14 DAY TRIAL // In an experiment devised to see if human hair has the potential to become the next best fertilizer for various types of crops, researchers at the Mississippi State University (MSU) compared the effects that four types of treatments had on four types of plants, including lettuce, wormwood, yellow poppy and feverfew. [ADMARk=1]They concluded that human hair was no good for fast-growing plants, which required fast-decomposing fertilizers, but that it might be an option for long-term crops.
However, the scientists also noted that further studies were required in order to determine exactly the influence that degrading human hair had on the soil, so as to avoid polluting it with chemicals that might then cause adverse reactions to the human body.
Vlatcho Zheljazkov, the head of the research team at MSU, said that human hair proved to be among the best fertilizers for all crops he and colleagues tested it on. Plants cultivated with hair in the soil grew faster than those without fertilizers, but still slower than those nurtured with chemicals available in shops. This observation prompted the conclusion of the experiment, but also made the researchers hope that other crops, which take a longer time to ripen, may benefit from the countless tons of hair that are disposed of from barbers' shops each year.
Apparently, the nitrogen in the hair is what makes it so good for plants. Usually, in nature, nitrogen can only be retrieved from the ground, in its “fixed” form, meaning that the molecule has to contain one atom of nitrogen and three of oxygen. This form does not occur in the atmosphere, which would explain why so many plants die despite the fact that our air is made of 78 percent nitrogen. The chemical exists in the air in its molecular form, of two atoms bound together, but plants have no way of processing this chemical complex.