Press Release Back Number(2004)

New culture soil products in the "Hanameguri" series, which incorporates coal ash, are now available - Two new products added to the lineup to assist home gardening -

March 31, 2004

We have developed "Hanameguri Culture Soil for Vegetables and Herbs", a culture soil especially for vegetables and herbs, and will release this onto the market on 1 April. In addition, an improved version of "Hanameguri Culture Soil" for horticultural use will be available at the end of April.

"Hanameguri Culture Soil" for horticultural use (available since April 2002) and "Hanameguri for Flowers" for increasing the number and size of blooms (marketed since March 2003) were developed and sold in order to promote the effective use of coal ash (clinker ash*) generated by coal-fired thermal power plants. Thanks to the great popularity of these products, their sales have far exceeded target figures and are sold not only in the Tokai region but also in the Kanto and Kansai areas.

* Clinker ash: A type of coal ash generated by firing coals in boilers. The particles of this ash clump together, giving it a porous structure with excellent water-retention capacity, permeability, and nutrient-retention capacity, which are the three elements of good soil, as well as good air permeability.

We recently developed a culture soil for vegetables and herbs together with Shizen Oyo Kagaku K.K. Cultivation tests show that this soil helps to produce larger and better tasting vegetables and herbs; for example, red leaf lettuce and basil cultivated with this culture soil were 1.3 to 1.8 times as large as ones cultivated with traditional fertilizers available on the market, while tomatoes cultivated with this soil have 1.2 to 1.8 times higher sugar and vitamin C content than their conventional counterparts.

In addition, an improved version of "Hanameguri Culture Soil" for horticultural use is to be exclusively sold by Home EXPO Co., Ltd., which operates numerous home centers, has attained ISO14001 certification, and provides customers with environment-friendly products. Encouraged by their appreciation of "Hanameguri for Flowers" as an exceptional product that combines all three elements of a good soil (water-retention capacity, permeability, and nutrient-retention capacity), we improved the components of its nutrient make-up so that it can be used for horticultural applications.

With these two new products added to the line, almost all plants in home gardens, such as grasses, flowers, vegetables, and herbs, can be cultivated with products from the "Hanameguri" series. Nevertheless, we plan to continue developing products in which coal ash is used in order to further promote the effective use of this material.

Main features of new products are as follows:

(1) Culture soil that helps to produce larger and better tasting vegetables and herbs
Newly added oxygen granules and other components contribute to the creation of optimum soil characteristics for vegetables and herbs.
The new product helps to produce larger and better tasting vegetables and herbs than other fertilizers available on the market, and is especially effective in cultivating tomatoes.
(2) "Hanameguri Culture Soil (improved version)" widely recognized for excellence
Already widely recognized as an exceptional product the new and improved version of "Hanameguri Culture Soil" is to be exclusively sold at home centers operated by Home EXPO.