STARTER-Zen
Starter-ZEN is our new, premium, fermented soil-conditioner
that builds soil health from the ground up
BOTRY-Zen has nearly a decade of positive field evidence and grower testimony behind it, including as a substrate mix applied directly to the soil to control botrytis.
Formal trials for STARTER-Zen — which contains an additional seaweed component and is distinct from HORTI-Zen — are currently underway. We would prefer not to unblind these studies before completion: STARTER-Zen is a soil conditioner that builds soil health from the ground up, and its effects are measured across seasons rather than weeks. These trials are not intended to support ACVM registration, but we can provide a summary of the programme along with preliminary blinded results.
Trials completed or in progress cover peonies, cherries, citrus, lawns, native rengarenga lily, irises, wasabi, green leaf crops, onions and potatoes, with further work underway in pot plants and ornamentals. Across these, we are assessing soil changes, root growth, plant growth and disease pressure.
Starter-Zen can be sprinkled onto the soil as an inoculant, in kilogram-per-hectare rates, or used as a premium potting mix in which plants are grown directly. See wasabi below.
5 kilogram packs for the home gardener - $29.95
Horticultural applications in bulk
Contact Tel: 0800 102212 | Email: sales@botryzen.co.nz
Peonies
Golden View Peony Growers (Roxburgh) and Altitude Peonies (Naseby) have both used the
substrate for more than ten years, with good success in controlling botrytis. A single 16 kg bag is spread along
a 15-metre row of peonies just as the shoots emerge from the soil, then lightly sprayed with water to dampen
the material and hold it in place. Spore germination occurs once ground temperature exceeds 15°C.
Cherries
Trials were conducted by Plant and Food Research in 2018 and 2019, on a block of cherries during the overwintering stage of Botrytis cinerea-infected fruit, spanning the period from the end of harvest through to pre-flowering the following season.
• 2,500 botrytis-infected fruit were collected following harvest in February 2018.
• A herbicide strip area was swept clean of all fruit and trash.
• 100 infected fruit per plot were placed under mesh bags and reintroduced to the plot.
• Five treatments were applied: (1) no treatment; (2) spray with tissue-decomposition product; (3) a thin
layer of grass clippings, simulating mowing; (4) a 4 cm layer of wood chips; and (5) a 2–3 cm layer of Starter-Zen.
• In August 2018, incubated cherry mummies were sampled for botrytis.
• Both the mummified fruit and old fruit stalks showed markedly lower botrytis levels than the untreated
control and the breakdown-product spray.
Figure 1- Results graph showing botrytis suppression in cherries — trial conducted by Plant & Food Research.
Citrus
In 2019, a trial on citrus trees using STARTER-Zen achieved good control of Brown Rot.
Wasabi
Wasabi is being grown entirely in STARTER-Zen as the growing medium, to assess whether water conditions remain stable under drought/excess and to evaluate effects on leaf and stalk growth. Results to date are superior to both compost and gravel. Full results are expected in autumn 2027. Utah State University xtension (USU Yard & Garden) states plainly: Wasabia japonica is a challenging plant to grow successfully due to climate demands and is thought to be one of the rarest and most difficult vegetables to grow in the world. It requires moist to wet organic-rich soils and continuous flowing water, grows better in shade, and needs regular sulfur-containing fertilizer. (Source: https://extension.usu.edu/yardandgarden/research/wasabi-in-the garden). See figure 2 following.
Figure 2- Wasabia japonica in a raised bed filled with BOTRY-Zen and substrate mix. No other soil/media added. One-metre-deep bed. Irrigated regularly. Two months winter growth since planting with satellite growth top middle. Note absence of weed growth, despite no application or weeding, other than irrigation, and soil-like consistency of mix. (Dark patch is water)