NATURAL MINERAL SOIL CONDITIONER

Staff writer

Mar 14, 20221 min read

In recognition of World Water Day on 8 March, Pratley focussed on the benefits of its Vulture Creek Clino for a range of horticultural and agricultural applications. These include a slow-release fertiliser, improving the root zone and fertiliser uptake on golf courses and for turf installations. It is a soil conditioner that reduces nutrient loss and enhances growth and is also used as a growing medium for hydroponics. The theme of World Water Day 2022 was "Groundwater – Making the Invisible Visible."

Vulture Creek Clino comprises a natural zeolite - crystalline, aluminium-silicate minerals with a three-dimensional honeycomb structure containing networks of negatively charged channels and exchanged cations. This honeycomb structure gives rise to the absorption, catalytic and ion exchange capabilities of Vulture Creek Clino.

The main benefit is that it reduces the frequency of applying fertiliser, making it ideal for golf course maintenance, new golf courses or any garden where the soil needs to be enhanced for lawns or flowerbeds. It has also been used in the rehabilitation of mine dumps.

It acts as a soil conditioner that boosts fertility in the soil, in turn improving its ability to provide nutrition to grass and plants, as well as retaining water near the root zone. It has a strong internal negative charge and absorbs positively charged cations such as potassium and ammonium, common in fertilisers. It releases these cations slowly over a longer period, extending the efficacy of the fertiliser. Unlike potentially harmful chemical fertilisers that can end up in rivers and dams, Vulture Creek Clino is a natural and environment-friendly mineral.