Tobacco Field Test Begins
Efforts to Revive Dwarfed & Yellowed Tobacco May Also Have Drought-Resistant Effects
Tuesday, June 20, 2000

To salvage dwarfed and yellowed tobacco, a Bourbon County farmer tested a new super-energizing plant food in July of 2000.

Douglas Gilkerson already has tested the product in his tobacco flotation bed. "Using Monty's Joy Juice, I produced twice the amount of roots and twice the size of foliage. Now, we want to test in the field," said Gilkerson.

The test was conducted on Gilkerson's tobacco farm near Paris, one of the county's top producers of burley tobacco. Gilkerson, like many other Kentucky tobacco farmers, has reported small patches of underdeveloped, yellowing tobacco.

One objective of the field test was to get the size of the tobacco plants up. Test coordinators believed one-week measurements would determine whether this objective was met. Another long-term objective of the project will be to gauge the product's effectiveness in making plants, like tobacco, more drought-resistant by helping the soil retain moisture.

Bourbon county native Mr. Stephens, president of Monty's Plant Food Co., is coordinating the field test on Gilkerson's farm. According to Stephens, the combination of enhanced humic acid and other trace elements in his company's liquid plant food "unties" the natural nutrients in the soil, making them immediately available to the plant.

Foliar applications of an 8-16-8 mixture were applied to one acre of tobacco on June 28, 2000. Results were measured on the 4th, 7th and 14th days of the test. Results from the 7-day measurement would determine whether or not the product would be applied to Gilkerson's entire tobacco crop.

Gilkerson also stated that he had not observed any disease in each field that had been treated with Monty's Plant Food, though he reports he has had a hard time with disease throughout his tobacco fields this year. Gilkerson will continue to monitor for disease.

Photos documenting the results of the test are available.  Other farmers who wish to test the effectiveness of Monty's Plant Food on their crops, should contact Mr. Stephens at (502) 649-9356 or e-mail here.

These pictures show the results of the test.