Abiotic Stress Effect on <i>Agastache mexicana</i> subsp. <i>mexicana</i> Yield: Cultivated in Two Contrasting Environments with Organic Nutrition and Artificial Shading

Abstract

Research on medicinal plants is essential for their conservation, propagation, resistance to environmental stress, and domestication. The use of organic nutrition has been demonstrated to improve soil fertility and plant quality. It is also important to study the effects of the Basic Cation Saturation Ratio (BCSR) approach, which is a topic where there is currently controversy and limited scientific information. Evaluating the growth and yields of Agastache mexicana subsp. mexicana (Amm) in different environments is crucial for developing effective propagation and domestication strategies. This includes examining warm and subhumid environments with rain in summer in comparison to mild environments with summer rain. Significant differences were observed in the effects of cold, waterlogging, and heat stresses on the plant’s biomass yield and the morphometric-quantitative modeling by means of isolines. The biomass yield was 56% higher in environment one compared to environment two, 19% higher in environment one with organic nutrition, and 48% higher in environment two with organic nutrition compared to using only BCSR nutrition. In the second harvesting cycle, the plants in environment one did not survive, while the plants in environment two managed to survive without needing additional nutrition. Statistical and mathematical analyses provided information about the population or sample. Additionally, further analysis using isolines as a new approach revealed new insights into understanding phenology and growth issues.

Keywords

• abiotic stress
• structural parameters analysis
• basic cation saturation ratio
• isolines
• organic nutrition
• medicinal and aromatic plants