What is “Porous Alpha”?
1. Structure of Porous Alpha
The Porous Alpha is a foamed glass with numerous pores, produced by burning pulverized glass mixed with a foaming agent such as shell powder or calcium carbonate (CaCO3).
2. Using Porous Alpha as a soil amendment
If Porous Alpha is mixed with soil, the water retention capacity of the soil is increased, because the pores of Porous Alpha catch and retain water which otherwise infiltrates in the soil. Porous Alpha can retain water for 15% of its total volume. The dosage is 10% of the soil volume, around 5L of Porous Alpha per linear meter of the ridge.
3. Safe Use of Porous Alpha for agriculture
Porous Alpha is compliant with Japanese soil environmental standards. Based on the result of leaching test, the utilization of Porous Alpha doesn‘t have any problem related to heavy metal and toxic product to use it as the soil including mixing with soil.
How it works :
Porous Alpha can be used for various agricultural practices. It can be used for water-saving, medium for plant growth, better aeration in the soil, etc. As a media for biofiltration, the microbes supported inside Porous Alpha decomposes the source of the odor and hence can be a fit for the poultry and chicken abattoir facilities. It can also be used for water treatment via adsorption and desorption of fluorine and phosphorous ions.
Tomato, Green beans, Pepper, Leafy Vegetables, Wheat, Orange, and Sweet potatoes are few of the crops which got positive results from the unique characteristics of this product by optimizing the water retention & infiltration in the soil and reducing the usage of fertilizers by 50%.
Because of the pores which are produced by burning the pulverized glass mixed with foaming agents such as shell powder or calcium carbonate, the water retention capacity of the soil increases which can retain 15% of its total volume. Based on the results of leaching test, Porous Alpha does not have any problem related to heavy metal or toxication of the soil.
