Abstract
Humic acids (HA), amino acids (AA) and vitamins can increase plant growth; however, there are still few studies that determine the ideal concentration for use in lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) production. Research was conducted to evaluate the effects of HA enriched with sources and levels of AA and vitamins on lettuce seedlings morphology and quality. Two experiments were conducted in a completely randomized design with four replicates. The first experiment had 16 treatments, 3 × 5 + 1 factorial design, the first factor was betaine, glycine and proline used in the HA enrichment, and second factor five concentrations of AA (0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0 g L-1), plus the control, without HA and AA. The second experiment had 21 treatments, 4 × 5 + 1 factorial design, the first factor was the use of four vitamins (A, E, B1 and B2) in the enrichment of HA, while the second factor was composed of five concentrations of each vitamin (0, 0.5; 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0 g L-1) plus the control, without HA and vitamins. The application of HA and HA+AA promote the improvement in the seedling’s morphology and quality, while the application of the HA+vitamins negatively affected the morphology, reducing seedling quality.
Highlights
Biostumulants are substances and/or microorganisms that promote plant growth and development
The addition of increasing levels of amino acids or vitamins associated with Humic acids (HA) resulted in differences in respect to lettuce seedling development
For dry mass of shoot and number of leaves, the increase in concentrations promoted a linear increase, showing that the variables would still respond to the application of concentrations higher than 2 g L-1, regardless of the amino acid source (Figures 1a and 1c)
Summary
Biostumulants are substances and/or microorganisms that promote plant growth and development. The global market of these products is projected to reach $ 2.24 billion by 2018 with an annual growth rate of 12.5% between 2013 and 2018 (Calvo et al, 2014). These products are considered low-cost and high value-added, as well as a promising technology for plant cultivation, since they increase productivity with low investment and in a sustainable manner (Meirelles et al, 2017). There are several limitations to the use of these biostimulants, such as the actual effects of these substances on plants, the required concentration for each species in the condition in which it is cultivated and the ideal time and forms of application. There are several sources for biostimulant products, for instance: (i) seaweed extracts, which increase plant germination, growth and yield, as well as increasing biotic and abiotic stress resistance
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