How succinic acid is beneficial
This is an inexpensive and completely harmless (albeit chemical) substance. It is not a fertilizer, so it cannot replace full-fledged feeding. Nevertheless, the support it provides to plants is enormous:
- Enhances the action of nutrients;
- Strengthens immunity;
- Increases resistance to unfavorable climatic factors;
- Boosts germination and growth;
- Increases yield;
- Prevents the accumulation of nitrates and toxins;
- Improves soil microflora.
It is impossible to harm plants with succinic acid, even if you overdo it with the concentration, but with too frequent use the risk of soil acidification increases.
How to prepare the solution
You can buy succinic acid in the form of powder or tablets at garden stores and ordinary pharmacies. In the latter case, you should be careful not to buy, instead of the pure substance, a dietary supplement that contains the acid as one of its ingredients. Such a product is intended for humans and will not be suitable for plants, and may even harm them because of the unnecessary additives.
Most often a standard 0.2% solution is used. To make it, 2 g of pure succinic acid needs to be dissolved in 100 ml of warm water, after which room-temperature water is added to make 1 liter. It is not recommended to store the resulting mixture for long; it is better to use it right away. Let’s look at the ways it can be used.
Soaking seeds before sowing
The seeds of any vegetable crops are kept in the standard succinic acid solution for 24 hours, then dried in a shaded spot and sown. This simple procedure improves germination, especially if the seeds are old or demanding of conditions.
Treating potato tubers and bulbs before planting
For faster sprouting, potato tubers are left in the solution for 24 hours. You can also spray them on both sides, cover with film, and keep them that way for a couple of hours. Flower bulbs are treated in the same way: tulips, lilies, and others.
Soaking the rootstocks of seedlings
It is very useful to keep the roots of young shrubs and trees in succinic acid – then the rooting process goes more easily. Pour the standard-concentration mixture into a bucket, lower the root system into it, and hold it there for 30 minutes. Immediately after this, plant the plant.
Treating cuttings
Succinic acid stimulates root formation when taking cuttings of currants, raspberries, jasmine, roses, and other shrubs. For this, a weaker solution (0.5–1%) is used, and a day before planting the cuttings are dipped into it 2–3 cm deep.
Watering seedlings
Yantarka, as gardeners often call it, has an effective impact on young plants: it improves root formation, helps them absorb fertilizers, and increases resistance to pathogens and temperature fluctuations. Before transplanting seedlings to their permanent spot, they are abundantly watered with a 0.25% solution. No later than an hour after this, planting is carried out. Watering at the root can be replaced with spraying a couple of times a day with a mixture of the same concentration.
Root care
To help the root system stay healthy and strong, it is recommended to water trees, bushes, and any garden crops once a week (in the morning or evening) with the standard succinic acid solution. The soil should be saturated to a good depth (depending on the size of the root). The procedure is repeated 2–3 times, at intervals of 7 days.
Stimulating flowering
Ornamental plants will bloom longer than usual, and their flowers will delight you with their size and beauty, if you spray them twice a day with a 0.1% solution of yantarka. The treatment is started when the first buds appear and repeated up to 3 times.
Emergency aid for stress and disease
Succinic acid puts plants back in order after transplanting, pruning, a change of location, chilling, pest attacks, and other stressful situations. In this case, once every two weeks the leaves and stems are sprayed with the standard solution, and a little of the liquid is also poured under the root. Anti-stress treatment is continued until the condition normalizes. For a plant weakened by disease, a concentrated 2.5% mixture is used. Spraying should be carried out once every two to three weeks and until full recovery.
