What are Trace Minerals?
They are minerals that are
only needed in small amounts.

What are trace minerals? They are a part of the 76 naturally occurring elemental minerals found on the Periodic Table of Elements.

Of these 76 minerals, 69 are labeled trace minerals because they are needed in such small amounts by plants and animals. However, don't let the small amount needed fool you. If we don't get needed trace minerals, it can easily result in sickness or disease.

The macro minerals

The macro nutrients Phosphorus, Potassium, Magnesium, Sulfur, and Calcium are needed in larger quantities by both plants and humans.

The other 69 of the 76 elemental minerals are called trace minerals.

It has been demonstrated that some of these 69 trace minerals are needed nutrients for plants and animals. These are called micronutrients.

Primary trace minerals

What are some of the trace minerals that are needed by plants? Copper, Iron, Manganese, Zinc, and Boron are considered vitally important to plants. Once you have sent a soil sample to a lab to see what is lacking, you can purchase these trace minerals individually and add them to your soil.

Secondary trace minerals

What are trace minerals like Barium, Cobalt, Iodine, Molybdenum, Nickel, Selenium, Sodium, Strontium, Chromium and Vanadium needed for?

Science has found bio-chemical functions that require these minerals, but only a tiny amount is needed.

Other trace minerals that may be needed

What are trace minerals not listed above that might also be micronutrients? There is growing research that more of these 69 trace minerals might actually be important to life. In fact, every few years the US government adds a trace mineral to the list of beneficial micronutrients.

No one actually knows which of the remaining trace minerals might be beneficial to plants, animals and humans. 

Products Containing Trace Minerals

Many growers apply a product from the ocean like kelp, sea minerals, or fish emulsion to make sure that they supply all the minerals needed by the plant.

These products contain all 76 elemental minerals, so the plant may then choose the ones it needs.

Although kelp and fish emulsion are great products, concentrated sea minerals contain a much greater density of the 69 trace minerals.

There are currently five concentrated sea mineral products on the market. I have listed them below so you can compare them and see which one might be right for you.

The Five Concentrated
Sea Mineral Products

1. Ocean Solution

A product called Ocean Solution is produced by taking a ship out to sea, collecting ocean water, and through a proprietary process concentrating it up to 6 times (more than this would cause it to start losing sodium chloride).

What are trace minerals that are contained in this product? Ocean Solution retains all of the original minerals contained in the ocean water it processes.

Because Ocean Solution supplies the full spectrum of sea minerals found in the ocean, plants can choose the minerals they need. This results in a more nutritious plant, and helps the plant have a stronger defense against disease and insect invasion.

2. Ocean Trace

Another product is a very dense liquid sea mineral product, called Ocean Trace, but also marketed as GroPal. It isn’t concentrated 6 times, but 100 times.

Although it loses 99% of the sodium, 90% of the chloride during evaporation, it is believed that all the trace minerals of 100 gallons of ocean water are retained in a single gallon of Ocean Trace.

Large amounts of sodium are toxic to plants, but the low amount of sodium in Ocean Trace allows you to apply a much greater amount of micronutrients without burning the plant.

With just a single foliar application, the trace minerals of up to 50 gallons of ocean water can be applied per acre without hurting the plant.

Ocean Trace is a component of an excellent product designed for soil applications called Mycorrplus.

Ocean Trace may also be given to livestock in their drinking water. A form of this product, Ionic Sea Minerals, is available for human consumption.

3. Ecovie

There is a product on the market that is similar in density to Ocean Trace called Ecovie

The lower concentration is not nearly as concentrated as Ocean Trace but is priced comparably. EcoVie X5 is more highly concentrated than Ocean Trace but is also significantly more expensive.

From what I can tell, this product is a fine sea mineral fertilizer product.

4. Sea-90

Also available are sea mineral solids, called SEA-90. It is composed of the solids that are left behind when ocean water is evaporated all the way down to a solid salt. This is the sea mineral that Maynard Murray used in most of his groundbreaking research.

What are trace minerals that SEA-90 contains? It has all the minerals from the ocean. This means that it has all the accompanying benefits of those trace minerals. This product is especially good where soil is low in sodium, since SEA-90 is 82% to 85% salt (sodium chloride) and 32-35% Na.

SEA-90 may be broadcast over the soil or reconstituted with water and sprayed on the plant in foliar applications. It also works well as a free choice mineral to be fed to cattle in place of a salt lick.

SEA-90 is "fresh natural sea salt" (not to be confused with white salt which is always 97-99% NaCl). Humans receive this same advantage of SEA-90 when they use Real Sea Salt in place of ordinary table salt (NaCl). You get the taste of salt, but with all the goodness of the other minerals present in the ocean.

5. Sea Crop

A fifth product is a sea mineral liquid fertilizer named Sea Crop. This product is a liquid product made with part ocean water and part river inlet water. Its claim to fame is its biological content, but it also supplies needed sea minerals to soil and plant. It is low in sodium, as they say that 95% of the sodium chloride has been removed from the product.

Conclusion

Whichever sea mineral product you choose, the fact that you are fertilizing your crops with sea minerals makes you a winner.

Your plants get the full range of micronutrients from the ocean, not just basic Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium as in most chemical fertilizers.

Plants fed with sea minerals have been found to be more nutritious, full of enzymes and vitamins, and contribute to the betterment of mankind.

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