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Robert Schneider
Robert Schneider, director of education from Aptus USA recently sat down with Maximum Yield to talk about plant nutrition, gardener education and getting back in tune with nature… Maximum Yield (M Y): Can you tell us a little about Aptus and the company’s philosophy? Robert Schneider: The Aptus approach is the natural way; it respects fully the rules of nature and is a guideline to get back to ancient natural mechanisms: soil care and plant care. Aptus is the combination of soil bioremediation, plant stimulation and proper nutrition. Each Aptus nutrition technology focuses on preventing problems, versus only curing. The key to optimum plant health is through proper nutrition. We also believe that everything begins with education. At the end of the day, a product is only as good as the grower who uses it. The world of agriculture is rapidly changing and our 198
Maximum Yield USA | July 2012
generation has a massive responsibility to fix our broken food system. This only happens with knowledge and understanding of natural plant and soil systems. MY: How did Aptus get its start? Can you tell us something about the people behind the company? Robert: Aptus technologies were first used over a decade ago in Europe. They were originally formulated and applied to largescale commercial crops like potatoes, grapes, apples and strawberries. After much success and respect in commercial agri-business, the founders in Europe decided to repackage the products for the smaller-scale market…in early 2012 we launched in the United States. MY: Which of your products do you offer in the United States and what makes them great? Robert: Our core product line is the Premium Collection of Specialty Boosters…products that provide complete nutrition for a plant. The Premium Collection is fully organic or organo-mineral. We use nothing synthetic and don’t dilute