for the soil’s sake. It definitely helps restore the soils and leaves the soil in better condition for the next season."
This year, Mike has been conducting tests to see what results are obtained using varying rates of mix. These trials consist of three test areas where the quantity of product used was varied and results tracked.
THE TESTS
- The first test consisted of only using 3 gal/acre of RESTOREâ„¢
- The second test increased the rate to 6 gal/acre of RESTOREâ„¢,
- And just to see if another three gallons of RESTOREâ„¢ made any difference, he increased the application to 9 gallons RESTOREâ„¢ per acre.
In the photo gallery below, we targeted three random strawberry plants that were part of this test.
THE RESULTS:Â
GROWTH
- Healthier plants with Carbon Works Nutritional Program
- Larger growth in roots and top canopy with increased RESTOREâ„¢ utilized at pre-plant
- Greater bloom and fruit set with increased RESTOREâ„¢ & BALANCEâ„¢ usage
COSTS
- Input costs for Carbon Works Nutritional Program were balanced by grower reduction in commercial fertilizer and fungicide utilized in agronomy program
ADVANTAGES
- Massive root growth greatly increases water and nutrient uptake
- Increased bloom & fruit set multiplies yield
- Earlier maturity of berries increases profit potential
- Longer lasting berry shelf life greatly enhances buyer satisfaction