Desert Group Nursery Trial: Swift Grow versus NPK on 13 Plant Varieties

Executive summary

Increasing plant tolerance to climate change whilst improving plant growth, biomass and minimising the usage of synthetic fertilizer and water consumption in plant crop production is the overarching goal to ensure more sustainable and responsible use of natural resources.  

Use of organic fertilizers is an environmentally friendly way to achieve that. Therefore, it is important to develop and test organic fertilizers in the market for their effects on heat tolerance, growth, yield and water saving potential.

This report comprises the results from a UAE nursery trial evaluating the efficacy of Swift Grow (SG) liquid certified organic fertilizer on thirteen nursery plants growth in comparison with synthetic NPK mineral fertilizer under UAE nursery growing conditions including average 48 degrees Celsius (118 degrees Fahrenheit) ambient temperatures under cloth cover.  

Distinct from conventional control fertilizers (that provide plants with a fixed amount of synthesised macro and select micro-nutrients of which around eight percent get absorbed and the remainder leach into and damage the ground and damage the ecosystem), SG is being trialled to demonstrate it can directly replenish the host soil biota (the natural soil microorganisms) who in turn intelligently detect what is stressing the plant roots in the soil and dynamically provide the required macro and micronutrients to the host plants – just as occurs in fertile natural soil.

SG trademark is produced by River Stone Fish Aquaculture Innovations, Australia and in the UAE is marketed as Ocean Bio Fert by Desert Group LLC.

SG dosage is 2 ml/Lit for all 13 applications, then 4 ml/Lit for remainder two applications. NPK dosage is 2 gm/Lit in the five applications, then reduced to 0.5 gm/Lit for remainder applications. Watering was every fourth day.  Fertiliser water applications were every four days for Swift Grow and weekly for NPK.

Thirteen nursery plants were chosen for the trial that represent the common nursery-grown and sold plants by Desert Group nurseries in the UAE. The nursery plants, of various maturity, were numbered in consecutive order and included in the trial were: Jatropha Pandurifolia, Hibiscus rosa sinensis Pink, Tabernaemontena chinensis, Tecoma stans, Tecoma smithii, Allamandha cathartica Yellow, Jasminum Sambac large, Rose Pink, Ixora coccinea Red, Bougainvillea Glabra White, Gardenia jasminoides, Jasminum Sambac small, Hibiscus rosa sinensis D.red.

The two fertilizers’ effect on the nursery plants growth were tested in peatmoss and cocopeat substrate, being a substrate commonly used in the UAE nurseries. The three months (June to August 2022) study was conducted in partnership between River Stone and Desert Group LLC on the nursery premises of Desert Group LLC, Dubai nursery.

The trial was scientifically controlled by the Desert Group nursery staff with weekly catch up conference guidance calls with the River Stone staff.

Final side-by-side photos were supplied by the nursery staff and included below for visual comparison.