Thanks for clearing all that up, whodat.
First of all, let's explore chelation and why aminos can be important.
http://biogro.com/resources/CFSM/BG CFS 03 - Amino Minerals and Foliar Feeding.pdf
'Those PK boosters'
are beneficial in that they increase bud weight when used properly. They ultimately boil down to the penetrating ability of the fertilizer solution. EDTA is commonly used to hold molecules in place so they interact quicker with the root base, however it is linked with cancer and other nasty side effects from exposure. Spain outlawed inorganic chelates years ago and their organic ag industry relies on the principles of liquid amino acid chelation from hydrolized grains and covercrops to produce powerful fertilizers for food crops. You'll see from the article above that aminos bond to metal ions in their environment and increase absorption into the cuticle (tissue). The article also explains why humics/fulvics make lousy chelates for foliar applications; the molecule is just too big. Aminos are much smaller
and don't need to be further broken down to be useful. The article is correct, there is indeed debate about what constitutes humic or fulvic acid at all. The bottom line is that the humic/fulvics are not as ready to interact with nutrients as aminos. (Don't stop using humic/fulvic, start using aminos in addition to them- Aminos may even help break down the humic/fulvic faster by churning ionic activity which the humic/fulvic can piggy-back onto.)
The
quinoa came into play when I began to consider cheap methods of obtaining organic aminos cheaply (Afterall, this whole project is about maximizing organic output). I live in CO where
amaranth grows well so I'd probably end up using it in a fermented plant extract instead. You'll notice that amaranth actually has a slightly better amino acid profile than quinoa anyway. So I set out to find a product called EM-1 from teraganix which is a compost accelerator, the same shit you can make from rice water and milk more or less. I look all over town till a friend tips me off to a place called American Clay Works in Denver. So I visit the store and speak to a guy about my project and how I want some EM-1 to ferment locally foraged amaranth into usable aminos. He said you could do that or you could try this stuff...
http://kimitec.com/?page_id=699
This product is from Spain and is 26% amino acids. Here's the
label.
The guy at the shop hooked me up with some samples and I'm about to purchase a bottle.
I just used this stuff in late flowering with molasses on organic soil and my flowers started to smell of fruit and bulk immediately. The terpene production seemed to kick into overdrive with this stuff while the normal mild deficiencies of flowering started to correct themselves. The stuff does what it says it does and at 1 or 2 mL/gallon, goes a long way.
My flowers just cured into the smoke zone and I can say I will continue to use Amifort or some form of hydrolized amino acid blend in my living organic soils.
So to review, aminos have chelate activity that trumps humic/fulvic and properties that allow better uptake in the plant tissue after they've bonded with other molecules in the soil. Seeing as amino acids levels are sought in beer brewing (even recipes that call for aerobic introduction), I can't imagine the mykos not liking the stuff. And aminos are very suitable for organic foliar sprays to correct trace mineral deficiencies because their molecule size allows for absorption into the leaf in chelated form.
I haven't tried Bragg's Liquid Aminos yet but I imagine it works.