Humate-Based Biostimulants Do Not Consistently Increase Growth of Container-Grown Turkish Hazelnut

Abstract

Abstract Humate-based products have been aggressively marketed to nursery producers as biostimulants which increase plant growth. Reports of their effect on container-grown trees in organic substrate are few. We tested four distinct types of biostimulants on top and root growth of Turkish hazelnut (Corylus colurna L.), grown in containers with pine-bark substrate. Treatments included: 1) an untreated control; 2) humate, applied as a dry topdress; 3) humate, formulated as a wettable powder and applied as a substrate drench; 4) humate, applied as a pre-plant root soak; 5) humate, to which various purported root growth-promoting additives had been added, also applied as a root soak. All treatments were tested within low, medium, and high fertilizer application regimes. No treatment increased top growth compared to untreated trees, and the root-soak treatments had the lowest top growth. At high and low fertilizer application rates, root length was similar for all treatments except for root-soak treatments, which had lower root lengths. At the medium fertilizer rate, root length was greatest for trees treated with granular humate applied as a dry topdressing and lowest for trees treated with root soaks.