Our products include the high-priority ingredients needed to optimize plant growth and enrich damaged soil.

Black Wonder 5000 Soil Building blocks:

A. Organic Compost

• Compost is the backbone of Black Wonder 5000. Barnyard manures and composted sawdust contain the plant foods.
  Compost aerates and builds soil. Plant roots need oxygen to grow. Compost clumps small soil particles together — aggregate — to form larger particles. Larger soil particles allow water and air to move through the soil quickly, increasing soil volume available for plant growth. Large compost particles “open up” the soil, increasing soil oxygen, allowing roots to penetrate deeper and get access to more food and water. Greater soil volume produces larger plants.
  Compost absorbs water. By storing and holding water during droughts, compost increases the volume of water available for plant growth. Plants don’t get thirsty.
  Compost feeds earthworms, soil insects, bacteria, and fungi. These organisms provide additional plant food and improve soil structure.

B. SOIL ENZYMES

Enzymes are catalysts that create faster chemical reactions. Enzymes speed up chemical reactions but remain unchanged. Soil enzymes recycle themselves over and over again. Soil enzymes break down soil organic matter to make plant food. Enzymes speed up chemical reactions to break down organic matter quicker. Soil enzymes quickly break down soil minerals and organic matter and make plant food. More food makes plants grow faster.

C. POLYMERS

“Super spongy” polymers absorb as much as 150 times their weight in water when mixed with soil or a potting medium. Polymers store water for plants to absorb.

A polymer is a compound consisting of “repeating structural units.” Soil polymers look like a group of packing boxes joined to form a Rubik’s cube of water tanks. Polymers swell up and store water until the plant’s roots take it out. Roots find the polymer particles and grow into them. Polymers are tiny water sponges. Plant foods trapped in water are held by the sponges until plants are ready to eat or drink. 

Moist soil helps plants grow bigger and avoid drought stress. Moist seeds germinate quickly and evenly. As the polymers expand and contract, soil is loosened and aerated. Sponges hold water so you water less. Consistent soil moisture helps plants establish more rapidly. Polymers absorb nutrients so fertilizer is needed less often.

D. ROOT FUNGI

Mycorrhizae are natural fungi that establish a partnership with roots. Fungi enter and wrap around the roots of vegetables, flowers, shrubs, and trees. The fungi send out filaments-hyphae-as much as 200 times farther into the soil than the plant’s roots. Mycorrhiza harvest this additional area for water and food and carry them back to the roots. The plant feeds the fungus with glucose.

Approximately 90% of all plants associate with mycorrhizal fungi.

Mycorrhizal fungi include Ectomycorrhizal fungi which wrap around root cells and Endomycorrhizal fungi that enter plant roots. Tiny fungal hyphae weave among soil particles through cracks and crannies too small for the tiniest root hair. The fungal spiderweb becomes an expanded root system with a soil volume from hundreds to thousands of times greater than the plant could reach alone. Plants have better drought resistance and are more fruitful.

E. SOIL BACTERIA

Plants in the legume family, like clovers, soybeans, alfalfa, lupines, and peanuts absorb or “fix” nitrogen from the air. Legumes contain bacteria called rhizobia in root nodules. These rhizobia bacteria produce nitrogen to feed the plant. When legumes die, nitrogen is released, fertilizes the soil, and becomes available to other plants.

Legumes must be inoculated with bacteria of the Rhizobium species to produce nitrogen. Proper inoculation vastly improves the growth and vigor of legumes. Black Wonder 5000 contains these beneficial bacteria.

F. VERMICULITE

Vermiculite is a natural soil mineral that looks like mica. When processed with extreme heat, vermiculite expands “popcorn fashion” into accordion-like pellets with many thin sheets and a huge surface area. Water and nutrients are held on the surfaces of the flat plates, available for plant use. Horticultural vermiculite is lightweight, does not rot, is nontoxic, and has a neutral pH. Vermiculite improves soil drainage, aeration, and water retention, resulting in healthier, more robust plants with better root systems.

G. Seaweed Extract

This contains natural rooting hormones to make quick roots, which allows for plants to uptake food and water quicker. Increases bloom set and size of flowers and fruit.

H. Shells of Lobster and Crab

These materials are important to reduce the number of harmful nematodes in the soil.

I. HUMIC ACIDS

These acids cling to plant roots, make food, and help roots absorb water and food, dramatically increasing yields and growth. “Humic acids” are composed of humic and fulvic acids. 

• Humic acid: A dark-brown organic substance that is soluble in water and heavier than fulvic acid. 
• Fulvic acid: A yellow to yellow-brown organic substance that is lightweight and soluble in water. 

Adding a small amount of humic acid to soil produces results. Humic acids especially benefit sandy soils. Sand with a low cation exchange capacity (CEC) cannot hold nutrients, so plant foods can leach deep into the soil and become unavailable to plant roots. Humic acids hold Magnesium, Calcium, Iron, and trace elements.