This is an outdated version published on 26-03-2024. Read the most recent version.
Forthcoming

Foliar Application of Humic Acid on Growth and Biomass Improvement of Bok Choy and Red Leaf Lettuce

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14719/pst.2435

Keywords:

Humic acid, foliar application, bokchoy, red leaf lettuce, growth, biomass

Abstract

Humic acid (HA) is an organic product that is applied as a foliar spray to stimulate the growth and health of various horticultural and agricultural crops. However, its impact on the growth, yield, and health of exotic vegetable crops such as bok choy (Brassica rapa L.) and red leaf lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) needs to be further explored. The current study aimed to assess the impact of foliar application of HA on the growth and biomass production of bok choy and red leaf lettuce. Notably, the foliar spray of 2% HA resulted in increased plant height, leaf length and width, leaf area, and overall plant biomass production in both bok choy and red leaf lettuce compared to the control group. However, the foliar spray of HA did not significantly affect the shoot and root length, nor the number of leaves of bok choy compared to a control. Moreover, the application of HA significantly improved the shoot length and the number of leaves of red leaf lettuce compared to the control group. Hence, HA emerges as a promising natural resource for enhancing agricultural production sustainably. It could serve as a superior growth enhancer for both bok choy and red leaf lettuce.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Baweja P, Kumar S, Kumar G. Fertilizers and pesticides: Their impact on soil health and environment. In: Giri B, Varma A (eds) Soil Health Soil Biology. Springer, Cham. 2020;59:265-85. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-44364-1_15

Jindo K, Olivares FL, Malcher DJD P, Sánchez-Monedero MA, Kempenaar C, Canellas LP. From lab to field: Role of humic substances under open-field and greenhouse conditions as biostimulant and biocontrol agent. Frontiers in Plant Science. 2020;11:426. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2020.00426

Rose MT, Patti AF, Little KR, Brown AL, Jackson WR, Cavagnaro TR. A meta-analysis and review of plant-growth response to humic substances: Practical implications for agriculture. Advances in Agronomy. 2014;124:37-89. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-800138-7.00002-4

Chen Y, De Nobili M, Aviad T. Stimulatory effects of humic substances on plant growth. In: Magdoff F, Weil RR (Eds) Soil Organic Matter in Sustainable Agriculture. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL. 2004;103-29. https://doi.org/10.1201/9780203496374.ch4

Rice JA, MacCarthy P. Statistical evaluation of the elemental composition of humic substances. Organic Geochemistry. 1991;17(5):635-48. https://doi.org/10.1016/0146-6380(91)90006-6

Lei Z, XU ST, Monreal CM, Mclaughlin NB, ZHAO BP, LIU JH, HAO GC. Bentonite-humic acid improves soil organic carbon, microbial biomass, enzyme activities and grain quality in a sandy soil cropped to maize (Zea mays L.) in a semi-arid region. Journal of Integrative Agriculture. 2022;21(1):208-21. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2095-3119(20)63574-2

Wang D, Chen X, Tang Z, Liu M, Jin R, Zhang A, Zhao P. Application of humic acid compound fertilizer for increasing sweet potato yield and improving the soil fertility. Journal of Plant Nutrition. 2022;1-9. https://doi.org/10.1080/01904167.2022.2046064

Turan MA, A?ik BB, Katkat AV, Celik H. The effects of soil-applied humic substances to the dry weight and mineral nutrient uptake of maize plants under soil-salinity conditions. Notulae Botanicae Horti Agrobotanici Cluj-Napoca. 2011;39(1):171-77. https://doi.org/10.15835/nbha3915812

Yang F, Yuan Y, Liu Q, Zhang X, Gai S, Jin Y, Cheng K. Artificial humic acid promotes growth of maize seedling under alkali conditions. Environmental Pollution. 2023;327:121588. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2023.121588

Bakry MA, Soliman YR, Moussa SA. Importance of micronutrients, organic manure and biofertilizer for improving maize yield and its components grown in desert sandy soil. Research Journal of Agriculture and Biological Sciences. 2009;5(1):16-23.

Li Y, Fang F, Wei J, Wu X, Cui R, Li G, Tan D. Humic acid fertilizer improved soil properties and soil microbial diversity of continuous cropping peanut: A three-year experiment. Scientific Reports. 2019;9(1):1-9. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-48620-4

Moghadam HRT, Khamene MK, Zahedi H. Effect of humic acid foliar application on growth and quantity of corn in irrigation withholding at different growth stages. Maydica. 2014;59(2):124-28.

Li H, Kong F, Tang T, Luo Y, Gao H, Xu J, Li L. Physiological and transcriptomic analyses revealed that humic acids improve low-temperature stress tolerance in Zucchini (Cucurbita pepo L.) seedlings. Plants. 2023;12(3):548. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12030548

Ennab HA, Mohamed AH, El-Hoseiny HM, Omar AA, Hassan IF, Gaballah MS, Alam-Eldein SM. Humic acid improves the resilience to salinity stress of drip-irrigated Mexican lime trees in saline clay soils. Agronomy. 2023;13(7):1680. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy13071680

Mauromicale G, Longo AMG, Monaco AL. The effect of organic supplementation of solarized soil on the quality of tomato fruit. Scientia Horticulturae. 2011;129(2):189-96. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scienta.2011.03.024

Seenivasan N, Senthilnathan S. Effect of humic acid on Meloidogyne incognita (Kofoid & White) chitwood infecting banana (Musa spp.). International Journal of Pest Management. 2018;64(2):110-18. https://doi.org/10.1080/09670874.2017.1344743

Sharif M, Khattak R, Sarir M. Wheat yield and nutrients accumulation as affected by humic acid and chemical fertilizers. Sarhad Journal of Agriculture. 2002;18(3):323-29.

Öktem A, Çelik A, Öktem AG. Effect of humic acid seed treatment on yield and some yield characteristic of corn plant (Zea mays L. indentata). Journal of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences. 2018;72(2):142-47. https://doi.org/10.55302/JAFES18722142o

Canellas NO, Olivares FL, Canellas LP. Metabolite fingerprints of maize and sugarcane seedlings: Searching for markers after inoculation with plant growth-promoting bacteria in humic acids. Chemical and Biological Technologies in Agriculture. 2019;6(1):1-10. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40538-019-0153-4

De Hita D, Fuentes M, Fernández V, Zamarreño AM, Olaetxea M, García-Mina JM. Discriminating the short-term action of root and foliar application of humic acids on plant growth: Emerging role of jasmonic acid. Frontiers in Plant Science. 2020;11:493. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2020.00493

Galambos N, Compant S, Moretto M, Sicher C, Puopolo G, Wäckers F, Perazzolli M. Humic acid enhances the growth of tomato promoted by endophytic bacterial strains through the activation of hormone, growth and transcription-related processes. Frontiers in Plant Science. 2020;11:582267. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2020.582267

Cimrin KM, Yilmaz I. Humic acid applications to lettuce do not improve yield but do improve phosphorus availability. Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica, Section B-Soil and Plant Science. 2005;55(1):58-63. https://doi.org/10.1080/09064710510008559

Niu G, Masabni J, Hooks T, Leskovar D, Jifon J. The performance of representative Asian vegetables in different production systems in Texas. Agronomy. 2021;11(9):1874. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11091874

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) FAOSTAT Database. Top Exports of “Cabbages and Other Brassicas” (accessed on 13 September 2020); 2018. Available online: http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QC

Zhang Y, Chen G, Dong T, Pan Y, Zhao Z, Tian S, Hu Z. Anthocyanin accumulation and transcriptional regulation of anthocyanin biosynthesis in purple bok choy (Brassica rapa var. chinensis). Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 2014;62(51):12366-76. https://doi.org/10.1021/jf503453e

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) FAOSTAT Database: Available online Lettuce and Chicory. https://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QCL (accessed on 17 November 2021)

Kim MJ, Moon Y, Tou JC, Mou B, Waterland NL. Nutritional value, bioactive compounds and health benefits of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.). Journal of Food Composition and Analysis. 2016;49:19-34. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfca.2016.03.004

Moshtaghi EA, Silva JAT, Shahsavar AR. Effects of foliar application of humic acid and gibberellic acid on mist-rooted olive cuttings. Fruit, Vegetable and Cereal Science and Biotechnology. 2011;5(2):76-79.

Waqas M, Ahmad B, Arif M, Munsif F, Khan AL, Amin M, Lee IJ. Evaluation of humic acid application methods for yield and yield components of mungbean. American Journal of Plant Sciences. 2014;5:2269-76. https://doi.org/10.4236/ajps.2014.515241

Hemati A, Alikhani HA, Babaei M, Ajdanian L, Asgari Lajayer B, van Hullebusch ED. Effects of foliar application of humic acid extracts and indole acetic acid on important growth indices of canola (Brassica napus L.). Scientific Reports. 2022:12(1):20033. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-21997-5

Dong C, Shao L, Fu Y, Wang M, Xie B, Yu J, Liu H. Evaluation of wheat growth, morphological characteristics, biomass yield and quality in Lunar Palace-1, plant factory, green house and field systems. Acta Astronautica. 2015;111:102-09. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actaastro.2015.02.021

Ibrahim HI, Juma SS. Effect of mineral fertilization and humic acids on availability of NPK in soil and maize Growth. Annals of the Romanian Society for Cell Biology. 2021;25(6):11414-18.

Nassar MA, El-Magharby SS, Ibrahim NS, Kandil EE. Response of sugar beet growth to soil application of humic acid and foliar application of some biostimulators under saline soil conditions. Egyptian Academic Journal of Biological Sciences. H Botany. 2023;14(1):43-54. https://doi.org/10.21608/eajbsh.2023.293954

Jindo K, Martim SA, Navarro EC, Pérez-Alfocea F, Hernandez T, Garcia C, Canellas LP. Root growth promotion by humic acids from composted and non-composted urban organic wastes. Plant and Soil. 2012;353(1):209-20. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-011-1024-3

Gürsoy M, Nofouzi F, Ba?alma D. Effects humic acid application at different stages of growth on yield and yield components of winter rapeseed crops. Journal of Central Research Institute for Field Crops. 2016;25(2):131-36.

Ampong K, Thilakaranthna MS, Gorim LY. Understanding the role of humic acids on crop performance and soil health. Frontiers in Agronomy. 2022;4:848621. https://doi.org/10.3389/fagro.2022.848621

Nunes MR, Karlen DL, Denardin JE, Cambardella CA. Corn root and soil health indicator response to no-till production practices. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. 2019;285:106607. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2019.106607

Atiyeh R, Lee S, Edwards C, Arancon N, Metzger J. The influence of humic acids derived from earthworm-processed organic wastes on plant growth. Bioresource Technology. 2002;84(1):7-14. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0960-8524(02)00017-2

Tagliapietra EL, Streck NA, da Rocha TSM, Richter GL, da Silva MR, Cera JC, Zanon AJ. Optimum leaf area index to reach soybean yield potential in subtropical environment. Agronomy Journal. 2018;110(3):932-38. https://doi.org/10.2134/agronj2017.09.0523

Gonzalez N, De Bodt S, Sulpice R, Jikumaru Y, Chae E, Dhondt S, Inzé D. Increased leaf size: Different means to an end. Plant Physiology. 2010;153(3):1261-79. https://doi.org/10.1104/pp.110.156018

Fagbenro JA, Agboola AA. Effect of different levels of humic acid on the growth and nutrient uptake of teak seedlings. Journal of Plant Nutrition. 1993;16(8):1465-83. https://doi.org/10.1080/01904169309364627

Canellas LP, Spaccini R, Piccolo A, Dobbss LB, Okorokova-Façanha AL, de Araújo Santos G, Façanha AR. Relationships between chemical characteristics and root growth promotion of humic acids isolated from Brazilian Oxisols. Soil Science. 2009;174(11):611-20. https://doi.org/10.1097/SS.0b013e3181bf1e03

Published

26-03-2024

Versions

How to Cite

1.
Anandakumar S, Ranjith S, Senthamilselvi D, Rajadurai G, Sivakumar K. Foliar Application of Humic Acid on Growth and Biomass Improvement of Bok Choy and Red Leaf Lettuce . Plant Sci. Today [Internet]. 2024 Mar. 26 [cited 2024 Dec. 22];. Available from: https://horizonepublishing.com/journals/index.php/PST/article/view/2435

Issue

Section

Research Articles

Most read articles by the same author(s)