Using Hair to Grow Tomatoes
By Michelle Fabio
If you’re looking for something different to add to your tomatoes next growing season, you may need to look no further than your own head.
Human hair pressed into mats and imported from China and India are the latest trend in gardening.
The hair, marketed as SmartGrow, is effective not only in keeping out weeds but also in helping tomatoes grow, according to University of Florida researchers.
Although scientists aren’t yet sure exactly why the hair would increase plant yields, many growers in central Florida already use the method and vouch for its effectiveness. Luis Naranjo, owner of one of South Miami-Dade’s largest nurseries, estimates that he’ll use the mats on 80% of his nearly 1 million plants this growing season.
The mats began as an idea in the mind of Phil McCrory, a hairstylist from Alabama, when he noticed how the hair of otters soaked up oil after the massive spill of the Exxon Valdez in 1989.
From there, McCrory made the first hair mat from his wife’s pantyhose and hair clippings collected from his own salon. Although execs in the oil industry weren’t interested, growers were, and Blair Blacker, who had bought the patent from McCrory, answered the call.
And now Blacker is looking to move beyond Florida and help the world become just a little greener through the use of his natural herbicide.
Read more in the Miami Herald online: Hair transplants help flowers grow
February 18th, 2009 at 10:53 am
Can you provide more information on this?