The application of seaweed extract got good results in the agricultural production of crops and vegetables. It can promote the germination of seeds, promote the growth and development of crops, enhance stress resistance, promote yields, and improve quality.
Seaweed contains a large amount of inorganic nutrients that are essential for the growth of many plants like plant growth substances, such as amines, cytochrome C, indole compounds, and other physiologically active substances that are beneficial to plant growth. Therefore, it is widely used in plant production as a fertilizer, pesticide, and plant growth regulator.
Uses of Seaweed Extract For Plants
In general, the application of natural seaweed extract mainly is seed soaking, foliar spraying, and soil application.
One common fertilization method in plant production is foliar spraying. It has outstanding characteristics that strong pertinence, low dosage, fast absorption, unaffected by soil environmental factors, high nutrient utilization, and obvious yield-increasing effects.
Moreover, foliar spray can be used in different growth stages, planting densities, and heights of crops, which is conducive to large-scale mechanized operations in intensive agriculture.
1. Promote Seed Germination
Seaweed extract has a significant promote effect on seed germination. The plant seed treated with seaweed extract has a faster respiration rate and a significantly higher germination rate.
Under the appropriate concentration conditions, it can promote the production of plant roots, fruit development, and the growth of new organs, and promote tissue differentiation and cell growth.
2. Increase Plant Yields
The application of seaweed extract can improve the yield of various crops to different degrees. The test results of Dora Agri's tests on cucumbers, peppers, potatoes, apples, oranges, grapes, soybeans, corn, cotton, and other crops show that seaweed extracts can significantly increase yield. The year of 1984, horticulturists in South Africa experimented with different kinds of flowers and proved that seaweed extract could not only promote the early blooming of flowers, but also significantly increase the number of flower buds, and the increase rate could reach 30% - 60%.
In our country, Doraagri used tomatoes, rice, wheat, vegetables, and tobacco for experiments, and achieved a 10% to 30% increase in yield. The results of experiments in the greenhouse showed that the plant height, stem thickness, average fruit setting rate, and yield of tomatoes applied with seaweed extract were significantly increased than the control group.
3. Increase Plant Quality
The application of seaweed extract can improve the quality of agricultural products to varying degrees. Dora Agri's experiments on cucumbers showed that high-quality melons increased by 22.7% compared with the CK group, and inferior melons decreased by 20.4% compared with CK and had a better taste.
It can improve the appearance quality (color) of carrots; it can reduce the crude fiber content of celery, increase the organic acid content and soluble solid content of tomato, and increase the Vc content.
Applying seaweed extract on peaches can increase the weight and firmness of each peach fruit, and increase the soluble solid content of the peach. After applying seaweed extract to the Dutch pepper, the fruit shape is square and the deformed fruit is fewer.
4. Enhance Crop Resistance
Apply seaweed extract on peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplants, rape, carrots, and other vegetables. It has a positive effect on improving stress resistance. Applying seaweed fertilizer can improve the disease resistance of crops, increase the antiviral efficiency of tobacco mosaic virus, reduce the incidence of tomato gray mold, and reduce the disease of rice blast.
Moreover, the application of the mixture of seaweed extract and fertilizer can improve fertility, and at the same time improve the soil structure, and enhance the soil's ability to breathe and retain water. Compared with ordinary fertilizer, seaweed fertilizer has higher efficiency, is easy to absorb, and is environmentally friendly.
5. Use as Plant Growth Regulator
The main active substances of seaweed and seaweed plant growth regulators are auxin (IAA & IBA), cytokinin, gibberellin, abscisic acid, ethylene, and betaine.
These physiologically active substances can participate in the transportation of organic and inorganic substances in plants directly. It is their existence that strengthens the absorption ability of nutrients of the plant, and at the same time stimulates the production of non-specific active factors in plants and regulates the balance of endogenous hormones, which has significance to the growth of plants.
6. Use as Pesticide
There is a protein component in the seaweed that can inhibit Banana Colletotrichum. According to the research, seaweed extract has good inactivation effects on tomato CMV virus and prevents the infections of CMV virus.
After the crop is inoculated with CMV virus and then applied with seaweed extract, the SOD and POD enzyme activities of the diseased plant increased significantly, the virus content of the diseased plant decreased obviously, and the damage of virus to chloroplast is reduced.
The application of seaweed extract in agriculture provides new ideas and solutions for sustainable agriculture, and widely used in organic agriculture production and gradually become an important tool in the increase of the quality and efficiency of fertilizer and pesticides. For more details and feedback about the seaweed extract products, please contact our team.