Using solid humic substances for vegetable seedlings production

As an organic biostimulant, humic substances (HS) have been widely tested in agricultural crops for their effects on growth enhancement, biomass accumulation, and nutrient uptake improvement.
The majority of past studies used liquid HS extracts, while solid HS products were less reported.
Solid HS could be used as growth media amendments due to their beneficial effects on root development.
In this study we tested the potential application of a solid HS product derived from lignite on vegetable seedlings production using six selected crops and each crop with two different types of cultivars in order to increase the applicability of our study.
The results showed that mixing solid HS (1% v/v) with peat-based growth media promoted vegetable seedlings root morphology and shoot biomass accumulation.
Improved seedling vigor also lead to an increased crop production at the end of the growing season.
This study provides new insights for growers or nursery managers on how to use HS-related products and what benefits they could bring to containerized vegetable transplants.

IV International Symposium on Horticulture in Europe – SHE2021

K. Qin, D.I. Leskovar

tomato, pepper, artichoke, onion, watermelon, lettuce, root

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2021.1327.100