The role of biostimulants in the fertilization program in eggplant

Abstract

Seaweed-based biostimulants have the potential to stimulate the growth and development of young plants and increase plant resistance to stress induced by abiotic factors, such as drought or high temperatures, due to their rich content in macro and microelements, in phytohormones and in plant essential aminoacids. In the present experience, we aimed to study the influence of some foliar treatments with seaweed biostimulators on fruit weight, number of fruits per plant and eggplant yield. For the treatments, three seaweed-based biostimulators were used, Agrocean B, Auxi 4C and Kelpak, each product containing a different species of seaweed (Laminaria digitata (Huds.) Lamour., Ascophyllum nodosum (L.) Le Jolis. and Ecklonia maxima (Osbeck) Papenfuss). The treatments with the product Agrocean B (Laminaria digitata (Huds.) Lamour.) determined a 46.60% increase in production, compared to the untreated variant. Significant increases were also caused by treatments with the product Kelpak (Ecklonia maxima (Osbeck) Papenfuss), which led to a 32.37% higher yield.

Keywords

• biostimulants
• eggplant
• seaweed
• yield
• fruit weight