[Latin Name] Glycine max(L.) Mere

[Specification] 90%; 95%

[Appearance] White powder

[Melting point] 134-142℃

[Particle size] 80Mesh

[Loss on drying] ≤2.0%

[Heavy Metal] ≤10PPM

[Storage] Store in cool & dry area, keep away from the direct light and heat.

[Shelf life] 24 Months

[Package] Packed in paper-drums and two plastic-bags inside.

[Net weight] 25kgs/drum

[What is Phytosterol?]

Phytosterols are compounds found in plants that resemble cholesterol. The National Institutes of Heath report that there are over 200 different phytosterols, and the highest concentrations of phytosterols are found naturally in vegetable oils, beans and nuts. Their benefits are so recognized that foods are being fortified with phytosterols. At the supermarket, you may see orange juice or margarine advertising phytosterol contents. After reviewing the health benefits, you may want to add phytosterol-rich foods to your diet.

[Benefits]

Cholesterol-Lowering Benefits

The most well-known, and scientifically proven, benefit of phytosterols is their ability to help lower cholesterol. A phytosterol is a plant compound that is similar to cholesterol. A study in the 2002 issue of “Annual Review of Nutrition” explains that phytosterols actually compete for absorption with cholesterol in the digestive tract. While they prevent the absorption of regular dietary cholesterol, they themselves are not easily absorbed, which leads to a total lower cholesterol level. The cholesterol-lowering benefit does not end with a good number on your blood work report. Having lower cholesterol leads to other benefits, such as a reduced risk for heart disease, stroke and heart attacks.

Cancer Protection Benefits

Phytosterols have also been found to help protect against the development of cancer. The July 2009 issue of the” European Journal of Clinical Nutrition” offers encouraging news in the fight against cancer. Researchers at the University of Manitoba in Canada report that there is evidence that phytosterols help prevent ovarian, breast, stomach and lung cancer. Phytosterols do this by preventing the production of cancer cells, stopping the growth and spread of cells that are already in existence and actually encouraging the death of cancer cells. Their high anti-oxidant levels are believed to be one way phytosterols help fight cancer. An anti-oxidant is a compound that fights free radical damage, which is negative effects on the body produced by cells that are unhealthy.

Skin Protection Benefits

A lesser known benefit of phytosterols involves skin care. One of the contributing factors in the aging of the skin is the breakdown and loss of collagen — the main component in connective skin tissue — and sun exposure is a major contributor to the problem. As the body ages, it is not able to produce collagen as it once did. The German medical journal “Der Hautarzt” reports a study in which various topical preparations were tested on skin for 10 days. The topical treatment that showed anti-aging benefits to the skin was the one that contained phytosterols and other natural fats. It is reported that phytosterols not only stopped the slow-down of collagen production that can be caused by the sun, it actually encouraged new collagen production.

Shows the progression of calcium deficiency in hot pepper plants like the chocolate habanero. Planted from seed, the soil had enough calcium at first and when the plant ran out it started to put out deformed growth with twisted, curled and puckered leaves.
The solution was to add 10ml/gallon of botanicare’s cal mag fertilizer supplement: https://www.botanicare.net/supplements/cal-mag In less than a week new leaves appeared without any deformities.
Note that the pepper plants were started from seed in bagged potting soil and in this video they are shown 2 days after transplanting to a coir fiber / rockwool cube mixture. Through out the life of the plants Genesis nutrients parts M & 1 were used at 800ppm but apparently genesis’s formulation expects a certain level of calcium magnesium in it. For plants with a high cal mag requirement supplementation may be needed. Note also I could have bumped the fertilizer concentration up to 1600ppm rather than supplement with botanicare but I do not know if that would have worked as well. Note: if you are using a one part fertilizer you WILL have calcium deficiencies unless there is enough in the soil.

Wiki article on calcium deficiency: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calcium_deficiency_%28plant_disorder%29

“…very rarely due to calcium deficiency in the soil. The problem is in transport of calcium from the soil to the fruit. Soil temperature, water saturation of the soil (oxygen etc), and high levels of nitrogen= high vegetative growth all contribute. ” https://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/pepper/msg0413031513506.html
Tricks for growing peppers: CALCIUM CALCIUM CALCIUM. The mild 800ppm genesis formula I was using only supplied 50ppm of calcium and peppers need 160-200ppm. Even with the supplement it was only 130PPM! Of course, this is assuming there is no calcium in your water. I am going to bump up the nutes to make sure I hit at least 160ppm calcium and also make sure I get the pH right by checking with pHydrion paper. (Ebay pH roll and pick one in the 5.5-8.0 range)
Note is this had happened during fruiting it would have resulted in blossom end rot so i am happy to find it out early and correct it.
Will post an update when the results come in!
Note calcium can also be locked out by using a fertilizer too high in ammoniacal nitrogen. ammoniacal nitrogen makes your plants grow fast in high light environments and is common in most nutrient formulas like miracle grow. Look for nitrate nitrogen only formula or one with low ammonium nitrate.
As far as NPK ratios, what you are looking for is 1.5 times as much K as N and for the nitrogen and calcium ppm to be about equal. To increase the potassium to meet the 1:1.5 N to K ratio I used Pro-Tekt silicon supplement which provided about 13ppm of K with 5ml/1tsp.
Forget about the P, as long as there is some it isn’t important.
pH balance to 6.0-6.5 and you are all good. Add 10ml of hygrozyme if you really want to see explosive root growth.
Even after all of this if your starting water has a lot of calcium carbonate (the form found in Tums which is also not a form you plants can absorb) in it that will “lock out” the proper forms of calcium that you added via supplement. So if all else fails (or you want to get it right the first time) use rainwater or purified water to start with.
DO NOT USE TUMS! Its Calcium Carbonate is not bio-available to the plant will LOCK OUT the other forms of calcium that would otherwise be available. More info on Calcium: https://www.maximumyield.com/article_sh_db.php?articleID=447&yearVar=2009&issueVar=June

Here is a link to a helpful article on pepper fertilization https://www.agnet.org/library/eb/441/

Update: they look GREAT but all my flowers are dropping except with the college pepper. I need to look into nute lockout and adjust the pH to 5.8-6.2 as I did have it closer to 5.5 before but I doubt that is the issue.

Want to make your own? Cal-Mag is just calcium nitrate + magnesium nitrite + a pinch of chelated iron edta. A POUND of caldium nitrate will make about FOUR GALLONS of concentrate equivalent to the Cal-Mag commercial version. As far as mixing weights and measures, you are on your own.

If this info helped you, more updates are comming for this growing season, subscribe here: https://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=pabbana

this new product looks interesting, not sure how it works and may not be available in your state: https://www.supercroppers.com/products/caos-10-5-calcium-1-liter/

Video Highlight from Michaela A. TerAvest on her recently published B&B paper entitled “Regulated expression of polysaccharide utilization and capsular biosynthesis loci in biofilm and planktonic Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron during growth in chemostats.” Read the paper on Wiley Online Library: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/bit.24994/abstract