O.K., so it's very pretty: but why, exactly, am I going on about Barley ?

Well, BARLEY MALT EXTRACT to you !

You know what a bee in my bonnet I have about not wasting things, and how often 'waste' can turn into very useful stuff - Coir Pots for example, or Neem or Mulch Mats or .... sorry, I'm digressing, but you get my drift.
Well how about a by product from a craft industry that is very close to Joe's heart - Brewing !

Beer needs water, malt, hops and yeast.
(In fact in Germany, under a law going back to 1516, these are the only ingredients allowed.)
But after all this beer making is anything left over, anything we can use ?

In fact it can be used for loads of things - but we use it to make our plants, shrubs and trees to grow more healthily, and more quickly.

Oh, another fertilizer you say.
Well, not really.
As with our Mycorrhiza it's more of a catalyst.
Hugely helping your plants to get the very most out of the soil they're growing in.

If you would like the details, it does get a bit dry but basically it has 5 key enzymes that help your plants to grow strongly.

AMYLASE
This hydrolyses starch into smaller carbohydrate molecules making them more 'digestible'by your plant.

UREASE
Hydrolyses urea present in all soils into nitrogen and carbon dioxide.

PROTEASE
Hydrolyses protein components of organic nitrogen to simple amino acids.

PHOSPHATASE
Hydrolyses organic phosphate to the inorganic form, increasing the supply phosphorus.

CHITINASE
This breaks down the 'Chitin' which is the casing of so many insects and fungi, speeds up natural 'composting'if you like.

(All right, all right - I did cut and paste most of the above.
Think I'm clever or something !)

How do you use this stuff ?
Well where and when do you want to apply it.

To use in your planting / growing media ?
Say a cupful for every 10 litres.

Doing some potting on ?
Just a dessert spoon' worth in the hole or larger pot.

Planting cuttings ?
Just a teaspoonful around the cut.

As a top dressing ?
Don't waste it, say a dusting just enough to be seen around the base of your crop.