The team at Bardee gets sworn at on a regular basis. 

Chitin, is (hilariously) often mis-pronounced as, chi-tin, and that reminds us all of another verb. 

Don’t make us say it. 

Chi-tn, or shi-tn - which you could say would make it more relevant to the fact that it’s a great component of nutritious soil, and we all know fertiliser can be made out of, yup, poo. If chitin was pronounced like the verb to go to the loo, for a number two…then maybe it would be even more poetic, but it’s not.

It’s basically ‘kite’ and ‘inn’ put together. No ‘sh’ sound AT ALL. And, no ‘ch’ sound either. 

Phew. Glad we got that cleared up.

You can thank us later when your horticulturist friends think you know your stuff, and you didn’t swear around them. Bardee saves soil and food waste, and might help you in a horticultural trivia quiz, too. 

What is chitin?

Chitin is actually a super ingredient for soil health, and you'll find it in all of Bardee’s organic fertilisers because it is naturally occuring in the exoskeletons of black soldier fly larvae.

Chitin is a fibrous substance (a polysaccharide) that makes up part of: 

• Cell walls in fungi
• The hard body part of molluscs
• Exoskeletons of some insects and crustaceans
• The beaks of cephalopods (cuttlefish, octopus & squid) - yeah, they have ‘beaks.’

In plants, it basically sends a message to say ‘insects are present, threat is here - defend yourself!’. Research has shown chitin;

• Enhances plant ability to survive in times of heat or cold stress 
• Gives plants the ability to grow with less water
• Accelerates growth and germination
• Improves the quality of flowers and fruit, by triggering plants' natural systems to ward off insect attack.

So once you master the pronunciation and you start implementing chitin into your soil’s beauty and feeding regime, you’re really on to a winner!.

Get some for your garden today: shop now:

Superfly, Superfly Pellets and Superfly reduced odour all have 10% chitin blended in with black soldier fly larvae frass, or you can go all out with Superfly Chitin Concentrate, made from 100% milled exoskeletons. All our fertiliser products are certified organic and available now. 

Get in touch with us today for pricing and more information about how Superfly can help you.