Verano365 Readies Organic Wetting Agent
Company pursues OMRI listing for new Cultivata formulation to serve organic growers
July 15, 2022—ARGYLE, Texas—Organic greenhouse growers and soilless growing media producershave long been limited on approved wetting agents, and that will soon change with a new product on the horizon from Verano365®. The horticulture inputs innovation company plans to release an OMRI listed version of their Cultivata® wetting agent in the coming months.
Cultivata® is an advanced, proprietary liquid surfactant formulation that has shown superior wetting capabilities in hydrophobic growing media, and the company’s new Cultivata® Organic version will outperform the industry standard. Many organic growers looking for a wetting agent to help with soil moisture and nutrient delivery have been limited to using yucca-based products as an alternative to synthetic wetting agents. The performance delta between yucca wetting agents and synthetics is significant, and there’s been a gap in the market for non-synthetic water management inputs.
In internal product development testing, Cultivata Organic outperformed yucca by 93% on initial wetting time. And, on rewet time, the Cultivata Organic product beat yucca by 67%. Good wetting agents help growers with nutrient management during production and can help maintain plant vigor on store shelves through water retention. Additionally, Cultivata Organic provided 17% better water retention in soilless media vs. yucca wetting agents.
The driving force behind Cultivata Organic’s wetting ability and water retention is the company’s proprietary technology, OpusMAX, a patent-pending, OMRI listed formulation chemistry that creates supramolecular structures from active ingredients to amplify performance.
“Our OpusMAX technology is OMRI listed, and when we introduced our Cultivata product last year, a lot of growers asked us if an organic version could be developed using our core technology,” said David Coorts, Vice President of Technical Development for Verano365. “When we started looking at what was on the market for organic growers, the choices were starkly limited. Over the last year, we’ve developed Cultivata Organic, which far surpasses yucca’s wetting abilities, and it almost performs as well as our next-gen synthetic.”
Organic growers and soilless media producers will now be able to enjoy all the benefits of a traditional wetting agent, such as more consistent plant growth, enhanced nutrient management, and better end-to-end water management. And with better wettability, growers should be able to expend less labor on water management.
“As we enter the final leg of development, we’re committed to bringing an economically competitive organic wetting agent to the market,” said Coorts. “While our primary goal is always to help growers produce the best plants possible, we have a great appreciation for the economics growers face, especially those who are dedicated to organic growing practices. We think Cultivata Organic will be a welcome addition to the market and create value as well as competition.”
Cultivata Organic is being introduced during Cultivate’22, a horticulture tradeshow hosted by AmericanHort that draws thousands of growers and industry professionals annually. Verano365 will exhibit at the show in booth 2609. Cultivata Organic is the fifth product release from the Texas-based start-up utilizing OpusMAX to increase the efficacy of horticultural inputs.
About Verano365
Verano365 aims to help the world thrive with healthier harvests. The Texas-based company provides specialty horticultural innovations utilizing a proprietary formulation technology, OpusMAX. Verano365’s solutions for greenhouse, nursery, and hydroponic management enable growers to get the most out of their inputs, from more efficient use of fertilizers to enhanced yields and shelf-life. Verano365 is part of the BPS Agriculture family of companies. Learn more about how our products help growers maximize profit per square foot at www.verano365.com.
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